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Back A Penny for Your Thoughts Save as PDF
Chapters (62)
  1. Cover
  2. A PENNY
  3. Dedication
  4. Acknowledgments
  5. One
  6. Two
  7. Three
  8. Four
  9. Five
  10. Six
  11. Seven
  12. Eight
  13. Nine
  14. Ten
  15. Eleven
  16. Twelve
  17. Thirteen
  18. Fourteen
  19. Fifteen
  20. Sixteen
  21. Seventeen
  22. Eighteen
  23. Nineteen
  24. Twenty
  25. Twenty-One
  26. Twenty-Two
  27. Twenty-Three
  28. Twenty-Four
  29. Twenty-Five
  30. Twenty-Six
  31. Twenty-Seven
  32. Twenty-Eight
  33. Twenty-Nine
  34. Thirty
  35. Thirty-One
  36. Thirty-Two
  37. Thirty-Three
  38. Thirty-Four
  39. Thirty-Five
  40. Thirty-Six
  41. Thirty-Seven
  42. Thirty-Eight
  43. Thirty-Nine
  44. Forty
  45. Forty-One
  46. Forty-Two
  47. Forty-Three
  48. Forty-Four
  49. Forty-Five
  50. Forty-Six
  51. Forty-Seven
  52. Forty-Eight
  53. Forty-Nine
  54. Fifty
  55. Fifty-One
  56. Fifty-Two
  57. Fifty-Three
  58. Fifty-Four
  59. A Sample Chapter of Don’t Take Any Wooden Nickels
  60. About the Author
  61. Other Books by Mindy Starns Clark
  62. About the Publisher

“I hadn’t thought if it that way,” he said finally. “I suppose perhaps we all should take it more seriously now.”

“Even before Wendell’s murder,” I said, “I just don’t see why the Smythes wouldn’t contact the police. At the very least, you’d think they would’ve installed a better security system.”

We reached the door of the funeral home. Ian hesitated, pausing thoughtfully.

“As for Marion,” he said, “she’s so completely convinced that it’s Sidra that she won’t even consider any other possibility. She’s terribly afraid that calling the police or hiring a security company will only prove her daughter-in-law’s precarious mental state. Maybe even force them to commit her, like before.”

“Like before? Sidra was in a mental institution?”

Ian colored, looking uncomfortable, and I knew he felt that he had outstepped the bounds of confidentiality.

“I’m sorry,” I said quickly. “I’m just trying to get a better handle on what’s going on.”

“I think it’s all perhaps best expressed in the words of John Donne,” he said, accepting my apology with a nod. “‘As states subsist in part by keeping their weaknesses from being known, so is it the quiet of families to have their chancery and their parliament within doors, and to compose and determine all emergent differences there.’”

“In other words, it’s a family matter, and they’d like to keep it that way?”

“Exactly, my dear,” he replied, opening the door. “That’s it exactly.”

Twenty-Five

Twenty-Five

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Back at the house once the wake was over, the remaining friends and family members seemed reluctant to disperse. Even Sidra didn’t head immediately to the cabana, but instead came into the den with everyone else and sat on the couch in the corner with Carlos. It seemed as if they all needed to be together, to rehash the events of the evening, and though I was exhausted, I was glad. My head was also spinning with the sheer quantity of people who had been there. I wanted to sit back and listen to what everyone else had to say.

I also was interested in watching Alan Bennet and Judith Smythe. They were friendly but not too personal, their relationship seemingly befitting a boss and her employee. I looked around at the others and wondered if anyone besides me knew they were romantically involved.

It wasn’t long before Angelina came into the room with a tray of delicious-smelling hot hors d’oeuvres. Marion, eyes closed in her chair next to the fireplace, reached out and took the girl’s hand.

“Angelina,” she said in a tired voice. “This is not a night for serving us food. You and Nick come, join in, and relax with everyone else. It’s been a hard day.”