Read Online With Vics You Get Eggroll (A Mad for Mod Mystery Book 3) by Diane Vallere - Free Book Online Page A

the walls and the small pattern of tile in the floor. A trip to my storage locker would net me an era-appropriate light fixture for over the sink. The cabinet under the sink would have to be replaced. A custom construction job would be best.
    I pulled a notebook from my wicker tote and made a quick list: Light fixture, cabinet, throw rugs, curtains, towels. “It’s perfect, don’t you think?”
    “It’s pink, that’s for sure.”
    I turned to face Cleo, again wondering about her and her husband’s motivation in hiring me. “Are you sure this is what you had in mind?”
    “Darlin’, you’re the one with the vision. Dan and I agreed on this. Whatever you say goes.”
    “Is Dan here?”
    “No, you don’t have to worry about any more of his outbursts. Today it’s just us girls. Too bad we can’t have any fun.” She pouted as if she wished the Chippendale dancers had shown up instead of me.
    Inside, I relaxed. Dan’s anger over his brother’s death and his hostility toward Tex had made for a tense working environment. I was happy to be able to work without fear of a second confrontation.
    “Cleo, about what Dan said yesterday, about the mentality of a cop…”
    “Don’t think twice about what Dan said. He’s never accepted how his brother changed after joining the force. George was a mild-mannered guy who dated the same woman for four years. Six months after he graduated from the police academy, he changed.”
    “With all due respect, that’s one person. That’s not everybody. Tex isn’t like that. He takes his job very seriously.”
    “Sounds like maybe you know this Tex better than most.”
    I looked down at my notes, flipped the notebook shut, and clipped my pen to the spiral binding at the top. “He took a bullet for me a few months ago,” I said quietly.
    “I suppose if a police officer took a bullet for me, I’d defend him too,” she said. She raised her glass to her lips and took a long drink. “I’ll be outside by the pool if you need me,” Cleo said.
    I left the bathroom and sat by the wall of glass blocks in the living room. Cleo and Dan had hired me for the works, and that included removal of the carpet, removal of the glass block partition, paint, new lighting, new furniture.
    Self-described as having no talent or interest in decorating, they had written me a check for half of the job estimate I gave them, and it had been a hefty estimate. I’d deposited their check, set timetables, and planned out which tasks I could do myself and which I couldn’t. As much as I wanted to test out the theory of demolition as therapy, I recognized that I needed backup. I dug my phone out of my bag and called Hudson.
    “Madison,” he said in his deep voice. It was like dark chocolate coated in espresso and dipped in cigar smoke. “Hope you don’t mind that I have you on speaker. I’m in the car.”
    “Of course,” I said. “I didn’t expect you to answer.”
    “Have you been trying to reach me? Shoot. I went backpacking and didn’t bother with my phone. Suspended my service for a while. Is everything okay?”
    “Sure, I wanted to talk to you about a job.”
    “Should have known. The consummate businesswoman.”
    I listened for something in his voice, a hint that he’d missed me, or that he’d been hoping I’d called for another reason, but the background noise his cell picked up made it impossible to hear anything but the sound of the wind.
    Hudson wasn’t the first handyman who had answered my ad, but once we started working together, he became the last one I needed. If we’d met under different circumstances, who knows what might have become. But I was jaded about things like happily ever after, and the possibility of trading our comfortable connection for a romance that came with no guarantees wasn’t worth the risk. I relied more and more on his talents and let my other contacts lapse. But even he had moved on. It had been a year since I’d learned the truth about Hudson’s