A Suspicion of Strawberries (Scents of Murder Book 1) by Lynette Sowell Read Free Book Online Page B

pull out her cell phone and take a call after she shot me a glare, mouthing, “Let’s go.”
    “Hey, baby.” A lanky young man with a trimmed beard, wearing a striped shirt and a too-long tie, sidled up to Kaitlyn. Her smile didn’t hold nearly the same brilliance as the one she’d given Robert, the grieving fiancé.
    “Hi.” She received the kiss on the cheek he gave her and took his hand. “This is Jared.”
    “Oh, um, hello.” Di was walking our way— “Andi, I hate to break the news to you, but I’ve got to go.” Di glanced down at her watch. “The babysitter has to leave and I already owe her more than I budgeted.”
    “Kaitlyn, Jared, nice chatting with you.” I still held my plate of uneaten food. “Take care, now.”
    The last thing I heard as I walked away was Kaitlyn saying, “Who was that? And how’d she know my name?”
    Okay, I never said I was much good as a sleuth, but I had to start somewhere. Next stop, Mike Chandler. I had to find out about that lawsuit. If he was miffed about it, maybe he’d talk.
    Back into the humid afternoon we went and headed to Di’s van. I climbed into the passenger seat. “Sorry about that.”
    Di started the van and cranked the air-conditioning up to full blast. “Don’t worry about it. Did you learn anything interesting?”
    “As a matter of fact, I did. Charla accused Mike Chandler of trying to poison her once out of revenge.”
    “Wow.”
    “That was my reaction. I was hoping to get Kaitlyn to tell me more about it, but her boyfriend came up. . .”
    “And so did I. Sorry.”
    “Don’t worry about it. I can accomplish two things when I go to Chandler’s Farmer’s Market. Get some strawberries so Ben and I can have strawberry shortcake, and ask Mike a few questions.” As we pulled out of the church parking lot, I told her how I’d blown it by calling Kaitlyn by name when she hadn’t introduced herself.
    Di laughed. “She probably had no clue how you knew her, anyway. Say, is Ben home yet?”
    “Almost.”
    “Do you want me to drop you off at his place or at home?”
    “Home. I need to change out of these dressy clothes.” Nylons and humidity definitely do not mix.
     
     
    At the sight of Ben’s navy blue tractor rig in the driveway of his and Jerry’s house, I felt better already. I was soon up the stairs and standing at the door. My heart pounded.
    Then, the door opened, and without a word, Ben pulled me into his arms. I breathed in a hint of cologne and the scent of his freshly washed hair. He’d been working out while on the road, using the resistance bands I’d bought him for his birthday. He wore a blue pullover shirt I didn’t remember seeing before, something that he’d normally wear to church and not on a Monday afternoon. His kiss reminded me of why getting married would be a very good idea.
    “I missed you,” Ben murmured into my ear, his gravelly voice.
    I stepped back but still remained in his arms. “I missed you, too. It was awful not having you here with everything that was going on.” Ben made up for our two weeks apart with another kiss.
    When he held me at arm’s length, his blue eyes were twinkling. “Well, I’m here now, and you can tell me about it when we get back.”
    “Back from where?”
    His face took on an unreadable expression. “Somewhere. I have a surprise for you.”
    “Okay. Where are we going?” I tried to block his path down the stairs but figured he might try to tote me over his shoulder like he did once before when I got sassy (as he claimed) and got in his way.
    “You’ll see.” He took a step closer, and I reconsidered trying to make a human barrier at the top of the stairs.
    We headed to my Jeep, where I tossed him the keys. He backed out down the driveway.
    “You get the oil changed on this yet?” Ben shifted into first gear.
    “I was going to. . . . Been kind of busy lately.”
    He reached for my hand once we were on the main road, going into town. “I’ll take care of it