Laura spent most of her free time with her beau, Frank Salisbury, a colleague from the theater department at Athena College. As the semester drew to a close, so did Laura’s temporary job. The professor for whom she had substituted this semester came back from maternity leave in January, and Laura planned to return to Los Angeles and her acting career. At least, that was the original plan. Frank no doubt had something to say about that. He would either have to follow my daughter to Hollywood or persuade her to remain here. If I had a say in the matter, I hoped Frank could talk Laura into staying in Athena. Having her at home with Sean and me these past few months made me happy, and I would miss her even more keenly if she went back to California.

Diesel would miss her dreadfully as well. I remained his favorite human, but Laura ran a close second. She always made a fuss over him, and he loved the attention.

I sighed as Diesel ambled into the kitchen, warbling away. I poured myself a glass of cold water from the fridge, and Diesel continued chatting to me as I leaned against the counter and drank.

Christmas was little more than two weeks away, and I was thrilled that the people I cared most about in this world would all be here for it. Thanksgiving had been truly special for that same reason, and I offered up more than one fervent prayer that I could keep them all around me. I even felt the presence of my departed loved ones—my wife, Jackie, and my aunt Dottie—close by. That was as it should be.

As Diesel and I settled down in bed a short while later, I returned to the puzzle of Hank Beauchamp’s behavior. He obviously had money problems if his credit card got declined for such a trifling amount. The Beauchamp family had the reputation, however, of being filthy rich. So what had happened to Hank? And did Sissy suffer from the same problem?

I reminded myself that I had no business speculating over the Beauchamp family finances and tried to relax. At my side, Diesel stretched out, already asleep. I drifted off soon after.

After a decent night’s sleep I stepped out into the chilly morning to retrieve my newspaper. Two deep breaths of the bracing air cleared my head. Diesel had disappeared during the night, and I had no doubt he was snuggled up to Laura. She stayed in bed later than I did, and he liked his rest.

When I reached the kitchen, the sight of my housekeeper, Azalea Berry, startled me. I still wasn’t quite used to seeing her every weekday morning, but with the additions to my household in the past few months, she had recently informed me I needed her every day. I saw no point in arguing with her, especially when she was right.

“Good morning, Azalea, how are you?” I sat at the table and opened the paper.