A Commission on Murder by Cheril Thomas

Author:Cheril Thomas [Thomas, Cheril]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781733412117
Publisher: Tred Avon Press
Published: 2018-05-23T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-Two

Grace was exhausted but she couldn’t come up with an excuse to get out of the dinner with David.

She didn’t want to rekindle their romantic relationship. Most of the time she was sure about that, except at three in the morning and odd times during the day when her guard was down. He’d let her love for him wither until it was well past dead. Surely a small cupful of nourishment couldn’t bring it back.

Calling David for Quentin had only been an act of professional kindness for a stranger, nothing more. Now she wanted David to disappear and leave her heart in one piece and her ego satisfied. Since he was still in town, she put on a dress he liked, pinned her hair up and dabbed on the perfume he’d given her on their last Christmas together. If she was going, she was going flat out.

He arrived with Champagne and a hug and a smile so sweet, she was worried until he said, “The student surpasses the master. Well done, Grasshopper.”

Relief flooded through her. He was talking about Quentin Bishop. “I was astounded when he showed up at the office,” she said. “I don’t think he’ll be giving me much work.”

“He mentioned it to me,” David said. “He said he likes to have a lawyer with local connections.”

She heard a note of condescension in his words, but ignored it. “Do you want the tour or the wine first?”

They took the tour. David said all the right things, but Grace could feel his impatience. It wasn’t until they were on the third-floor landing and he looked over the curved mahogany railing to the first floor below that he seemed genuinely engaged.

“Whoa. Cool,” he said. “It’d be a tumble from here, huh?”

Grace was grateful for the crass comment; she’d been feeling a little mushy.

“You can try it later if you like,” she said. “But right now, let’s finish the tour and go eat, I’m hungry.”

“How come you don’t live in the main part of the house?” he asked as he followed her onto the third floor and into her sitting room. “I mean, this is great and all, but compared to downstairs, well.” He took in the cozy sitting room with its kitchen alcove before continuing on to the threshold of her bedroom. “I see you hung onto the sleigh bed.”

Grace stayed in the short hallway between the rooms. Bedrooms and David used to equal only one thing. The sleigh bed had been a bone of contention because David was too tall to fit in it and had to sleep sideways.

“I brought all my favorite pieces and sold the rest,” she said. “I don’t need twenty-four rooms and I don’t want to furnish them, either. I’ll sell when I find the right buyer.”

“And leave Mallard Bay?”

“I don’t know. I like this area, and it’s close enough to DC so I can get in when I want.” She immediately wanted to kick herself. Why had she said that? She hadn’t once wanted to go back over the bridge since she’d arrived.

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