Undone (A Country Roads Novel) by Shannon Richard Read Free Book Online Page B

she’d wanted him to kiss her. She couldn’t get it out of her mind. His fingers curling around hers, the spicy scent of his skin as he’d stepped in close to her, the way he looked at her with his bright blue eyes.
    What was wrong with her? She didn’t know anything about the man. She didn’t need to be thinking about him, and yet…she was.
    “That’s wonderful,” Paige said, pushing Brendan to the back of her mind and refocusing on Tara.
    “It is,” Tara said. “There’s another smaller parlor in the back of the building,” she said, switching back to tour guide, “but we don’t really use that one very much. If we have multiple funerals we might, but for the most part we use the main one. You can grab your purse,” Tara said as they walked back to the front of the funeral home. “From here it’s onward and upward.”
    Paige followed Tara up the staircase to a long landing with doors scattered along both sides. Light streamed into the hallway from the opened doors and floor-to-ceiling windows.
    “Verna and Missy’s offices are down there,” Tara said, pointing to the left. “Missy is at a conference, but she’ll be back next week,” she told Paige as they walked into the room next to the stairwell. “This is the showroom for the coffins,” she said, gesturing to over a dozen different coffins varying in color and size that were displayed on stands.
    “This used to be two rooms way back when, but they tore the wall down to make it bigger.” They walked through the room and back into the hallway through another door in the room. “This room has all of the urns for when a person is cremated,” Tara said, leading Paige into the next room. “We also display the jewelry in here.”
    “Jewelry?” Paige asked, following her in.
    “Yeah, some people like to carry a piece of their loved ones with them.”
    A piece? What did she mean by a piece?
    “I’m sorry?” Paige asked, walking over to a display of necklaces.
    “You see,” Tara said, opening the clasp on a pendant covered in amethyst. “You can put your loved one’s ashes in here,” she said, indicating a part inside the necklace.
    “Please tell me you’re joking,” Paige said, feeling queasy.
    “Oh, I wish I was,” Tara said, closing the necklace. “Other options are getting a thumbprint and wearing that.”
    “I’m sorry, but this is bizarre.”
    “Oh, believe you me, sweetie, I completely agree.”
    Paige turned from the morbid, and more than a little disgusting, jewelry to a display of about thirty urns lined up on three tables. After a quick scan they left that room and continued the tour. Paige’s suspicions were confirmed as they walked down the hallway. Besides the kitchen and bathrooms, every inch of the building was covered in the horrendous crimson carpet.
    “Those rooms are empty,” Tara said, indicating the very last two rooms down the hall. “But you’ll be in here,” she said, pushing a door open.
    There were five big boxes stacked on the two desks that were in the middle of the room and an empty bookshelf in the corner. An old leather office chair and two wooden armchairs were pushed against one wall. The seats of the armchairs were covered in puce velvet. The walls were painted a seafoam green that wasn’t bad at all, but up against that obnoxious carpet it really had no hope.
    “The offices on this side of the building have access to the second-floor balcony,” Tara said, pointing to the French doors in the corner that opened up onto the landing outside. “They also have a better view of the trees.”
    “Thank you,” Paige said, giving Tara a genuine smile. She’d obviously tried to give Paige what she thought was the best office available.
    “It’s no problem,” Tara said, waving away Paige’s thanks with her hand. “The computer is all yours. Mr. Adams got the best one for the new program that he wants you to start using. Verna had a fit when she ordered it last week,” she added, lowering