A Dead Husband (Jessica Huntington Desert Cities Mystery) by Anna Burke Read Free Book Online Page A

Jessica could say anything, Sara spoke up. “Jessica wants a peanut butter sandwich too.”
    “Sure.  Is grape jam okay?” Laura asked. “I think we have honey if you prefer. It’s pb & j for the kids, though, one of the few things they’ll eat.”
    “Grape jam will be fine .” Jessica said. “Look, Laura, like I said on the phone, I’m no defense attorney but I am your friend and I’m here to do anything I can to help.  Let’s eat and then we can talk and see if we can sort things out.  I’m glad you feel you can count on me.  I just don’t want to let you down.” Jessica’s eyes filled with tears as a wan smile appeared momentarily belying the deep lines etched on her friend’s face by grief and worry.
    “Thanks Jessica, you are a good friend.”
    Jessica poured sippy cups full of milk for three year old Jenny and two year old Jack, and then filled glasses with iced tea for the adults.  Fruit and chips were served along with the sandwiches.  In no time the toddlers seemed to be coated in peanut butter and jam.
    “M ore on them than in them, as usual,” Sara said as she pleaded for them to stop smearing their food on each other.  Somehow, despite shrieks from the kids, the clanking of spoons on Dora the Explorer dishes, and the clatter of plates, spoons and cups repeatedly hitting the floor, the subdued and sparse conversation of the adults made it seem like a quiet lunch. 
    As soon as lunch was over Sara left to hose the kids down and put them to bed for a nap .  Jessica watched her leave the room with a mix of relief and regret that she wasn’t in her shoes.  Mostly, she felt relief given the current condition of her soon-to-be-terminated marriage.  What would she and Jim have done if they had child custody issues to deal with? Worse yet, what if they had to continue to see each other because they shared a child? 
    Jessica sighed deeply as she got up from the table to help Laura clean up the lunch dishes .  Laura refilled their glasses with iced tea and they sat down on the sofa in the great room off the kitchen, stepping over a kid’s toy or two.  The room was large, with high ceilings and an airy feeling.  A wall of windows and sliders opened to a large backyard enclosed by a sepia colored cinder block wall with magenta bougainvillea climbing up and over it. 
    A covered patio overlooked a grassy play area, with a swing set at one end and a barbeque pit at the other .  There were more kids’ toys scattered about.  Jessica felt a little flip-flop somewhere in her gut. Maybe it was her traitorous biological clock tick-tocking now that the kids were sleeping like angels rather than screaming like banshees.  More likely it was just a bit of indigestion from peanut butter served up with a lingering hangover and a heavy dose of stress, given the current circumstances.
    Setting her glass down, Jessica leaned forward . “Okay Laura, start at the beginning and tell me everything that’s happened.” 
    Laura took a deep breath .  “There’s really not that much to tell.  I came home and found him in the hallway.”
    “What time did you get home?”
    Laura reddened and looked down without answering Jessica’s question.
    “Laura?” Jessica prodded.
    Laura struggled to speak through a whole lot of misery.  “We haven’t been getting along very well ever since Roger’s business got so bad.  I mean we were still okay moneywise because I have my job at the hospital, but Roger’s been miserable.  His business depended a lot on home sales. People who bought new homes and didn’t want to pay for builder upgrades would hire him to give them the kitchen of their dreams or a deluxe master bath.  Practically overnight all that work was gone.  He was doing some work for banks and realtors on foreclosures.  They hired him to put things back together after pissed off homeowners trashed their homes when the banks took them back, or after the neighborhood kids broke in and used the place