Charming Lily by Fern Michaels Read Free Book Online Page B

something from an old house. You know, an antique or something to let you know someone real lived there before you. It’s called a Wish Keeper. I remember hearing my mom talk about it one time. Don’t ask me what that means. Dip it in that silver cleaner stuff or just carry it in your pocket. I think it’s a good-luck charm. For you, Charming Lily. Remember now, I’m just a phone call away.”
    â€œDon’t worry about me, Sadie. I’ll be okay. I’m going to be busy for the next day or so returning all the wedding presents. Maybe I’ll just hire that wedding place to do it for me.” She looked down at the tarnished silver chain and pendant before she closed her hand into a fist. It felt warm and comfortable. She stuck it in her pocket and a moment later forgot about it.
    â€œSounds good. Bye, Lily. I love you.”
    Lily bit down on her lower lip. She didn’t trust herself to speak. She turned to leave, tears burning her eyes.
    The sudden urge to run after Sadie was so strong, Lily found herself running through the concourse to the escalator that would take her to the parking lot outside. To Buzz. Buzz was all she had left now.
    Inside the Range Rover, Matt’s birthday gift to her, she reached for the golden Lab and held on to him so fiercely the gentle giant yelped in pain. When Lily relaxed her hold on the dog, he snuggled down next to her, his big head in her lap. Hot tears dripped onto his head.
    â€œYou know what I think, Buzz. I think we should go home, put all our stuff in this fine vehicle, and head for our new house. We can stay in the little cottage. There really is nothing to keep us at the apartment except convenience, so there’s no point in hanging around. As Sadie would say, it’s a plan. I just want to get out of there. Oh, God, Buzz, how could I have been such a fool? Why didn’t I see this coming? Not only was I dumb and stupid, I was blind in the bargain.”
    Buzz whimpered as he pawed at her legs. Lily sniffed, blew her nose, rolled down the window, and backed out of the parking space. She tossed the wadded-up tissue over her shoulder onto the backseat as she headed for the exit sign that would take her away from the Baton Rouge airport and back to Natchez.
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    It was five-thirty when Lily stacked the last of the wedding presents on the dining-room table along with a list of instructions. She’d called down to the management offices earlier and was assured everything would be taken care of in her absence.
    She eyed the pile of suitcases in the small foyer. She was going to need a dolly to get them all to the parking area and into the truck. Buzz at her side, she took the steps to the ground level where she rummaged for a dolly in the storage area. She smiled when Buzz hopped on top for his ride up in the elevator.
    The Rover’s clock said it was 5:47 when she peeled out of the parking area to South Commerce and crossed State before making a right on Main and a left one block later onto North Union and her new house. She didn’t look back once. She hadn’t fed Buzz yet, so she needed to stop to pick up something for his dinner and some coffee for herself. She turned around in the middle of the road in front of her house and headed for the Pig Out Inn, where she picked up some shredded beef on a roll for the Lab. Until tomorrow, it was the best she could do.
    Lily sat behind the wheel, coffee cup in hand. She realized suddenly that she was tired. She’d had so little sleep the past few days she knew she was going on pure adrenaline. She watched as a travel-weary family walked across the road toward their car. They, too, must have traveled all night to be with their family for New Year’s and now they were heading home. A husband and wife and three small children. A family. She craned her neck for a better look and saw the wife bend down to pick up a fluffy brown-and-white dog. Picture complete. A towhead