Read Online Painting Naked (Macmillan New Writing) by Maggie Dana - Free Book Online Page A

guess.” I look around Claudia’s lovely kitchen and notice a calendar on the wall. It’s a delicate woodland scene with squirrels and badgers, rabbits, mice, and a fox. Butterflies dance like marionettes on hidden strings against a shaft of sunlight. Sprays of flowers—white daisies, blue forget-me-nots, yellow buttercups—grow amid ferns at the base of a large weeping willow.
    “Did you do this?” I say.
    Claudia nods. “I do the odd painting for a wildlife society. They use them for greetings cards, wrapping paper, and calendars.” She takes it off the wall. “Here. I’ve got plenty more.”
    “Thanks. It’s fabulous.”
    The phone rings.
    “It’s my daughter again,” Claudia says. “She wants to speak to you.”
    Sophie sounds anxious. “Heard anything from home?”
    “The lines are down. I can’t get through.”
    “Jill, I know you were planning to come back tomorrow, but could you come up today, instead?”
    “Why?”
    “Because I prepared way too much food for last night’s banquet. Keith and Penny Lombard are in town for the weekend, without the kids, so I invited them for lunch tomorrow. Roddy Slade’s coming, too.” She pauses. “Oh, and bring Mum with you. Tell her the doctor can fit her in on Monday.”
    “Roddy Slade?” Claudia says, when I tell her about the change in plans. “That’s a name from the past.”
    “It sure is.”
    “I wonder what he looks like now.”
    “You’ll get to see for yourself,” I say, then tell her about the doctor’s appointment.
    “Oh, bother,” Claudia says. “Who’ll take care of my squirrels?”
    Max jumps on the table. “What about your cat?”
    “I’ll ask Nora to feed him.” Claudia waves toward the front of her house. “She lives right across the street.”
    “You mean she’s—”
    “The farmer’s wife.” Claudia grins. “Her heart’s in the right place. She doesn’t like what her husband’s doing to those squirrels any more than I do.”
    “Will she tend to the traps?”
    “No, but now and then she tells me where he hides them. I hate to think what would happen if he ever found out.” Claudia shudders. “He’d probably drown her as well.”
    * * *
     
    We get back to London and find Sophie in her kitchen surrounded by stacks of disposable casserole dishes and large flat trays covered with tinfoil. Her hair’s a mess and her hands are covered with pastry dough. While she and Claudia exchange floury hugs, I pick up the phone and try to reach Lizzie. No luck. The lines are still dead.
    “Did you get through?” Sophie says, sliding a pie in the oven.
    “Nope. Have you heard anything more?”
    “Just what I saw on TV this morning. But it must be over by now, surely.”
    “I hope so.”
    Claudia takes my arm and pulls me into the living room. “About this little party tomorrow,” she whispers. “Sophie didn’t cook too much food. This is really for you.”
    “It is?”
    “Don’t let on I told you,” Claudia warns. “It’s supposed to be a surprise.”
    I stare at her. “Is there something you’re not telling me?”
    “Oh dear,” Claudia says. “I said too much already.”
    * * *
     
    Lizzie rings up at ten the next morning. “It wasn’t as bad as we expected,” she says. “Hardly any damage. Just a few broken branches and a ton of leaves. Some areas are still without power, but your place is all right.”
    “How about Zachary? Is he okay?”
    There’s a burst of interference and all I hear is “—’s fine.”
    I relax. “Thanks for taking care of things, Lizzie.”
    “No problem. So, tell me. What’s up for today?”
    “Sophie’s having a few friends for lunch.”
    “Is Colin on the menu?”
    “No.”
    “Pity,” Lizzie says. “When’s your flight coming in?”
    “Thursday, at seven thirty.” I pause. “I’ve bought you a huge tin of shortbread.”
    “In that case,” Lizzie says, “I won’t send Fergus. I’ll come pick you up myself.”
    I hang up and offer to help Sophie, but