The Root of All Evil (Hope Street Church Mysteries Book 4) by Ellery Adams, Elizabeth Lockard

don’t have to.”
    Pastor Matthews crossed over to Cooper and gave her a quick friendly hug. “Coop, I’d really appreciate it. That was just one more thing on my plate to take care of.”
    Cooper checked the copier. Only a few more pages to go. “I’m glad I can help. And if I can’t get the other machine working, I bet I could get you a good deal on a lease through Make It Work!”
    Pastor Matthews laughed. “You’re quite the salesman, aren’t you?”
    “I just know my boss wouldn’t forgive me if I let an opportunity pass me by. Actually, it’s not my boss, it’s his assistant. She’s the salesman.” Cooper took the copies and tapped the edges on top of the machine to straighten out the stack. “On behalf of Sylvia, thanks for the use of your copier.”
    Pastor Matthews walked her to the door and locked it behind him. “You tell her she’s welcome . . . And maybe by next week she’ll be able to use the teachers’ lounge copier again!”
    Cooper returned to the art room to find Sylvia standing alone while a student showed his parents a watercolor painting hanging on the wall. Sylvia came to the door to meet her.
    “Thank you so much,” the teacher said, taking the copies. “I owe you one.”
    “Nah. You gave me a break from the food table; I may still owe you. Is there anything else I can help with? Do you want to talk about anything?”
    Sylvia shook her head. She looked a little happier now that she had students in the room, and Cooper sensed it was time to leave the teacher to her work.
    “If you change your mind,” Cooper said, “I’d be more than happy to take another break.”
    She left Sylvia with a smile.
     
    • • •
     
    Saturday could have been a lazy day. There was nothing that needed to be done, and Cooper was tempted to stay in her pajamas, play with her cats—Miriam and Moses—and watch TV with her grammy. But the night before, just as she was falling asleep, she got the idea that it would be fun to make a haunted birdhouse for Halloween. She hadn’t spent much time building since she’d made Nathan a Star Wars TIE fighter birdhouse for Christmas, and she was feeling the itch.
    So, instead of sleeping in and doing nothing on Saturday, Cooper woke up early, got dressed and headed to the hardware store to get supplies. She could picture the birdhouse in her mind as vividly as if she were staring at the finished product: faux shingles on a steep roof, a spire off one corner, a little graveyard in the front, dark browns and grays. It took a good two hours at the store to find the right materials, and by the time she got home, Cooper was ready for a snack.
    She snagged a sandwich from the kitchen and ate it while she walked outside. It was a beautiful day—not too cool, but not too warm. The sky was more or less clear. Columbus watched her with interest as she passed by.
    “Having a good day?” she asked the hawk quietly, pausing to stand in front of his cage. Columbus ruffled his white and tawny feathers. “I’ll take you for a walk later. Promise.”
    Cooper continued walking and stepped inside the greenhouse. She swallowed the last bite of her sandwich, reached for the hose and started to water the plants, thinking of the last time she was out here. It was the Sunday she’d walked with Nathan before dessert with her family, when he’d acted so strangely. With that memory, the image of Nathan popped into her head. What possible explanation was there for his reaction to the trouble Ashley was going through for the sake of her baby?
    She’d tried not to think about it, but now, among the plants, with nothing to distract her, Cooper couldn’t seem to think about anything else. They hadn’t talked about their relationship in a while. Cooper kept assuming that if Nathan wanted to talk, he would.
    Is he even interested anymore? she asked herself. Or am I expecting too much too fast?
    It had been more than a year since they’d begun dating officially. A whole year. No