Such a Beautiful Family: A Thriller(35)

David stiffened. “Jane was only trying to help out while you were gone. I had a busy week, and she showed up each night. Truthfully, she made things easier for me.”

“Sounds wonderful,” Nora said. “So who is going to make dinner when I’m home?” She went to the cupboard to search for a coffee mug. “I’ve been pretty busy myself and could use the help.”

“Touché,” Trevor said, which garnered a “stay out of it” look from David.

Nora filled her mug with coffee, took a sip, and said, “I’ll make a chart, and we can each take a turn cooking. Sound good?” she asked, looking from David to Hailey.

“Come on,” David said to the kids. “Time to get going.”

No way was she making dinner for an ungrateful family who refused to help her out. Nora recognized the shirt Hailey was wearing. “Is that the same blouse I returned?”

“It might be,” Hailey said, although Nora could tell she knew perfectly well it was the same damn top. “Jane brought over a bag from Goodwill and let me pick through it.”

“Were the tags still on that blouse?”

“No! Why are you so paranoid about everything concerning Jane? I thought you two were friends.”

Nora was beginning to wonder. Jane seemed to be going out of her way to undermine every parental decision she made when it came to Hailey.

David pushed away from the counter and put his mug in the sink. “Get your backpacks and meet me in the car.” He planted a kiss on Nora’s forehead. “I have a meeting, but I’ll be back before noon. What time are you going to the office?”

“I’m taking the day off.”

“Good for you. Why don’t we meet for lunch?”

“Sure. Text me where and when.”

“Will do.” David disappeared through the side door that led into the garage.

Hailey hurried out of the kitchen. Nora could hear her running up the stairs to get her things. Nora walked over to Trevor and gave him a hug. “I missed you, kiddo.”

“Don’t ever leave us again.”

She smiled at him.

“I’m not kidding. Jane gives me the creeps. She asked me to call her Auntie Jane just because Weirdo calls her that. She also offered to buy me ModelFlow600.”

“Seriously?”

He nodded. “I told her it was too expensive and that I would have to ask you.”

“I appreciate that.”

Trevor headed for the same door that David had gone through. Nora stopped him before he got away. “Jane doesn’t really give you the creeps, does she?”

“Yeah, she does, Mom. I think she’s fake nice. When nobody is looking, her eyes get all dark and trancelike.”

“Sounds like someone has been watching too many horror movies.”

“What sort of person doesn’t like dogs?”

Nora chuckled, and yet she understood. Tank was not the sort of dog that jumped on people. Unless he felt threatened, he minded his own business.

“I’m serious, Mom. There’s something going on with her. She acts weird around Dad, and she tries way too hard to be Hailey’s best friend.”

“Weird with Dad how?”

Hailey entered the kitchen then and let out a groan. “Oh my God, Trevor. He thinks Jane likes Dad. Like, really likes Dad.”

“She does!” Trevor did a quick imitation of Jane by touching Hailey’s arm and saying in a high-pitched voice, “Oh, stop, David. That’s enough. You’re so sweet.”

David honked the horn.

“You better go,” Nora said. “We’ll talk later.”

After watching David and the kids drive off, Nora found herself thinking about the woman named Rhonda she’d met at the hotel in Paris. Although she hadn’t talked to Rhonda again, nor heard any further rumors, good or bad, about Jane, she hadn’t been able to shake the funny feeling inside—her gut instinct telling her there might be more to the story Rhonda had shared. The only way to nip it in the bud was to chat with Levi Hale at PowerWare—the competitor who supposedly made a scene at last year’s conference.

She brought her coffee upstairs to her bedroom. After fluffing up the pillows and grabbing her laptop and phone, she got comfortable on the bed. Finding his work number took five seconds. She made the call. It was still early and there was no answer. At the sound of the beep, she left a message for Mr. Hale, explaining who she was before leaving her number and asking him to give her a call. Next, knowing Christian Murray was an early riser, she called his private number.

He answered on the second ring.

“Hello, Mr. Murray. This is Nora Harmon with IMPACT. I wanted to let you know that I’m back from Paris and I’m ready to discuss the problems you’ve been having with the new software.”

“Problems? And please, call me Christian.”

Nora swallowed. “So are you saying you worked out any difficulties you talked to Jane about?”

“I haven’t talked to Jane since you joined the company. Should I be concerned about something?”

An awkward moment passed as Nora collected herself. “No. No. I’m sorry to have bothered you. I must have heard wrong.”

“Doing that well, huh? Jane is so busy, she’s getting her clients mixed up.”