Read Online Tara Holloway 03 - Death, Taxes, and Extra-Hold Hairspray by Diane Kelly - Free Book Online

a large flat of purple petunias on one of the trailers and waved a gloved hand in greeting. Brett and I raised our hands back at him.
    The dogs hopped out of my BMW the instant I opened the back door. The duo ran over to Dennis, their tails wagging furiously. He knelt down to pet the two, pulling off his thick suede work gloves so he could give them a nice scratch under the chin. “Hey, boys.”
    Napoleon latched onto one of the gloves in Dennis’s hand and yanked it free, holding it in his teeth and furiously shaking the glove back and forth.
    “Give me that, you little troublemaker.” Dennis chuckled as he gently pulled the soggy glove from the dog’s mouth.
    “Is everything ready to go to the Habitat house?” Brett asked Dennis.
    Dennis nodded. “Got the delivery truck loaded and a driver lined up for later this afternoon.”
    “Great,” Brett said. “Tell the driver to ask for Trish LeGrande. She’s got a copy of my landscaping plans.”
    I bet Brett’s designs weren’t the only thing Trish would like to get her hands on. “Why does Trish have a copy of your plans?” I asked.
    “She’s the coordinator for our latest project,” Brett explained. “She keeps a copy of all the paperwork to make sure everyone’s on the same page.”
    Hmm. What he said made sense. But just because it made sense didn’t mean I had to like it.
    So much for setting aside my petty jealousy, huh?
    The dogs now situated, I drove Brett to the busy Dallas-Fort Worth airport. As we drove, a sense of emptiness and dread settled over me. The next month would be a long one without Brett.
    I pulled to a stop at the curb in front of the noisy airport. No sense in me going inside since I wouldn’t be able to make it past security without a ticket.
    I popped the back hatch, climbed out of my car, and stood on the sidewalk. Brett reached into the open trunk and pulled out his luggage and his golf clubs, packed in a hard-sided travel case. This month would be hell for me but for Brett it would be heaven. Though the country club in Atlanta had not yet opened, the course was already in place. He’d be able to play all the free golf he could find time for and never have to deal with a crowded fairway.
    Brett set his stuff down on the sidewalk, closed the trunk, and stepped in front of me. “I’m going to miss the heck out of you.”
    “You better,” I said, looking up at him.
    He smiled down at me. “You better miss me, too.”
    I gave him a soft kiss followed by a tight hug, holding on as if I’d never let him go. “I already do.”
    *   *   *
    Saturday evening I had dinner at an Italian place with my best friend Alicia and her boyfriend, Daniel.
    “Working on any interesting cases?” I asked Daniel as I passed him the bread basket.
    Daniel was an associate with a large, prestigious law firm. He focused primarily on commercial litigation—breaches of contract, trademark infringement, antitrust suits, that type of thing. His firm routinely hired CPAs from Martin and McGee to perform financial analyses for their cases, compute complicated damage amounts, and provide expert testimony in financial matters. In fact, Alicia and Daniel had first met when our boss at the CPA firm had assigned me and Alicia to review financial records in a court case Daniel was working on. For the two of them, it had been love at first suit.
    An odd look passed between my two dinner companions before Daniel answered my question. “I’ve got one interesting case in the works,” he said. “A big one. But it’s not something I can discuss with you.”
    I raised a palm, letting him know I understood and took no offense at his secrecy. “Client confidentiality. I get it.” I was subject to similar restrictions.
    We chatted amiably through the meal, the three of us sharing a cannoli for dessert.
    Though I knew the two didn’t mind having me along at dinner, without Brett I nonetheless felt like a third wheel, an intruder. When they invited me back