Shadows At Sunset by Anne Stuart Read Free Book Online Page A

the morning, darling. Not too early.”
    â€œI’ll be glad to sit with you….”
    â€œNo need,” she said, suddenly breezy. “I’ll be fine.”
    Jilly watched as her sister skirted the hallway, putting as much distance between herself and Jilly’s open bedroom door as possible. A moment later she was in her own suite of rooms, the door shut tightly behind her.
    Jilly stayed where she was, wondering whether she should go after her. She hadn’t been inside Rachel-Ann’s rooms since her sister had come back from her most recent hospitalization—it was a matter of honor that she wouldn’t search for empty bottles or pill containers. Rachel-Ann said she had a way of keeping the ghosts out, and Jilly couldn’t even begin to guess what that was. Or whether it would work to keep other, more resourceful demons at bay.
    She had no idea what time it was—probably after eleven. It had been a piss-poor day. She’d accomplished nothing and only managed to unnerve herself with her abortive visit to her father’s office.
    And she’d met Coltrane. A treat she could have happily done without. She was going to have to find a way to either get rid of him, or get him to help her. And he didn’t look like the kind of man who made an effort to help anyone unless there was something in it for him.
    She reached up and pulled the pins out of her thick hair, letting it fall down her back in a heavy mass. She’d figure out what to do about Dean and his problems in the morning. At least for tonight she could rest easy, assured that her sister and brother were safe in their own beds, and that Rachel-Ann’s specious ghosts couldn’t come into hers.
    Â 
    â€œYou scared her,” Brenda said in a cross voice. “Haven’t I told you the girl’s fragile? She always has been, ever since she was a child. She reminds me in many ways of myself when I was that age.”
    â€œHoneybunch, you died before you reached that age,” Ted said with a particular lack of tact. “And you were as fragile as an elephant in labor. The girl’s too easily spooked if you ask me.”
    â€œShe can see us.”
    â€œSo can a lot of people. They don’t turn into raving drunkards because of it,” Ted said. “Most of them figure it’s a trick of the light or something. That girl’s the only one who’s gone around the bend, and if she wasn’t so busy throwing things at us she’d realize we’re just worried about her. We’re perfectly harmless.”
    â€œPerfectly,” Brenda murmured, leaning over to kiss him. “And besides, she shouldn’t be drinking. If we hadn’t shown up when we did she would have taken that drink instead of throwing it at us.”
    â€œMaybe. Maybe not.” Ted shrugged. “She’s poured them before and then left them. It doesn’t really matter. We terrify the poor girl, and it’s not as if we can sit down and explain it to her. We’ll just have to be a little more circumspect. We don’t need to feel guilty.”
    â€œGuilty,” Brenda said in a hollow voice. “No, we wouldn’t want that. Let’s go for a walk, darling. We can sit on the terrace and watch the stars.”
    He tucked her arm in his, smiling down at her fondly. “It sounds heavenly, darling.”
    â€œHeavenly,” Brenda echoed. A place she was never going to see. “Any place with you is heaven,” she said.
    And Ted leaned down and kissed her.

4
    B y late the next afternoon Jilly was in a thoroughly bad mood. If Wednesday had been bad, Thursday was even worse, and the evening didn’t look like it was going to be any improvement. She’d gotten up early, as always. She’d never needed much sleep, and the ornate, swan-shaped bed was more oppressive than comfortable. For years she’d thought about buying a new mattress and box spring, but the swan