Death, Taxes, and Peach Sangria by Diane Kelly Read Free Book Online Page B

emanating from the take-out bag, I wasn’t sure I’d be
     able to eat. My stomach had shrunk into a tight little ball.
    Brett and I had been dating for a few months now, ever since last spring when we’d
     met at a charity event at the Dallas Arboretum. The firm he worked for had sponsored
     the event. Brett had taken my ticket and captured my interest. For several months
     things had seemed nearly perfect. But then Nick came along and got me all discombobulated.
    I greeted my cats as I came through the door with my briefcase in one hand and the
     bag of food in the other. Henry, my oversized Maine coon, glanced my way from atop
     the TV cabinet with his usual look of disdain. Anne scampered out from under the couch
     and followed me to the kitchen, interrogating me all the while. Meow? Meow? Meow?
    I glanced down at her. “You ask too many questions, you know that, Annie girl?” Despite
     the third degree she’d given me, I fed her a tuna treat and ruffled her ears affectionately
     once I’d deposited my briefcase and the food on the counter.
    On my drive home, I had convinced myself that Nick’s reaction to seeing Natalie’s
     photograph was perfectly natural and didn’t mean anything. He hadn’t seen her since
     they’d called off their engagement shortly before a violent money launderer forced
     Nick into a three-year exile in Mexico. If she’d still meant anything to him, he would
     have looked her up himself, right? Sure. It had only been the surprise of seeing her
     face come up on the screen that had set him aback. No sense postponing my let’s-take-a-break discussion with Brett.
    It had been a while since I’d broken up with a guy, so I was a little out of practice.
     One of my college boyfriends had made breaking up with him easy. Telling someone you
     never wanted to see him again was fairly easy when he showed up at your door with
     a hickey on his neck that you hadn’t put there. Jeez. Did the guy think I was blind? Most of my other breakups had been relatively amicable,
     the fact that the relationship wasn’t going anywhere obvious to both of us. But with
     Brett things would be difficult, especially since I wasn’t exactly breaking up with
     him for good. Rather, I’d just be seeking permission to date another man and evaluate
     my feelings before making a more definite decision.
    I was scared, to be honest. Part of me still wondered whether it could be a mistake,
     whether raising the subject would backfire on me. There would be things about Brett
     I’d miss, like playing with his dogs at the park, laughing together over ridiculous
     British comedies, daringly sampling unusual ethnic foods. Heck, Nick thought an egg
     roll was an extreme culinary adventure.
    Still, as much as I adored Brett, there was no denying that Nick and I were more alike
     at the core, that we understood better what made each other tick. The fact that I
     could totally be myself with Nick said a lot, too. It wasn’t that I had to hide my
     feisty side from Brett, because he often found my unconventional nature to be exciting.
     But he worried about me, too. Despite my pledge to be honest with him, I found myself
     conveniently leaving out the details of my job that would cause him anxiety. And as
     classy and sophisticated as Brett’s parents were, they could sometimes be a tad too
     conventional. Nick’s mother, on the other hand, was warm and open and down-to-earth,
     the kind of woman who would make a wonderful mother-in-law and grandmother.
    I dragged myself upstairs and changed into a pair of wrinkled jeans I scrounged from
     the floor. I really needed to get on my laundry. The pile had expanded from the hamper
     to a laundry basket beside it.
    I slid out of my work shirt and into a T-shirt I’d picked up at a Toby Keith concert
     a couple of years ago. I didn’t bother freshening up my makeup or brushing my hair.
     If I didn’t look too good, maybe Brett would find it easier to let me go.
    I went back