Charming Lily by Fern Michaels Read Free Book Online

some point there will be a dinner party I can wear it to. Give me ten minutes to change, and we can be on our way. I know this is a stupid question, but are you okay?”
    â€œNo, I’m not okay. I feel like someone ripped out my guts. My head feels like cotton candy, and my heart is beating way too fast. I just want to get my dog and curl up with him so I can bawl my eyes out and have him lick my face. I need to do that, Sadie. You know, get it out of the way. Damn, the house was supposed to be this big surprise! I know Matt would have loved your old house as much as I do. It was going to be our getaway place or maybe our home base. I’m just now beginning to realize I didn’t know Matt Starr. How can that be, Sadie? I was going to marry a man I know nothing about. Let’s go to Pearl Street Pasta before we pick up Buzz. I’m not saying I’m going to eat. I just want to get out of here so I can breathe.”
    Forty minutes later they were seated at a cozy table in back of the bar area perusing the menu. It was warm and comfortable, the lighting dim. As the hour wore on, Sadie watched in horror as Lily downed one drink after another. She didn’t try to stop her.
    â€œDennis said he’s going to file a missing person’s report. He said he thinks something happened to Matt. Do you want to hear this, Lily?”
    â€œNo. You have to wait forty-eight hours before filing a missing person’s report. You know that as well as I do. I don’t care what he does. Tell me something you haven’t already told me about your old house. Just talk to me. I don’t care what you say, just talk. Oh, Sadie, I hope you like what I did to your grandmother’s house. When you come to visit, it won’t look anything like you remember it. The outside is the same, but the inside is all open and airy. The kitchen is so modern, state-of-the-art, the bathrooms are elegant with sunken tubs and big gorgeous garden windows. The architect is worth every cent I’m paying him.”
    â€œI think staying in Natchez is going to be the best thing for you. Take as much time as you need to get squared away. Soak up the town, take pictures, go for walks, visit the library, and read everything you can. Ask for a tour of the grade school if you think you might want to teach. Hire a housekeeper. That’s going to be a mission in itself. You know you can’t cook, and you’re no great shakes at keeping house. You’ll need to check out the vet in case Buzz needs shots or something. Staying here a few months out of the year never gave us time to do the ordinary things other people do. We were here, we were in Fort Lauderdale, then we’d go to New York, and then Wyoming. It wasn’t like either one of us actually lived in Natchez. I imagine you’ll be busy for a few weeks. Whatever you do, don’t go playing sad songs on the stereo and don’t read any sad novels either. Deal with the here and now.”
    â€œIt was supposed to be for us . Not just me,” Lily said, peering across the table at her friend. “There is no us now.”
    â€œYou’re going to do this because it’s the thing to do, and it’s just you and Buzz. You can handle it, Lily. Later you can do whatever you want. You have to get through this period of time the best way you can. You can’t go back to Ozzie and the camp because you need to go forward. To go back would be courting disaster. Who knows, old Matt might come to his senses and start looking for you. Some guys get off on crap like that. You’re way too vulnerable now.”
    Lily didn’t speak for a long time. When she looked up at her friend, there were tears in her eyes.
    â€œDo you think something happened to Matt, Sadie?”
    â€œNo, I don’t. I think he’s still afraid of commitment.”
    â€œThen do you think that million dollars he put in my bank account was a payoff? Do you think he did that