Read Online Who Glares Wins (Lexi Graves Mysteries) by Camilla Chafer - Free Book Online

raised. Well, four, and my sister, Serena , who was born a swot and stayed that way. Frankly, it's amazing the house is still standing , given everything it endured.
    "Alexandra!" My mother swung the door open and held up some kind of fabric that was hideous, a brilliant smile on her face. My mother is Irish to the bone, born shortly after her parents made the hop over. Even now, in her sixties , she has dark brown hair, gra ying slightly, and the prettiest blue eyes. I'm a lot like her, but taller by an inch . "I'm sewing a mural with my beginn ing sewing class."
    "Wow," I said , fingering the fabric . "Tell me about it."
    My mother frowned at me. "That's what I always used to say to you kids when I couldn't work out what you made."
    I took a leaf out of Solomon's book and just smiled. Her assessment was accurate , but I wouldn't insult her by confirming it. Instead, I glossed it over by asking, "Am I the first here?"
    "You're the only one I invited," said Mom, ushering me into the kitchen. I noticed the sewn mural went flying into a large , floral basket, a new addition to their neat home. My father was noticeably absent from his leather chair in the living room, a retirement gift to him from my mother , and now his favorite spot in the whole house. "I thought dinner with just the two of us would be nice."
    "Lovely. Where's Dad?"
    "He's taken up tennis."
    I gave her my skeptical face. "Are you serious? "
    "Deadly. He bought white shorts." We both pulled a face. My father is well known for having incredibly hairy legs , and I doubted either of us wanted to think about him flying about a tennis court, baring them to the world.
    "Aren't you going to go with him?"
    "My Friday afternoon aerobics class is enough."
    "I wonder where you get the energy to do all this stuff." I was fairly certain my mother had taken just about every adult education class going, and constantly had several on the go. Since retiring , she'd gained two belts in karate, slimmer hips from aerobics, basic French , and certificates in IT skills. I think she's just bored.
    "I'm still wired from raising five children," she told me as I sat at the breakfast bar in the kitchen. I t was i nstalled once my brothers grew up , moved out, and finally stopped breaking stuff with their gangly limbs . T he kitchen still looked new and smart. "All that nervous energy has to go somewhere."
    "You haven't raised children for twelve years, Mom!" I was the last of the five. I should know.
    "That gives me at least twenty more years to work off. I might be dead by then."
    "Cheery."
    My mother had already assembled a platter of freshly baked bread, olives, cold meats, cheese , and a fresh pitcher of juice at the ready. She spread them between us, and passed me a plate and glass .
    "This is nice," I told her again as I placed cheese and ham on a slice of bread . I bit into it and felt the last of my hangover ebb ing away. "I like family dinners , but it's nice to actually see you without taking a ticket ."
    "That's what I thought." Mom chewed on some bread, her face thoughtful.
    "Spill it," I said. I wasn't a PI now for nothing. I saw the quest ion forming in my mother's head, the ulterior motive overshadowing the food. "I know you want to ask me something."
    "Actually, I want to talk to you about Serena." Mom poured juice in my glass, then for her self .
    "What's up?"
    "She's not herself."
    "She just had a baby. She's tired."
    "That's not it. She's sad, I can tell."
    "What about?"
    "She won't tell me."
    "And you want me to ask her?"
    My mother nodded and her hair bobbed with her. "Yes."
    I knew it. I'd seen it coming and I kind of agreed with her. Serena had skipped the last couple of family dinners , and when she did come, she was alone except for her brand new baby , Victoria. Normally , she had a sharp wit, and an even sharper ability to name drop , or at least throw in a sly insult or two. She hadn't been lately. I had two theories and both of them were plausible : it was