Read Online Bouquet of Lies by Roberta Smith - Free Book Online

on the closet door. Pinned to the skirt was a note that said: Wear me. It was a beautiful outfit. Expensive-looking. Lacey always did go for the best.
    She’d talked with the Reverend Irene daily since her blow up with her sister. Partly because she was nervous about the party, seeing her mom and all, and partly because she felt guilty about the things she had said.
    The Reverend reassured her that she’d done the right thing. You need to remove Lacey from that pedestal you’ve got her on. Be less dependent. She isn’t the concerned sis you think she is.
    Darla took the dress from the hanger. It was classic Alice. A blue dress with puffed sleeves, Peter Pan collar, and white apron. Lacey had even bought her a headband, the stockings, and black Mary Jane shoes.
    She liked it. She would have liked a costume that hid her identity more. That way she could stay lost in a corner and be on the lookout for her mother. But this would do.
    She loved the Alice in Wonderland story. The cat that grinned. The caterpillar that smoked. The queen that roared, Off with their heads!
    She giggled. And there was Alice, in the middle of it all, growing big, shrinking small, making sense out of things that didn’t make sense.
    Darla related.  She was a person living a life that didn’t make sense.
    All week Lacey had ignored her. Never once, did she try to change Darla’s mind about moving out together. Never once, did she drag her downstairs to talk to Jake. That was something Darla wished she would do. There were no conversations about guys or the movie Lacey’d worked on. The only reason Darla knew the movie job was over was because yesterday and today Lacey had left the house dressed like a normal person.
    Darla tossed the costume over her head and zipped it up. She put on the stockings and the shoes and admired herself in the mirror. She would ask Lacey for help with her hair and makeup when . . .
    No. She better not. The Reverend wouldn’t like it. She could do that herself. The old children’s books she and Lacey used to read, including two versions of Alice in Wonderland , were in the library. Maybe she should get them.
    But then again, maybe not.
    She felt her heart beat faster at the thought of going inside the library. She hated that room. It scared her. Located off the foyer, next to the sitting room, its heavy, wooden-door entrance was inside a small alcove. She found the door as intimidating as the room itself. It reminded her of the entry to a medieval castle. Behind it were unspeakable things. Why she thought this, she didn’t know.
    She didn’t really need the books, but now that she thought about it, she knew she had to go. Not long ago, somehow the topic of the library had come up in a discussion with the Reverend Irene. The Reverend had insisted she face her fear. This was the opportune moment. Darla took a breath and closed her eyes for a moment.
    She stole downstairs. With any luck she wouldn’t run into Grandfather. Father was home, but he was in bed nursing a mean cold. It wouldn’t matter if she ran into him anyway.
    She paused at the library entrance and felt her heart hammer harder than before. At least the children’s books were on the shelf nearest the exit. She could grab what she needed and run.
    Pushing the door open only a few inches, the scent of old leather and aged paper overwhelmed her. It wasn’t an awful odor or even very strong. But she smelled it distinctly and a sense of dread shot through her. She nearly turned around and fled, but then she heard a familiar voice.
    “I don’t think he’s started the ball rolling because he just sprang it on me.”
    Darla opened the door a little more and saw a young man in a business suit standing beside the big mahogany fireplace. A cell phone was pressed to his ear and in one hand he held the brass urn shaped like a book that supposedly held her mother’s ashes.
    She stared. His back was to her and she couldn’t see his face.
    “I told him I met