Aurora 07 - Last Scene Alive by Charlaine Harris Read Free Book Online Page A

is not for everyone. It’s not high-paying, at least in Lawrenceton, and some people seem to feel it’s degrading. So I was grateful for Catherine’s consistency, and I tried hard to be a good employer.
    “I’m fixing to leave,” she said, after I’d introduced her to Robin. “You need to get some more Clorox and some more Bounce sheets. I put it on the list on the refrigerator.”
    “Thanks, Catherine,” I said.
    “See you next time.”
    “Okay.”
    We were never going to be best friends, but at least our exchanges were always civil. After she’d left, I poured some iced tea for Robin and we went into the study, den, downstairs room—I’d called it all three. There was a red leather couch with its back to the window. Robin settled on that, so he’d have plenty of room for his long legs. I had a low, comfortable armchair that allowed my feet to sit firmly on the floor. We looked at each other a little anxiously, not knowing what to say next.
    “Are you very unhappy about the movie?” he asked abruptly.
    “I was. I’m still not exactly thrilled.” I took a deep breath, exhaled. I was making an effort to be honest, with a little tact thrown in. “But the town is very excited, and the money will be good for its economy.”
    Robin nodded, and seemed to want to change the subject. He started playing “How is?” and we went down a list of names rapidly. It was an unpleasant surprise to me to find how long it had been since I’d seen some of the people Robin asked about. There seemed no excuse for it in a town the size of Lawrenceton.
    “Tell me about your husband,” Robin said out of the blue.
    I sat and stared at my hands for a minute. “Martin was ... a senior executive at Pan-Am Agra,” I said carefully. “He was older than me by almost fifteen years. He was a Vietnam vet.
    He was very. . . dynamic. He had done some shady things in his life. He was always looking for that to come back at him.” He loved me deeply. He was fantastic in bed. He was extremely competitive with other men. He was domineering even when he didn’t think he was being so.
    He really listened to me. He broke my heart. I loved him very much, though our marriage had loose edges and rough patches. All this.
    “I know you must have some hard times,” Robin said quietly. “My mother lost my dad earlier this year, and she’s been struggling.”
    I nodded. Hard times, indeed. “I’m sorry about your dad,” I told him, and for a minute we sat in silence.
    “Are you going to marry the actress?” I asked brightly, trying to get us back on a less dangerous track. “I saw you-all’s picture in the magazine.”
    “You can’t believe the stories about me and Celia,” he said. “At one time they had some truth to them, but not any more. We’re just barely friends, now.”

    I raised my eyebrows at him, making a skeptical face.
    He grinned. “No, really. She’s full of ambition, she’s really young, and she’s got different priorities. Since she won the Emmy, in fact. . . well, the only reason she’s doing this project is because she’d signed on for it prior to her win.” He looked like a different man when he said this, older and harder.
    I gave his disenchantment a moment of respectful silence. Then I asked, “So, what did you want from this visit to me?” He must want something, I was sure.
    He paid me the compliment of not protesting he’d just wanted to see me again. “I want you to come to the set, at least once. I want you to see this being filmed, read the script.”
    “Why? Why on earth would you want that?”
    “Because I want you ... to approve. At least, not to hate it so much.”
    “Does it really matter to you?”
    “Yes.” Robin was dead serious.
    For the life of me, I couldn’t figure out why my approval made any difference at all. But what did I have to lose? I wasn’t scheduled to work tomorrow until late afternoon.
    “Okay, Robin. I’ll come tomorrow to observe for a little