Chapter 66

"Now, other than nightgowns and a bed jacket, what do you need from the shops in the morning?" Diana pulled a gold fountain pen and a small notebook from her handbag.
"My cardigan will work as a bed jacket." Nettie looked down at her cut-off sleeve. She was going to need a second nightgown though. "There should be enough money in my purse for a flannel nightie at Woolworth. Eli did bring my purse, didn't he?" Thank heavens Carstairs was big enough to have a five-and-dime store, even if a nightgown would cost more like a dollar or two. And thank heavens she still had some of the grocery money in her handbag.
"And a housecoat for once you're up and around a bit." Diana blithely ignored anything Nettie had to say. "Talcum? Face cream? Perfume? Did my idiot brother think to bring those things?"
"He did." Nettie had never used perfume or face cream in her life, but she did have talcum powder and soap. She waved at the dressing table in the corner. "I don't know about my toothbrush and toothpaste, though."
Diana inspected the items on the table, picking up the rose-scented talc. "Mrs. V will see to that. She's the practical sort of housekeeper who always has necessities on hand for guests. It's only that her idea of necessities is a bit more basic than mine. You like rose-scented things?"
Nettie shrugged. "I'm not picky and the rose was on sale."
"So what's your favorite fragrance?" Diana resumed her seat by the bed. "Lavender? Violet?"
Nettie attempted to shake her head. "I like all the flowers."
"Come on. You must have a favorite. Geranium? Lily of the Valley?" Diana was apparently not to be deterred.
"Fine." Nettie sighed. "My tastes are more exotic than you seem to think. My favorite is jasmine. My mother had the tiniest little bottle of toilet water and whenever she'd go out, I'd smell it on her. I thought it was the most beautiful scent in the world."
Diana grinned. "Jasmine it is. Now what about lipstick? Red or pink?"
"I don't wear lipstick."
"You will. Rose, I think. It will complement your coloring and not make you look too modern, which wouldn't suit you. How about reading material? Magazines? My brother's library doesn't really cater to feminine reading preferences."
"I read anything." Nettie couldn't imagine anything she wouldn't read - well, some of Eli's law books might be a bit beyond her. "Seriously, I love it all - history, biography, travelogues - especially travelogues. Novels are fine, too. I know he has a collection of mysteries. He bought them at my shop."
"Yes, he's become much more of a book collector of late." Diana chuckled. "I wonder why?"
"Because he likes to read?" The pain was getting worse and it was making Nettie cross. She closed her eyes, hoping Diana would take the hint.
She did. "Time for your aspirin, my girl, and a nap. I'm for bed myself." She patted her belly, which showed no sign at all of impending motherhood yet. "The little one makes me sleepy. I'll have Mrs. V wake you in two hours."
"No - wait." Nettie opened her eyes again. "When Eli gets home - ask someone to let me know he's all right."
Diana leaned down and pressed a light kiss on Nettie's forehead. "Of course." With a knowing smile, she turned off the light and left the room.
The fire was another minor one, though this one hadn't been caught so quickly as the last. The advantage was, it was an old boathouse near the lake, and had been abandoned for some time. Nobody was inside, and they could use the pump on the truck to put it out, saving the expensive chemical extinguisher by filling the reservoir with water from the lake.
They stayed until the last ember was out. Joe Holland, one of the senior volunteers and a local contractor, agreed to come out the next afternoon to knock down the remaining bits of the structure and dock, to make sure no one got hurt playing around in the ruin. Eli drove the truck back to the firehouse and helped get everything cleaned up and ready for the next run.
"Well, at least this time you got the other eyebrow." Holland chuckled as they carefully rewound the long hose. "What is it with you and getting in too close?"
"I don't know. I'm one of the only men here who doesn't have a family to worry about, so I guess I tend to jump in first so no one else will."
"You jump into a lot of things that can burn you, don't you?" Holland quirked one of his perfectly intact eyebrows. "Heard you had it out with Al Price yesterday."
"How the hell did you hear that?" Eli hung his helmet on its peg and tucked his boots beneath, while Holland did the same.
"I don't know. Around, I guess. Drug store, maybe, or the Starlight." The Starlight Diner was a popular lunch spot with the locals, especially when the tourists weren't in town.
"Son of a bitch." Eli slumped down onto the bench. "Is that all you heard?"
Holland nodded. "Why. Something else happen too?"
"Not that anyone needs to know about." What would it do to Nettie's reputation if word got out she was staying at his house - even with two reputable chaperones? He pondered that for a minute and then reminded himself that there wasn't a viable alternative. The hospital would give her father access, and even the police wouldn't stop him, since most of them were old-fashioned enough to believe a woman was her parents' property until she married. If the Websters had been home, he could have taken her there, but they wouldn't be for almost a month. He couldn't take her to his mother at the family summer home. She'd stick Nettie in the servants' quarters at best. No, the best plan was to keep Diana with him and if anyone asked, Diana's friend Nettie was staying to visit while Di was in town.
"Well, it's your funeral if he sneaks up on you with a hammer in the back of the head." Holland shrugged. "Heard he's a bit of a firebug, too."
"Where'd you hear that one?" Miserable though the idea was, it tallied with Eli's observations of the Price property. Damn, maybe it was time to pay Price another visit, if only to prove that when Eli made a threat, he meant it.
Holland scratched his head. "Oddly enough, from your brother, I think. He's at your mom's house for the weekend, and I was there working on the greenhouse this afternoon."
"Alex." Diana had told Eli that the second-oldest Lawson was in town. It was one more reason she'd so readily agreed to relocate. Of all the siblings, Alexander was the one who somehow rubbed the others wrong. "Damn. He's got to be up to something."
"Price or your brother?" Holland pulled on a light work coat and his everyday hat.
Eli popped his fedora on his head. "Both."