Read Online Trouble In Triplicate by Barbara Boswell - Free Book Online Page A

date with Walsh tonight?"
    Juliet decided the safest answer was no answer at all. She folded her arms across her chest and stared at the rain pounding at the windshield. The trees along the darkened mountainside were half bent from the force of the wind. "Quite a storm we're having, isn't it?" she said blandly.
    "I think I'm beginning to get the drift, Juliet. I'm the jerk you dressed up for tonight, aren't I? And when I showed up in jeans, you—"
    "You're a jerk, all right," she interrupted dryly.
    He didn't take offense. He laughed instead. "Yeah, maybe I am at that. I should've asked you to have dinner with me at the inn tonight. You were expecting me to, weren't you?"
    "No, I always dress up to sit in a car outside a restaurant."
    "I'm sorry, honey. I'm not dressed for dinner at the inn, but we can—"
    "Caine, look!" Juliet interrupted, pointing at the sky. "A bolt of lightning struck that tree down on the hillside! I saw it! It split it right in two!" Actually, she was grateful for the diversion. She didn't want to talk about her expectations for tonight. Or Caine's either!
    He shook his head. "We picked one helluva night to stage a reconciliation. Are you afraid of storms, Juliet?"
    "No, I like them. I think they're exciting."
    He smiled. "I should have known a woman as passionate as you would—"
    "But I'm not crazy about being in the mountains in a storm," she added hastily. "We've been driving for a long time." She decided a change of subject was definitely in order. "Are we getting close to the inn?"
    "We'll be there soon. Damn! That idiot coming toward us should dim his headlights! They're practically blinding me!"
    The car roared past them. Less than two minutes later a van came barreling down the mountainous road in the opposite lane, its headlights glaring. "Every fool in the world is out on the road tonight!" Caine said with disgust. "That van—"
    "Was our van!" Juliet sat up straight in her seat. "I'm sure it was, Caine! That means Randi has left the inn."
    "It couldn't be," Caine argued. "It's only a few minutes past eight. They would have hardly had time to say hello.''
    "If they even said hello. Maybe they took one look at each other and said 'drop dead" instead," Juliet said glumly. "Did the first car that passed us look like Grant's car? He drives a Lambourghini, doesn't he?"
    "I couldn't tell what it was. It was too dark. Just as it was too dark for you to be sure that was your van. Don't be so pessimistic, Juliet."
    They reached the Apple Country Inn a few minutes later. The two-story frame building seemed to be set in the middle of a sea of mud.
    "I'll carry you in," Caine told Juliet, and she did not demur. The mud was so deep and thick, she knew even a short trek through it would spell doom for her new shoes.
    To Juliet's surprise, the inn's small dining room was full, every table but one occupied by guests. She scanned the cozy room, staring at each diner, and then repeated the process. Grant and Randi were not seated at any of the tables. "Maybe they already went upstairs," Caine said before she could comment on their very conspicuous absence. "I reserved a room for them."
    "You're an eternal optimist." She shook her head. "They're not here, Caine. We passed them on the road."
    He set his jaw stubbornly. "I'll ask the proprietor if they've arrived yet."

Chapter 5

    Caine gave Juliet a thumbs-down sign after his brief chat with Mrs. Castle, the owner and hostess of the inn. "Miranda and Grant were here." He heaved a sigh. "Mrs. Castle said a man and a woman fitting their description met in the vestibule, quarreled for a few minutes, and then stormed out. No pun intended," he added as lightning flashed outside the window.
    Juliet sighed too. "Now what?"
    "We could follow them, I suppose, and spend a miserable evening watching them feel miserable." He brightened. "Or we could stay here and have dinner. Mrs. Castle said the inns dress code is abolished during bad weather."
    "Did she really say