Sweat Tea Revenge by Laura Childs Read Free Book Online Page A

then change his mind about marrying me!”
    “Delaine, be reasonable,” said Theodosia. “If Simone still had feelings for Dougan, she certainly wouldn’t have
murdered
him.”
    “You don’t know her like I do,” said Delaine. “She’s extremely cold and conniving. She probably figured that if she couldn’t have him, then neither could I!”
    Theodosia had to admit there was a small kernel of twisted logic there. Somewhere.
    “Okay,” said Theodosia. “If it’ll make you feel any better, I’ll pay a visit to Simone.”
For about two minutes. Just to say that I did and satisfy Delaine’s craving to snoop.
“Where exactly would I find her?”
    Delaine fumbled in her Prada bag and pulled out a slip of paper. “Here. I wrote it all down for you. Simone owns a vintage shop by the name of Archangel. It’s over on King Street.”
    “Near all the antique dealers,” Theodosia murmured, as Drayton suddenly appeared at their table. His tray held a pitcher of sweet tea along with three tall, frosted glasses.
    “My special Honey Hibiscus Sweet Tea,” said Drayton. “Egyptian chamomile tea blended with hibiscus blossoms, rose hips, and a touch of honey.” He nodded solemnly at Delaine. “I do hope you’re feeling some better.”
    “Some,” said Delaine.
    “And hello to you,” Drayton said to Millie.
    “This is Dougan’s secretary,” said Delaine.
    “Millie,” said Millie, nodding.
    “Lovely to meet you,” said Drayton. “My sincere sympathies to you, too.”
    “Thank you,” said Millie, as Drayton moved off.
    Theodosia poured out glasses of sweet tea for all of them. When she handed a glass to Millie, the girl gave a little shiver and said, “I never met a real-life investigator before.”
    “Well, I’m not one,” said Theodosia.
    But Millie was not to be dissuaded. “Delaine was bragging to me earlier about how smart you are. How good you are at finding clues and figuring things out.”
    “Sometimes I get lucky,” said Theodosia.
    “Well, it sure is nice to have you on our side,” Millie continued. “Especially after . . .” Her voice faded as she gazed sorrowfully at Delaine.
    “What?” said Theodosia. “Did something happen?” Tidwell again?
    Delaine sniffled, then dug into her bag for a tissue. “There was another nasty scene this morning,” she whispered.
    “What?” said Theodosia. What she really meant was,
Now what?
    Millie turned toward Theodosia with sorrowful eyes. “When Delaine showed up at Granville and Grumley, I’m afraid she was given a rather cool reception.”
    “Seriously?” said Theodosia. Delaine was treated rudely at her fiancé’s law firm? Her
dead
fiancé’s law firm? Shouldn’t they have been bend-over-backward nice to her?
    Millie nodded. “To be honest, they were perfectly awful.”
    Theodosia stared at Delaine. “Who was awful to you?”
    “Pretty much everyone,” sniffed Delaine. “Although Allan Grumley, Dougan’s partner, was the worst.”
    “His
partner
?” said Theodosia. She found this totally bizarre, especially since Granville and Grumley had been known all over Charleston for being a hotshot team of lawyers, the kind of gunslinging attorneys that could intimidate and negotiate with the best of them. Her assumption had always been that the two men were arrogant, freewheeling, and extremely like-minded. That they got along famously.
    “I was totally shocked,” said Delaine. She sniffed again and daubed at her eyes with a hanky.
    “Why did you even go there?” asked Theodosia.
    “Just to obtain some paperwork,” said Delaine. “But who knew I’d be met with such fierce resistance? Except, of course, for Millie. She was the one saving grace.”
    Millie reached across the table and patted Delaine’s hand. “You know I’ll always be there for you.”
    “I know you will, sweetie,” said Delaine. “You were devoted to Dougan and don’t think I don’t appreciate it.”
    “Thank you,” said Millie. Now she looked like