Read Online Ellen McKenzie 03-And Murder for Desser by Kathleen Delaney - Free Book Online Page A

because, deep down, I suspected I’d used Mark and Sabrina to slow things down. I loved Dan, but our wedding date was roaring toward me like a freight train run amuck.
    “Yeah, but then I either go home or tiptoe around like some intruder. I like going to bed with you and getting up with you,” he said pointedly. “I like talking to you at midnight without wondering if I’m waking anyone else, and I don’t like sharing a bathroom. With anyone but you, that is.” He reached over and ran his finger slowly down my jaw and under my chin, tilting my face up toward his. “Nothing’s been the same.” He dropped his hand and looked away from me. “Anyway, I’m glad they’ve found a place. Do you think they need help moving?”
    I stared at Dan for a moment, then burst out laughing.
    “What’s so funny?”
    “You,” I managed. “You’re as transparent as tissue paper!”
    “Maybe so, but Ellie, if they’re out on Saturday, maybe Sunday we could.”
    “So, this is where you’re hiding.”
    The voice in my ear almost made me jump out of my skin.
    “Hello, Carlton,” Dan said. If it were true looks could kill, Carlton would be in his coffin on his way to the grave.
    “Isn’t this a wonderful dinner?” boomed Carlton, oblivious to danger. “And the wines!” He held up a glass with a little red wine in the bottom, made a show of holding it to his nose, then inexpertly swirled it. “What a stroke of luck Mildred wanted to sell,” he said, oozing self-satisfaction.
    “And another that you had cash in your pocket, just ready to buy,” I said in my sweetest voice. Dan smothered a nasty laugh.
    “Yes. It was,” Carlton answered. The look he gave me was uncertain, almost scared, but he quickly replaced it with his usual overconfident one. “I’d gone over to Mildred’s to see if she wanted to sell her house, we got to talking, and the next thing I knew, I was a winery partner.”
    “You told me.” Carlton didn’t notice the sarcasm in my voice.
    Dan did. “I thought you weren’t in real estate anymore,” he said, but it was me he looked at. I could tell he was holding back a laugh.
    “I do a few deals,” Carlton said, examining his wine instead of looking Dan in the face. “Special ones.”
    “Didn’t I read that you represented Otto when he bought the old Adams house?”
    “No,” I corrected Dan. “Carlton had the listing. He represented the sellers.” I remembered how surprised everyone in my office had been when we found out Carlton had gotten the listing on that wonderful antique mansion. Not only was Carpenter Real Estate a one-man office, but old Mrs. Adams had hated him. Something to do with one of her granddaughters when we were all in high school.
    “I had both the buyer and seller. It wasn’t fun,” he said, frowning.
    That I was willing to believe. I wondered if his commission had bought his winery shares.
    “I don’t see how you got the parking requirements met for a restaurant,” Dan went on. “The town is usually pretty strict about that.”
    Carlton’s eyes shifted, and he swallowed hard. Our whole office had wondered about that parking, but there would be no answer tonight. Parking was not what Carlton wanted to talk about.
    “Ellen, I told you Mark had stolen wine. What do you think now?”
    “Mark didn’t steal anything,” I said in my coldest tone. “You heard him. It was a misunderstanding.”
    “I’m not so sure,” Carlton said slowly, looking at everything but us. “You know, there are some pretty important people who are partners in Silver Springs. Cappy Lewis, the western singer, Nona Pickert, who was in that movie, some period thing.”
    That was about all I could take. “She was in Pride and Prejudice and won the Oscar. What’s your point?”
    “Well, I feel responsible. After all, I live here. No one else does. Why, we could get robbed blind if someone doesn’t keep an eye out. Dan, I thought you could do some kind of background check. Don’t