Romancing the Brush: An Austin, Texas Art Mystery (The Michelle Hodge Series Book 2) by Roslyn Woods

Author:Roslyn Woods [Woods, Roslyn]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2015-01-13T05:00:00+00:00

Shell wasn’t surprised to see Dean’s car in the carport. What surprised her was seeing another car on the pad behind his. It was a burgundy-colored Honda Accord with tinted windows. She hadn’t seen it before and was ready to drive on past when she found herself parking her car in her own carport.

“What are you doing?” Billie asked.

“I’m going in anyway,” she heard herself saying.

“Do you want me to come help?”

“No, I won’t be long.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah,” she said as she got out of the car. She went up her own steps and turned her key in the lock. The door opened and she walked in. Nothing was changed from the way it had been when she had left yesterday afternoon. She walked around for a minute, just looking at everything. The crated paintings still lay on the dining room table. The check still lay beside them.

She went into her bedroom and gathered a few things from the closet. She stacked two dresses, a couple of blouses, and a black pantsuit across the queen-sized bed, figuring she didn’t need a lot more. Then she found an overnight bag and tossed in a few pairs of dress shoes, Bitsy’s leash, and the framed photograph of her parents that was sitting on her dresser. She needed that with her. Then, carrying the clothes across one arm and the overnight bag in the other, she headed back out the front door. She put everything in the trunk of the Corolla, closed it, and went back up the steps to lock the door.

Just as she turned the key in the lock, she heard Dean’s front door open. She turned and looked. It wasn’t Dean. It was Melinda Gardner leaving Dean’s house. She was maybe an inch shorter than Shell and very stylish in a yellow halter dress, and her long black tresses hung past her bare shoulders. She was stopping and turning back to say something to Dean as he stood just inside the door. Shell couldn’t quite make it out, but what she said sounded friendly, almost intimate, and it was followed by a lilting laugh.

Shell distinctly heard Dean’s voice saying, “Thanks, Mindy.” Mindy? Mindy? Melinda was carrying an overnight bag herself, and Shell stood frozen, watching the pretty woman in the high-heeled sandals turn and make her way down the steps without even looking in her direction.

A pillar of salt, Shell was paralyzed by what she had just seen. She continued to stand on her front porch as the other woman got in her car and started it. Dean came out of the house and waved at Melinda as her car eased out of the drive. Then he turned to go in and saw Shell standing on her porch, just looking at him. She perceived his surprise at her presence, and then she could see him reading her expression. His face seemed to change, his jaw clenched, and before he turned to go back in the house he looked back at the place where Melinda had parked and back at Shell again.

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