19
Artie was shaking as he fumbled some coins into the slot, then sank onto the closest empty bench. With a jerk, the trolley moved forward, the motion barely moving the air around the stuffy interior.
As he waited for his heartbeat to slow, he pulled out a large handkerchief and mopped his damp forehead, then swabbed at the moisture that had collected around his shirt collar. Pity about Harriet. But couldn’t be helped. Should have taken her loss on the chin instead of showing up at the party with an attitude.
“Are you all right?”
He couldn’t repress a slight flinch as he searched for a face to fit the female voice. He didn’t have to look far. In the seat just behind his was an older woman, a plain woman with her graying hair neatly styled beneath a straw hat with a narrow brim decorat
