The Easter Egg Murder by Patricia Smith Wood Read Free Book Online

traffic on Montgomery Boulevard.
    “I have no idea. He was creepy, that’s all I know. I’d rather focus on our meeting with Senator Lawrence.”
    Ginger nodded. “Okay. Then let’s discuss the handsome stranger you met this morning.”
    “What’s there to tell? Anyway, I never said anything about him being handsome. I really don’t remember what he looked like. He was just a guy who scared me to death.”
    “Well, that might be easier to believe if I hadn’t seen him myself. I also saw how flustered you were.”
    “You were watching me?”
    “You mumbled something as you rushed outside. I got to the window just in time to see you drop your keys and focus your attention on finding them. Then I saw this good-looking guy walk up behind you, and you fell on your backside. Very unladylike. I started to rush out to help, but I saw he’d stepped in to haul your ass up off the pavement. So, I decided to let nature take its course.” Ginger had a smug little smile as Harrie looked over at her.
    “Exactly what were you expecting to happen after that?”
    “Oh, I don’t know, maybe that he would introduce himself and ask your name, and then he would offer to buy you a cup of coffee. Then you might feel comfortable enough to accept a real date with the guy, providing he was willing to hang around with absolutely no encouragement.”
    “You are positively determined to get me hooked up with someone, aren’t you?”
    Ginger feigned surprise. “Now why in the world would I do that? Why do you suppose I would want my best friend in the whole world to find a nice, respectable, loving male companion? Do you think I want you to be alone for the rest of your life?”
    Harrie shook her head. “I’m just not ready. Maybe I’ll never be ready. Anyway, what’s the big hurry?”
    “In case you’ve forgotten, we both turn thirty eight this summer.”
    Harrie grimaced. “Why do pe ople say you ‘turn’? It sounds like we become sour milk.”
    Ginger sighed. “You need to think about your biological clock. You’ve always said you wanted kids. If you wait much longer, that isn’t going to happen.”
    Harrie felt her throat tighten, and she looked out the window. She took a long breath and let it out. “I can’t worry about that right now. If it happens, it happens. If it doesn’t …” the unspoken words hung there.
    Ginger looked at her friend. “A re you afraid to meet someone?”
    Harrie started to make a flippant remark, but stopped before it reached her lips. “Yes, I guess I am,” she admitted. “I haven’t had such good luck with men. The marriage to Nick was a nightmare. Then Mark came along, and he was wonderful. I had just started to feel safe when they came to my door that night …” She broke off and swallowed hard.
    “Sweetie, I know you felt your life was over. For a long time, I thought you would never co me out of it, but you did. It’s been five years now. Every time I try to introduce you to someone, or when you meet someone on your own, you back away. You find something wrong with everyone before you even get to know them. Why can’t you just try?”
    Harrie didn’t answer the question directly. “If something happened to Steve, would you try again?”
    “You know Steve is my love and my life. He drives me crazy sometimes, and I’m sure he also has moments when he wonders why he wanted to marry me. But we have a wonderful life and two great kids. However, if something happened to him, I hope I’d have enough strength to go on and make a new life somewhere down the line. I know you have enough love in you to reserve a special place for Mark and still be able to love someone new. You told me yourself he sent you a message that you needed to move on. You said he would always watch over you. But he also said you had a life to live, and you’d better get on with it. Didn’t you tell me that?”
    Harrie looked at Ginger and grinned. “The light is green, you know. That woman behind us