Read Online Leave No Stone Unturned (A Lexie Starr Mystery, Book 1) by Jeanne Glidewell - Free Book Online Page B

there as far as he knew."
    "Oh, Wendy, I'm s-s-orry. I'll bet you asked for Lexie, didn't you?"
    "No, Mom. I asked for Roy Rogers. Of course I asked for Lexie! I told him I was your
     daughter." Goodness, from who had Wendy inherited her sarcasm?
    "Oh, well, that explains it then," I said. "S-s-stone only knows me as Alexandria."
    "I asked for Lexie Starr. He doesn't know your last name? Does he have so many girlfriends
     that he couldn't figure out Lexie was short for Alexandria? Mom, what is going on?
     And why are you stuttering, by the way?"
    "Nothing's going on, Wendy. You know, a lot of gals named Alexandria go by Alex,"
     I said. Even as I said it, I knew it wasn't going to convince Wendy that Stone had
     just misunderstood the name. "And I'm not Stone Van Patten's girlfriend. He just seemed
     like an interesting man when we chatted on the Internet. He doesn't know too much
     about me. I've been reluctant to share much about myself with a man I hardly know—"
    "Like your name?" Wendy interrupted.
    "Dear, please settle down. It's nothing like you're imagining. I probably never did
     think to tell him my last name, or that most people call me Lexie. I haven't even
     invited Mr. Van Patten to dinner yet, and it's quite likely I won't. I wanted to leave
     myself free to change my mind about meeting him. So, you see, he was being quite truthful
     when he told you he was unaware of my plans. Meeting Mr. Van Patten is not my main
     concern, just something I thought I'd consider while I was out here. I spent the first
     couple days driving around New England, enjoying the fall colors. Then I drove down
     the coastline to South Carolina. Now I'm in Myrtle Beach and I plan to spend a few
     days shopping. I thought maybe I could get my Christmas shopping done early, and there
     are some wonderful shops here on the Grand Strand." Good grief, what a liar I'd become!
    "The what?"
    "It's what they call the main stretch through town," I said. "It's a strip of land
     between the inter-coastal waterway, in this case the Waccamaw River, and the Atlantic
     Ocean. There are a lot of shops along the 'strand' and good seafood restaurants too."
    I didn't know what I was talking about, but I thought I'd distract Wendy with a couple
     of details that I could recall from one of Stone's e-mails. "I've eaten so many crabs
     that I'm about to turn into one, I think."
    I was more apt to turn into a poached egg, actually. But I did meet a Crabb—Wilbur
     T. Crabb, to be exact. The slivers of truth in my statements were getting harder and
     harder to detect. "When are you coming home, Mom?" Wendy obviously didn't care that
     I was turning into a crab. She was probably more concerned I might be turning into
     a blooming idiot.
    "I don't know, honey. When I've seen all I want to see, I suppose. Why were you trying
     to get in touch with me in the first place? Is something wrong?"
    "No, Clay and I just had some good news for you. I was too excited to wait for you
     to come home, so I thought I'd call and tell you on the phone."
    Dread settled into the pit of my stomach. "So tell me, honey, what's the good news?"
    "You're going to be a grandmother!" Wendy practically shrieked into the phone. "Sometime
     around the end of May."
    "Oh Wendy—how wonderful!" I said. Oh, Wendy, how terrible, I thought. "When you get
     further along, are you going to try to find out what gender it is?"
    "I haven't decided if I want to know yet. I'm kind of hoping our first child is a
     boy—but I really don't care one way or the other. Although, I'd imagine knowing in
     advance would make it easier to decorate the nursery."
    "Well, I don't care whether it's a boy or a girl, either, as long as it's healthy.
     I'm thrilled for both of you—and me too, of course. My first grandchild—imagine that!
     I'll bet Clay is as excited as we are," I said. I was going out on a fishing expedition.
    "Oh, I'm sure he will be, once he gets used to the idea of being a father," she replied