Read Online Key Lime Pie Murder by Joanne Fluke - Free Book Online Page B

it’s personal and they won’t tell you what it is.”
    â€œOkay, I’ll do it,” Hannah agreed. And then she headed down the hallway to see if she could figure out what secret their mother was hiding.
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    â€œMother?” Hannah called out, tapping on the door and then opening it without waiting for an invitation.
    â€œHello, dear.” Delores looked up when Hannah came into the room. “Sit down and wait just a moment, will you? I really need to finish this paragraph.”
    â€œSure. Michelle said you were working on something personal.” Hannah sat down in the old leather chair that had been moved to a spot near the window. It had been her dad’s desk chair, but Delores had replaced it with a smart-looking model upholstered in blue tweed. It was clear at a glance that her mother’s new chair rolled, reclined, and swiveled, while the old leather chair merely sat there.
    â€œThat’s right.”
    â€œI’m curious. What is it?”
    â€œNothing you’d be interested in, dear.”
    Delores went right back to typing, and Hannah gave a little sigh. She’d struck out. So much for being forthright. She’d have to think of some other way to find out.
    â€œYou were always the best speller in the family,” Delores said, pausing with her fingers poised over the keyboard. “ Recommendation has one c and two m ’s, doesn’t it?”
    â€œRecommendation?” Hannah repeated, not sure she’d heard her mother correctly.
    â€œThat’s right. Yes or no, dear.”
    â€œYes,” Hannah said, and then she spelled it out. “Are you writing a letter of recommendation for someone?”
    â€œNo, dear. Just give me a moment more and I’ll be through.”
    Hannah’s curiosity reached new heights. Her mother had told Michelle it was “personal,” and it wasn’t a letter of recommendation. Asking politely hadn’t worked, and she’d promised Michelle that she’d snoop if she got the chance. Feeling a bit like someone cheating on an exam, Hannah craned her neck to try to see her mother’s computer screen. Unfortunately she was off-axis, and all she saw was a faintly lighted screen. She inched slightly to the side to get a better view, not an easy task with a heavy desk chair that didn’t roll, but the only thing she could make out was faint lines of double-spaced type. It was definitely not a letter. Letters were single-spaced.
    â€œAlmost through, dear,” Delores said, her fingers beating a staccato rhythm on the keys.
    Hannah gave a lurch, and the chair slid another inch to the side. That was better! She could almost read something! She was leaning forward, squinting to make out the words, when a huge bouquet of flowers replaced the words on the screen.
    â€œIt’s time for a break,” Delores stated, leaning back in her chair. “You looked a bit upset when you came in the door, dear. Does it make you sad to see me using your father’s office?”
    â€œA little,” Hannah admitted.
    â€œThat’s what I thought. You spent a lot of time in here with him.”
    â€œYou got a new desk chair.”
    â€œYes. I tried using his, but it just wasn’t right for me. So I ordered a new one, and then I kept thinking of what he’d say if he saw me replacing his desk chair. I was going to give it to charity. It’s really too big for this small room. But…I couldn’t just throw it away. He spent so much time in here, sitting in that chair. Sometimes when I’m working late, I’ll turn, and for just a second I think I can see him there. Is that crazy?”
    â€œNo, that’s love. And memories.”
    Delores blinked several times, and then she gave a little smile. “You’re right. But I really do need to put a file cabinet in here, and there won’t be room with that chair. Would you like to have it?”
    Hannah was tempted.