Read Online Tea and Primroses by Tess Thompson - Free Book Online Page A

squeaking sound on the patio. “I’m sorry about your mother even though I know she never liked me much.”
    This time, Sutton didn’t bother to lie.
    She sat for several more minutes. The waves crashed below. The party roared inside. Paris seemed as if it had never happened. But it was there that she’d first started to have doubts about Roger. It started at the airport when he dropped her off because she hadn’t felt sad when he left her at the security line, hadn’t felt sincere when she promised to email him every day. No , every part of her had screamed, just let me go, let me be free.
     She put her head down on the table and took in deep breaths, hearing nothing but the rush of blood between her ears. Murdered . Someone had run down her mother in cold blood, had sped away knowing she was dead, had wanted her dead. It was impossible to understand.
    After a few minutes, she rose to her feet and opened the French doors into her mother’s office to avoid seeing any of the guests. Once inside, she found Patrick’s card and dialed his number. He answered on the first ring. “It’s Sutton Mansfield.”
    “Yes, how are you holding up?” His voice sounded gruff. He coughed. It sounded deep in his chest, like the time Declan had pneumonia when they were in high school.
    “I’m all right. Are you feeling sick?”
    There was silence for a moment on the other end of the line. “A little rundown, I’m afraid.”
    “Oh, well then, I’m sorry to bother you.”
    “It’s no bother. I wanted to say goodbye to you but I wasn’t able to find you and I was feeling tired.” He sounded unbearably sad.
    Sutton shivered when she said, “The police think she was murdered. They have a witness.”
    “I know.”
    She couldn’t speak for a moment. The image of the birds flying into the glass came to her again. She closed her eyes.
    “Sutton, are you there?”
    “Yes, sorry. The reason I’m calling is that I thought you might like to come have dinner with us?”
    “When?”
    “Not tomorrow but the next night? What is that, Tuesday? Unless you’re leaving today?” For some reason the thought of him leaving without getting to speak to him further was disheartening.
    “No, I’ll be here for several more days, at least.” It was quiet for a moment. “Sutton, I know it’s none of my business, but are you safe there? I mean, is Declan there with you?”
    “Yes, he’s here.”
    “Do you think it might be wise to hire some security detail? I mean, until the police can sort through things.”
    She shuddered. “Declan is keeping his eye on things but, yes, maybe. I’ll ask him what he thinks.”
    “What do you think?”
    What did she think? Was there an answer? She didn’t think too much about anything, deferring often to her mother’s wise and pragmatic opinion. Perhaps she relied on her too much. And now that her mother was gone, she’d immediately thought to defer to Declan’s judgment. And for months before she left for Paris she’d done the same thing with Roger. “I’m not used to trusting my own instincts or asking myself things I probably should. I hate to admit it, but I’m indecisive and lack courage.”
    “I was the same way when I was young.” He spoke softly. “And it got me into a lot of trouble.”
    “How did you change?”
    “I met someone. A woman, actually, that loved me so completely it made me braver, more sure of everything.”
    She picked up the cord to the shutters and danced the wooden tip on the palm of her hand. “Patrick, my mother didn’t have many friends and I was hoping you could tell me more about her. She never talked about herself much. I used to try and figure things out about her by reading her books. When I asked her things she was sometimes evasive. It’s hard to explain.”
    “I’ll tell you whatever you want to know.”
    But something about the way he said it made the hair on the back of her neck rise. Patrick Waters knew things he wasn’t prepared to tell her.