Sink Trap by Christy Evans Read Free Book Online

supervise homework at the same time, and I wasn’t listening carefully.”
    She sipped her coffee, and shrugged. “You know how it is. After you’re with someone for years, there are times when you kind of tune them out.”
    I nodded, as though she was actually speaking in English. Which, from my perspective, she was not.
    Paula was only a few years older than me, but she had married Barry in her senior year of high school. She had her kids young, and started college when they started school. Megan, her twelve-year-old, was the youngest of three.
    Paula and Barry had been married nearly twenty years. My longest relationship had been the four months I dated Wade in high school. Well, unless you counted the months with Blake Weston—which I didn’t. That wasn’t a relationship; it was just a lie.
    Sure, I’d gone to a college with about the best odds in the country, as far as boy-girl ratio went. The math wasn’t the problem. The problem was, it was also one of the toughest schools in the country, and most of the dates I had during those four years had been study groups.
    Long-term romances and I weren’t a good match.
Which was probably why I was taking things with Wade so slow. I didn’t know how to have a boyfriend. Well, that and the fact that my mother approved of him.
    Paula’s expression grew somber once again and she finally picked up the brooch. She handled it gingerly, still acting as though she expected to be burned for touching it.
    “You’re sure it’s hers?” I asked.
    “Absolutely.” Paula set the cameo back on the table, and slid into a chair. She pushed the jewelry away, as though trying to distance herself from the fears it created, but her concern was obvious in her expression. She looked even more worried than I felt.
    She motioned for me to sit down. I glanced at my watch, figured I had a few minutes, and sat across from her.
    “How well did you know her?” Paula asked.
    “I practically lived in the library in summer.” I tried not to sound defensive, but I felt a pinprick of guilt. How well had I known Miss Tepper, really?
    “I guess I didn’t know much about her personally,” I conceded. “Mostly, I knew her from the library, and from the teen reading group she sponsored. I went to a couple group parties at her house when I was in junior high.”
    Paula sighed. She was a romantic at heart, and she loved to tell stories. I knew she was about to launch into the story of Martha Tepper, and I desperately wanted to hear it.
    But Paula’s stories couldn’t be rushed, and I had to be at the McComb site on time. Sean was going to take enough pleasure out of making my life a living hell with the moat construction. I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of being able to report to Barry that I was late, on top of it.
    I winced at Paula, and looked pointedly at the battered plastic watch on my wrist. “I have absolutely got to be on the McComb site in twenty minutes. Even though I would much rather spend the afternoon with you.”

    It was the truth. Paula was a friend, even if she was my boss’s wife. We had different lives, but I valued every smart, interesting woman in Pine Ridge, and Paula was at the very top of that list. And she shared my love of books.
    But right this minute, I had to get in the Beetle and drive out to the McComb site, or risk the wrath of Sean.
    I dumped the remains of my coffee and rinsed the cup, propping it in the miniature drainer next to the sink.
    “Can we get together later, and you can tell me the story then? ’Cause I know there’s a story, just from the way you looked at that brooch.”
    “There sure is,” she said. “I know how upset Martha is without it.” She held her bottom lip between her teeth for a second, her concern clear on her face. “She likes to keep that brooch with her at all times. I’ll call her, let her know we found it.”
    “Do you have her new number?” I asked. “Or maybe her cell phone number?”
    “No, she was a little