Camilla T. Crespi - The Breakfast Club Murder (37 page)

“If you hear her start hiccupping out of the blue, then she’s in love la-la land and we’ve lost her for good. So far, so good. No hiccups.”

“None of this is true,” Lori protested.

Margot looked up from her plate to peer at Lori. “Are you going to start hiccupping now?”

“No!” Lori glared at her mother. Why had she brought this up?

As mothers sometimes do, Ellie answered Lori’s thought. “I want your friends to know because you’re going to need them to help you pick up the pieces.” Ellie looked back at the front of the room and beckoned with a wave of her arm. Alec stood up from the booth where Jessica and Angie were sitting, and walked down the narrow aisle between counter and booths.

Lori watched him approaching. She felt like a flock of blue jays had taken flight inside her. “Is this a surprise party or something?” she asked once Alec stood next to her.

“Hi, I heard about Jonathan,” he said and acknowledged everyone with nods of his head. He stooped to kiss Lori’s cheek. “How are you? Is there anything I can do to help?”

“Yes.” Ellie got out of her chair. “Sit here, young man. I need to go up front to see that my Jess isn’t poisoning herself with all this bad food.” She gave her daughter a fast look. “Close your mouth, Loretta, the flies will get in.” She hurried down the aisle before Lori could think of anything to yell at her.

Lori folded her arms across her chest to hold her heart in. She wished herself home, in bed, with the door locked, the shades pulled down. She was smashing her heart against a wall.

“Do sit down,” Margot said, giving Alec the once-over and rewarding him with a smile that showed she was pleased by what she saw. She introduced herself and the other women. Still standing, Alec said his name and shook everyone’s hand. With the introductions over, he sat down in Ellie’s chair, opposite Lori. He looked uncomfortable and immediately Lori wanted to offer comfort.

“I’m all right,” she said. “Jess is happy, so I am. Thanks,” Lori said. “How did you know I was here?”

“Your mother called Mrs. Ashe last night.”

Lori was getting tired of surprises. “My mother?”

“Yes. I went over to Mrs. Ashe when I heard the news. Your mother called, but Mrs. Ashe had taken a sleeping pill and so I answered. She wanted Mrs. Ashe to know how sorry she was and wish her strength. A mother-to-mother thing, she said.” He turned to look down the length of the diner. Angie and Jessica were listening to something Ellie was saying. “I thought it was pretty great of her. They don’t know each other.”

No one said anything. Lori gave him a weak smile. He moved his chair closer to the table and caught her gaze. He didn’t seem uncomfortable, Lori noticed. She was the self-conscious one. “How did you know—”

He knew what she was about to say. “She gave her name, Corvino, and I asked if she knew a Lori Corvino. We had a long chat after that. That’s how I knew you’d be here. I came in, saw that you were all busy talking so I spotted your daughter up front—she looks just like you. I waited until your mother gave me the go-ahead. I think your daughter’s pretty special, too.”

“So is Lori,” Beth said easily.

“That I know.”

Lori studied the scratched Formica, desperate to sink her face in a bowl of ice.

“I’m sorry if I interrupted something.” Alec stood up. “Very nice meeting all of you. Take good care of her.” He walked around the table and squeezed Lori’s shoulder. “I’ll call you later.”

Lori nodded. She felt stupid, unable to say anything, wanting him to stay, to leave, not to be gay, to be gay because then he couldn’t hurt her. But his being gay did hurt her. She was making no sense. Beth reached out and held her hand under the table.

“You’re a breath of fresh air,” Beth said to Alec, “and you haven’t interrupted anything. You presence has surprised us, that’s all.”

“A pleasant surprise,” Janet said. “We’re tired of talking about murder.”

“Thanks,” Alec said and turned his gaze to Lori. “Talking about surprises, I tried to tell you on the phone, but you wouldn’t let me.” His eyes had a wicked smile in them. “My brother’s full name was Christopher Robin Winters. My mother was a Pooh fan.”

“Chris?” Lori managed to say. Her mouth had turned into the Gobi desert. “Your brother?”

Alec grinned. “None other.”

Lori’s first hiccup was loud enough to bring Ellie and Jessica running.

“Are you all right, Mom?”

“I’ll get her a glass of water,” Beth said.

“Done,” Alec said, as the hiccups continued. He put a glass down on the table. “You have to stand up and drink it from the other side.”

Lori looked at the full glass. She looked at Ellie grinning, at her friends. At Alec hovering over her. Between hiccups, Lori told herself that she didn’t believe in fairy tales anymore, in happy-ever-after endings. There was still a lot of shoring up to be done. For all of them. And although Alec was here now, he might not be tomorrow. Now was what counted, though. That much she’d learned.

“I’ve never felt better,” Lori said and went right on hiccupping.

Born in Prague to an Italian diplomat father and an American mother,
Camilla Crespi
came to the United States when she was twelve and returned to Italy after she graduated from Barnard College. In Rome she worked in the movie industry as a dubbing producer\director. Back in New York City she got married, received an MFA in creative writing from Columbia University, and became an American citizen.

Camilla has published seven novels in “The Trouble With” mystery series, and several short stories in mystery anthologies. In 2007, Soho Press published
The Price of Silence,
written under Camilla Trinchieri, her real name. The paperback edition and the Italian edition came out in 2008.
Finding Alice
was published in Italy in 2010 by MarcosyMarcos.
Gathering Pieces
will be published in Italy in 2014.