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

I am not disappointed or even surprised that you’ve cut him loose, quite frankly.” Jessica was shocked, since her father had always been amiable toward Jim.
    “What do you mean? What didn’t you like? Why didn’t you say something?” She asked, pummeling him with questions, curious and incredulous in the same moment. Jessica thought of her father as guileless, an open book. She could never remember him lying to her or anyone else. Unlike her mother, he never seemed affected, pretentious or out to impress. So, how had he kept his real feelings hidden, and why?
    “It’s hard to put into words, which is part of why I didn’t say anything. He just seemed less, less than you and less than you deserved, Jessica. Jim struck me as shallow, maybe superficial or phony. Honestly, I’m not sure. Besides, what father doesn’t think something like that about the guy marrying his daughter? So, I gave him the benefit of the doubt. You loved him. I thought you saw something in him that I didn’t. I can tell now that he’s hurt you, and I’m sorry, Jinx.” Jessica had not told anyone yet about Jim’s betrayal. Something in her voice must have revealed the depths of her sadness.
    “Thanks, for the support, Dad, and for letting me make my own mistakes.”
    “It’s one of the hardest things about being a parent, Jessica. Trust me on that.” She did. Then he surprised her again. “Your mother couldn’t stand him either, by the way. She was more adamant than I was about his not being right for you. More inclined to speak up about it too. You know how she is. I made her take an oath to keep her mouth shut. I didn’t think it would change your mind and I didn’t want to give you yet another reason to hate your parents.” Jessica was floored. Were they even on speaking terms at that point? Her mother had brought husband-to-be number three to Jessica’s wedding. That was the guy whose name Jessica couldn’t even remember. The marriage had come and gone in a flash.
    “I didn’t know you and Mom talked things over like that anymore,” Jessica said.
    “When it has to do with you, Jinx, we did. Still do. We made a pact to put our problems aside when it came to you. Even though we couldn’t get along, we never stopped loving you.” His voice trailed off. Jessica felt loved, and thanked him for that as she hung up the phone. She also let him know she’d be “hiding out” at the house in the desert, and he was quick to offer her use of the house in Brentwood. He wasn’t there much. Most of his post-Great Recession business was outside the U.S., in China and elsewhere in the Pacific Rim.
    Since then, she had spoken to each of them again, but only briefly. She called to tell them about Roger’s death. They knew who he was, of course, because he was married to her good friend, Laura. Neither could attend the funeral, but both sent flowers with notes paying their respects.
    Jessica was hit by a wave of nostalgia as she stacked the last pillow on the bed and headed into the bathroom to shower. The conversation with Frank about his parents had triggered an avalanche of memories about their childhood. They were pleasant memories about Uncle Don and Aunt Evelyn, and the time spent with them and her friends. By then, she had worked through the worst of her tantrums about her parents’ divorce, finding comfort and enjoyment in the friendships she made at St. Theresa’s. She had also become a Catholic, making her conversion in a teenage sort of way. Partly she did it to taunt her Anglican parents, and mostly to fit in with her peers. Maybe also to please Bernadette or to emulate her, hoping to garner the peace Bernadette found at Mass or when saying the Rosary.
    In college, where it was so uncool to be Catholic or a member of any other kind of religious sect, for that matter, she had let it slide. During a first quarter class on comparative religion, she dabbled in a variety of meditative practices, pursuing spirituality while