Death By Derby 8 (Josiah Reynolds Mysteries) by Abigail Keam Read Free Book Online Page B

her mother leave the hotel. Looking out a lobby window, Asa made sure Josiah got into her car safely and drove away.
    She sincerely hoped that her mother could get Kelly’s life back on track. Asa realized how selfish she had been with Kelly and felt sorry she had started the affair. Asa loved Kelly deeply and was now worried that she had ruined his life.
    Exhausted, she climbed up the staircase to her room. Unlocking the door, she felt for the light switch before stepping into the room.
    Someone grabbed her arm and pulled her into the room, placing his hand over her mouth before she could react. “Don’t kick, Asa,” a familiar voice whispered in her ear, “and I’ll let you go.”
    Recognizing the voice, Asa slumped against the body holding her. She inhaled his cologne and masculine smell. The aromas brought back intense memories that brought her both pleasure and pain.
    “I’m going to take my hand down. Okay?”
    Asa nodded.
    “Don’t turn on the light.”
    She could not bring herself to move away from him. Being in his arms felt like home, even though she knew he was the enemy. Damn. She could never trust herself with him.
    He didn’t pull away either, but took the occasion to deeply breathe in her shiny hair and warm luscious skin. “You always smell like Paris after a spring shower,” he murmured as he clasped his hands around her waist.
    “What are you doing here, Minor?” asked Asa, trying to find the resolve to push him away.
    Minor’s hands ran up and down her blouse.
    Asa gasped with pleasure.
    “You surprised me at my hotel room. I thought I’d return the favor.” He nuzzled her neck.
    Asa moaned.
    Minor pulled Asa over to the bed and threw her down. Kicking her legs apart, he placed himself between them and leaning over, gave Asa a deep kiss.
    She hated herself for kissing him back. She hated herself for wanting him . . . still, after his betrayal so many years ago. Minor was a sickness with her.
    Kelly was her soul mate, a person she would love until her last breath, but her feelings for Minor were built on heat and need. Asa hadn’t realized how much she had needed Minor to touch her through the years, but now she exploded with need and she didn’t care what the consequences might be.

21
    M ark Twain once said, “I want to be in Kentucky when the end of the world comes, because it’s always twenty years behind.”
    I don’t think Mr. Twain was wrong then and I don’t think he’s wrong now.
    I was mulling this over as I drove around Cheapside, looking for a parking space. I circled the block around the old Courthouse several times, not finding a parking space. The old Courthouse used to be the site of the old slave market in Lexington. Passing, I saw two statues of Thomas Hunt Morgan and John C. Breckinridge glorifying the Confederate side of the Civil War.
    Even though Kentucky was a border state and stayed in the Union, there are no statues honoring the glorious dead of boys in blue around the old Courthouse. There were also no statues to those Lexingtonians who changed the world for the positive. No carved stone to commemorate Lexington citizens like Morgan’s nephew, Thomas Hunt Morgan, a Nobel Prize winner for his discovery of the role that chromosomes play in heredity.
    Then there was Mary Breckinridge, John C. Breckinridge’s granddaughter, who founded the Frontier Nursing Service, which serviced the health of women and children in Eastern Kentucky. Intrepid nurses rode on horses or mules into the mountains to visit families, as there were no paved roads. They even rode in the snow and rain into hollers with their nursing supplies in saddlebags.
    Another notable was Harriet Van Meter, who founded the International Book Project. In 1966, Miss Harriet placed an ad in an English-speaking newspaper in India offering to send books to whoever needed them. She got responses and began sending books from her basement.
    Today, IBP sends over 200,000 English-language books overseas