The Purloined Letter Opener by Leah R Cutter

Author:Leah R Cutter [Cutter, Leah R]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-1-64470-164-5
Publisher: Knotted Road Press

16

Lydia woke up angry. Her jaw hurt because she’d been clenching her teeth all night. Even her muscles were sore from being so tense. She stretched while still lying on her bed, sticking her arms out of the warm cocoon of covers, then drawing them back in again. During the summer, she slept with a window partially open, keeping the room cool so she could pile on the blankets.

It took her a couple of moments to figure out what was wrong, why rage boiled in her chest like an angry thunderbolt looking for a target. It wasn’t the murder, though that didn’t help. It wasn’t that she was tired of working all the time, though that stress did add to her troubles. It wasn’t even that she knew that she and Ellis would never have a chance at a relationship.

No. It was the possibility that Neil had returned to Lake Hope.

This was her hometown. Yes, he might have come from here originally, just as she had. But he’d disowned it. Had never wanted to come back here, even for vacations. Rarely talked with his family. She could just hear his snide remarks about her chosen career—how she might call herself a hotelier but that just meant she cleaned toilets for a living.

Damn it! He was not allowed to come here and ruin her life.

She snorted at herself as she sat up in bed. Right. Because his coming here was going to make a mess of everything.

Lydia looked around her bedroom. When she’d built the addition, and then decorated it, she’d made every design decision based on whether the result would delight her or not. It wasn’t good enough to just be pretty or functional. No, it had to be both, as well as delightful.

So the ceiling was slanted, the high point being over the door in the far corner, the wall above her headboard the shortest. Beautiful cedar wood made up the ceiling, coated with a shiny varnish but unstained, so the natural beauty shone through and it reflected light, which made the room seem even brighter. She’d painted the walls a soothing gray-blue that changed colors as the light shifted during the day, making the room seem different all the time. The floors were a manufactured hardwood, stained a rich mahogany, an elegant contrast to everything else. She’d reclaimed the dresser she’d grown up with from her parents, stripped off the white paint to reveal the beautiful cherry wood underneath.

Her walls held a few pictures of family, a beautiful painting of New York that Ed and Alan had given her, and a cork board where she put special postcards that she received from her guests, pictures from their hometowns or other places they visited. Everything was chic but still homey.

Lydia made herself take a deep breath, trying to let go of her anger. Despite her shoulders dropping, her toes and fists still curled.

Nope. Relaxation wasn’t going to happen. She was going to be pissed off about Neil coming to her hometown for a while yet.

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