Read Online Sketch Me If You Can by Sharon Pape - Free Book Online

rage.
    “But you did a remarkably good job of it anyway,” she snapped. He could have at least said “hi there” or “hello” as he approached her. Even a polite cough or throat clearing would have helped.
    “I was on the phone in the study down the hall when you got here. As soon as the conversation was over, I came out to welcome you. To be honest, when I saw you there at the edge of the stairs, you looked like you were going to do a half gainer. I was afraid to speak or do anything that might startle you.”
    “Yeah, well that worked out well,” she said dryly.
    “Point taken. I apologize.”
    “Apology accepted.” Rory took a few tentative steps away from the wall. Okay, her legs were under her control again. She held out her hand to him. “Rory McCain.”
    “Vince Conti,” he said, covering her hand in his larger one.
    “I take it you’re the real estate agent?”
    “For today I am. Are you a prospective buyer?”
    “I suppose I am,” she said, since she didn’t want to say she was investigating Gail’s death.
    Conti nodded, and Rory saw him glance at her left hand. “As you can see, it’s a magnificent house, but maybe too much house for a single woman?”
    “You shouldn’t make assumptions, Mr. Conti. For all you know, I’m married with four kids, a mother-in-law and two dogs.”
    “Okay then,” he said, laughing, “let me show you around.”
    It was a charming laugh that was easy on the ears, and Rory couldn’t help but smile back at him. She wasn’t sure that he was buying her story, but he seemed willing enough to play along for now.
    “So, Mr. Conti, what are you when you’re not a real estate agent?” she asked as they walked down the hall.
    “It’s Vince, please. And to answer your question, I’m the builder of the development. This is the last house for sale here. Tomorrow I start work on a new subdivision. So when my real estate agent had an emergency, I decided to run the open house myself. I like to have things tied up before I move on, if possible.”
    He showed her into the first bedroom. It was elegant but understated, in navy and ecru; silk draperies framed the windows and puddled richly on the floor.
    “There are five bedrooms total,” he said as Rory walked around the room, “including a maid’s quarters off the kitchen. Each bedroom has its own bath, and there’s also a powder room on the main floor.”
    “It’s beautifully decorated,” Rory murmured, admiring the way the different patterns worked so well together. If she had tried to pull that off, the room would have looked like a huge patchwork quilt. She was beginning to understand why Gail was so sought after.
    “The owners were planning to use this as a guest room,” Vince said.
    “Owners? But I thought you said that it hadn’t been sold.” Rory waited to see if he was going to be upfront about what had happened here.
    He shrugged. “The people who bought it changed their minds before they even moved in. You know the type, so much money that losing a hundred grand is like losing cab fare to them. So I bought it back, made a little profit and got some furniture in the bargain.”
    They walked down the hallway to the next bedroom, which had clearly been decorated for a little girl. It was all lilac and white with French provincial furniture, yards of sheer, billowy curtains, and an elaborate dolls’ tea party set up in one corner.
    “So you don’t think their decision to sell had anything to do with that woman who died here?” Rory had seen her colleagues conduct enough interviews to know that sometimes taking the direct approach worked best at catching people off guard.
    “You know about that, huh?” Vince smiled sheepishly.
    Rory gave him credit for having the decency to be embarrassed over the deliberate omission.
    “Yeah, I’m sure it figured into their decision,” he said. “But if you think about it, there must be an enormous number of houses where people have died. Cancers, heart