Read Online Last Resort of Murder (A Lacy Steele Mystery Book 9) by Vanessa Gray Bartal - Free Book Online Page A

bad. At least it was
warm.
    Riley put up her hand and turned
away. “I can’t look at it anymore. It’s like trying to stare directly at the
sun. My retinas are burning. At least tell me you brought ski goggles.”
    “I’m not a total idiot. I know the
sun is glaring on the snow. Only of course I didn’t have ski goggles, so I
brought regular sunglasses.” She put them on in time for Riley to glance at her
and groan.
    “How are we sisters?” Riley asked.
“I mean, seriously, you go out there like that and someone is going to trap you
with a giant net and haul you away.”
    “Exaggerate much?” Lacy said.
    “No, and in your case never,” Riley
said. “Seriously, you cannot go out there like that. If not for your sake,
think of Jason. He doesn’t want to be seen with a giant stick of butter
cruising down a snow hill.”
    “Jason and I are not going to be
together. He and the rest of the guys are going on the diamondback trails or
whatever the ones for experienced skiers are called. I’m going to stay on the
bunny hill where I belong. We’re going to walk out together, and that’s it.”
    “You mean ‘that’s it’ like the end
of your relationship, right, because once he sees you in that, he’s only ever
going to be able to picture a corn cob when he tries to touch you,” Riley said.
“Go to the boutique right now and buy a ski outfit. Tosh’s treat.”
    Lacy rolled her eyes. “I am not
buying a crazy expensive outfit for one afternoon of my life, regardless of who
pays for it. This suits me fine. I’m warm and well-padded.”
    “It bodes well for you that you
like things well-padded. Remember that when you get to the asylum,” Riley said.
    “Girls,” their mother said
distractedly as she rifled through her suitcase and then added, “although
Riley’s right, Lacy. You look like a banana.”
    “Gee, thanks, family. I can always
count on you for a boost of self-esteem,” Lacy said. She grabbed a key and
hurried out of the room where she met the men in the hallway. Their
conversation came to a halt as they stared at her.
    “What?” Lacy snapped, daring one of
them to say something. Her eyes landed on Michael as the most likely to offer
an insult.
    Her father cleared his throat.
“Wow, that’s a blast from the past. I think I wore that the first time I ever
went skiing.”
    Tosh snickered and tried to pretend
it was a cough.
    “I like things that are retro,”
Lacy declared. Her nose was in the air, daring one of them to say anything
else. Jason remained wisely silent. Michael pressed his lips together. He
looked like he was about to explode, either with laughter or sarcasm.
    “Something you wanted to say?” Lacy
asked him.
    “Yes, I was going to say that you
look great. Have you lost weight?”
    She blinked in surprise. “Yes.” As
of her weigh-in that morning, she had lost four pounds, no doubt due to her
ill-fated bathroom trip the night before.
    “You’re pencil thin,” Michael added
and the other guys lost it.
    “Ha-ha, yes, pencils are yellow,
and so am I. Good one,” Lacy said.
    Jason put his arm around her
shoulders. “All right, that’s enough teasing of my girl. She’s already upset
because she lost Curious George.”
    Lacy elbowed him and pulled away.
    “Don’t make her cry, you guys,”
Tosh added. “She might curl up in a ball and be mistaken for a lemon.”
    “I hate all of you,” Lacy said.
    They passed Kimber who was heading
to the salon with Tosh’s sisters. “Oh, girl,” Kimber said, shaking her head in
dismay.
    “I think it’s cute,” one of Tosh’s sisters
said. “She looks like a baby duck.”
    The guys cracked up again. By the
time they reached the outside, Lacy’s cheeks were as red as her hair. Jason
leaned in to kiss her. She crossed her arms over her chest and leaned away. He
ignored her and kissed her cheek. “We’re teasing you. You’re cute.”
    She wasn’t cute, though. She could
see now what Riley meant. All around her people were