Read Online Cuts Like a Knife: A Novel (A Kristen Conner Mystery Book 1) by M.K. Gilroy - Free Book Online Page A

excuse when she turns back to me. Why doesn’t she ask Klarissa about Warren? That’s a far more interesting question, as far as I’m concerned. Warren is Klarissa’s on-again, off-again boyfriend. He’s the sports guy at a rival television station. They met at a local media awards banquet. He’s about ten years older than Klarissa, but fit and handsome. Great teeth. I’m a firm believer that all good gifts come from God, but not those teeth. Is it possible to have teeth that are too good? Too straight? Too white?
    Apparently he was a good enough college quarterback at Western Illinois that he got drafted by the Redskins. He has told me numerous times that he stayed in “the league”—which means the NFL, he explained, in case as a mere woman I find sports lingo confusing—for three years. He doesn’t mention the fact that he never took a single snap in a regulation game, but then I’m being snippy again. I remind myself that if you were good enough to get drafted in the NFL, then you were one heck of an athlete. He’s been a sportscaster for thirteen years now, since his playing days ended at the ripe old retirement age of twenty-five.
    “Well?” Kaylen asks me again. She isn’t going to let this drop. “You were going to tell me about Dell?” Mom and Klarissa are focused on me now, too.
    I chew extra slowly and finally answer her question after a fake cough and long drink of Diet Coke with a clever question of my own: “I was?”
    “You were. At least I thought you were.” She’s trying not to get exasperated.
    “What about him?”
    “He was at church with someone else. I didn’t know you two had broken up.”
    “I didn’t know we two were together.”
    “Well, excuse me, but he’s been coming to Sunday dinner for the last few months.”
    “Because my family invites him.”
    “And, if I’m not mistaken,” Kaylen soldiers on, “you two were supposed to have a big day trip planned yesterday.”
    “I guess I forgot,” I answer sarcastically. “Oh, and maybe a little murder case I’m officially working got in the way.”
    “Was there a murder at the Amish village?” my mother asks in horror. “What happened?”
    I laugh out loud and spit Diet Coke on my now-empty plate. Mom, you have got to get your hearing checked. The kids, Kendra and James, think that’s hilarious and screech in delight. Kaylen is not amused.
    “Give it up,” she demands. “What happened?”
    Given her no-nonsense tone, everyone at the table looks at me soberly.
    “Where’s Mr. Dell?” James asks me earnestly. “I like him.” “That’s because he gives you a dollar for your piggy bank whenever he comes over,” I say.
    “He does?” Kaylen asks, surprised. James’s head bobs up and down, but he doesn’t make eye contact with his mom due to an instinctual understanding that too much discussion could lead to the end of the gravy train he has set up.
    I am hoping we are off on another subject, but now my brother-in-law, Jimmy, is curious. “Dell seems like a good guy. He’s obviously crazy about you. What happened?”
    What happened? What happened? Let it go, people!
    Do I sense an undercurrent of recrimination in his tone? It’s no secret that Dell has done all the work in our relationship. I’m just not crazy about him. I like him. But that’s it. I’ve never been dishonest with him or led him on. So why are people trying to make me feel guilty? Everyone is looking at me, including Mom, so I guess I’m trapped and have to say something. But it’s not like this has been a big deal to me. Bringing a revenge date to church was more than a bit of a surprise, but hey, maybe she likes learning about farm tools from another century.
    “I wish I could give you guys the scoop,” I say. “But there’s no story. Everyone move along. Nothing to see here.”
    “So did the trip to the Amish village put you over the edge or what?” Kaylen asks. Is there a retro obsession with horse and buggy culture? Is