Cast Iron Motive (The Cast Iron Cooking Mysteries Book 4) Read Free Page A

Della to us.”
    Kathleen frowned. “I called my friend after we spoke, but he and his wife were on their way out of town. It appears that they have family problems of their own they need to deal with.”
    “Sounds like there’s a lot of that going around,” I said. “Any idea as to how we approach this thing with Aunt Della?”
    “Try to get as many hard facts as you can, and go from there. I don’t have to tell you two how to snoop around. You’ve become pretty proficient at it. Just be careful, okay?”
    Her compliment was unexpected, and it was evident that she was concerned about us. To her surprise, I leaned forward and hugged her. “Thanks for caring so much.”
    “I try,” she said, holding onto me a split second longer than I’d expected. When we broke our hug, I could see that she was smiling. “Have you told your girlfriend that you’re leaving town suddenly?” she asked me.
    “I don’t know if we’re at that stage yet,” I said.
    “What, keeping her informed of your whereabouts?”
    “No, officially calling her my girlfriend. To answer your question, Jenna knows that we’re going,” I said. As a matter of fact, I’d called her at the same time Annie had been phoning Della.
    “What did she say to that?”
    “She just told me to be careful,” I said.
    “How about Annie? Has she made that call herself?”
    I grinned at Kathleen. “Why would Annie call Jenna?”
    “I’m talking about Timothy, and you know it.”
    “I don’t know. You’ll have to ask her. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got to close up for the day, pack a bag, and hit the road.”
    “Call me if you need me,” Kathleen said as she took the hint and headed for the door.
    “You bet,” I said.
    “On second thought, let me know when you get there.”
    I saluted. “Will do, but we’ll never be able to leave if you keep hanging around here,” I said with a grin. “Don’t you want to say good-bye to Annie?”
    Kathleen shook her head. “There’s no need. We already had a nice long chat on the phone.”
    I glanced back to see my twin grinning at both of us. There was no doubt in my mind that she’d urged Kathleen to come by so we could patch things up before we left, and I would have resented her meddling if I hadn’t been so happy that she’d done it. I hated being at odds with either of my siblings.
    At least now I could leave town with a clear conscience.

Chapter 2: Annie
    “A re you responsible for what just happened?” my brother, Pat, asked me as he walked back to the grill. I was cleaning up my cast iron pots and skillets that I’d used that day, giving them light coats of oil and then putting them into the ovens at low heat to help the metal absorb more of the oil that kept the seasoning intact. It had become a ritual as ingrained in me as brushing my teeth every morning after breakfast. I knew that if I took care of my ironware, it would last long after I was gone.
    “What are you talking about?” I asked, feigning ignorance. Why did he even have to ask? Of course I’d told Kathleen that she had to come over after hearing about Pat’s reaction to Della’s news. My brother could be pigheaded at times, which proved that we weren’t twins in every way, no matter what anybody else might say about my own stubborn streak.
    “Annie, the truth.”
    “Of course I told her to come by, Pat. You can’t hold it against Kathleen. It wasn’t her fault.”
    My brother looked at me skeptically. “Do you mean to tell me that you’re not upset?”
    “Absolutely,” I said. “I hate the idea that someone may actually be trying to kill our aunt.”
    “I’m talking about Kathleen being in contact with Aunt Della all of this time without telling either one of us about it,” Pat said as he sat at the bar where I normally served my customers.
    “I’m sure she had her reasons,” I said. In all honesty, I’d been a little miffed when I’d first heard about it, but those feelings had quickly been