Olive and Let Die by Susannah Hardy Read Free Book Online

canceled his hair appointment in lieu of one too many pickup lacrosse games. He smiled and reached for Melanie’s small bag.
    His eyes were like a couple of dollops of dark chocolate ganache, and they had a Stallone-y dreaminess. “Liza’s tied up with a problem in the kitchen, so she asked me to come down and greet you. I’m Channing.”
    I’d never needed an escort to visit Liza before. But then Irealized this little midmorning snack of studmuffin was for Melanie’s benefit. Liza knew how to treat her spa guests well.
    Melanie looked him up and down and apparently liked what she saw. “Get me to the dining room stat, McYummy. I need a wheatgrass smoothie with a sea algae chaser
now.
” She placed her hand at the crook of his elbow and gave a little rub as they started up the path. I gave an eye roll. Jack laughed.
    â€œCome on, Georgie,” he said, offering me his arm. “Let’s get Melanie settled, then we can get on with our day.”
    I looped my arm through his and we followed.
    Caitlyn met us at the huge double oak doors. She was in full assistant mode, cell phone in hand, black-framed hipster glasses planted firmly on her tiny freckled nose. “You missed your hot river-stone massage this morning. I’ve rescheduled it for later this afternoon. If we can get you ready in the next”—she glanced at the screen of her cell phone, which I thought might be permanently fused to her hand—“fifteen minutes, we can get you back on track with the glacial microsand exfoliation and water lily full-body wrap.”
    Melanie disengaged herself from Channing, letting her fingers trail along one brown, muscled forearm as she did so. He didn’t seem to mind. Was probably used to it, in fact. I’d never seen him before and I wondered what he did here. Liza ran a full-service spa, but I didn’t think it extended to providing gigolos for her guests. But anything was possible.
    Melanie turned to Caitlyn. “I’m going to the dining room first. Did any messages come in for me?”
    Caitlyn shook her head, her shiny brown bob swinging. “Just the usual fan mail. And hate mail. No phone calls.”
    Melanie frowned. Channing offered her her bag and she took it.
    â€œMaybe I’ll see you at the pool,” he said to Melanie. She brightened. Understandable.
    He turned to me and Jack. “You’re Georgie, right? Liza said I should tell you that she’s tied up, so she can’t come and say hello, but she’ll call you later.”
    I nodded. Although she would never divulge the identities of her rich and famous guests, wealth being much more important than fame, it turned out, the Spa was about as exclusive as they came. Imagine a whole castle full of Melanies, and you’d have a pretty good idea of what Liza probably dealt with on a daily basis. “That’s fine. Melanie, Caitlyn? I’ll talk to you later.”
    Melanie nodded at me, and the trio was swallowed up by the giant oak doors.
    *   *   *
    â€œSo where are you taking me?” My words were loud enough to be heard over the whine of the twin engines, but not so loud I sounded like I was yelling. I hoped.
    â€œWe’re almost there. Relax. You’ve had a tough couple of days.”
    I couldn’t argue with that. Finding another body and being reunited with my long-lost mother definitely qualified as
tough
.
    Just past Wellesley Island we pulled up at a dock attached to an ornate stone boathouse on the shore. The boathouse was bigger than the house I’d grown up in, so I couldn’t waitto see the mansion that was associated with it. We repeated the tying-off process, and Jack offered me a hand.
    We followed a gravel path up to a splendid Victorian. Its many gables and dormers were painted in a dove gray accented with bright white and periwinkle blue embellishments. Baskets of hot pink geraniums trailing dark green ivy hung