Bad Hair Day 7 - Dead Roots Read Online Free Page B

round of introductions.
    “After the cocktail party tonight, some of us are meeting at the Jasmine Court restaurant for dinner if you want to join us,” Cynthia offered, hovering close to Marla. “And we’re having a bingo game by the west veranda at ten o’clock for night owls.”
    Vail grimaced. “It’s been a long day, so we’ll probably turn in early. Right, hon?”
    “Which rooms are you in?” Cynthia said.
    “Hibiscus 407,” Marla answered.
    Cynthia glanced at each of them in turn, moistening her lower lip. “You’re staying together? It doesn’t bother me, but some of the other relatives might talk. I mean, you’re not married yet and…” Cynthia flushed deeply. “Sorry, it’s none of my business.”
    Marla straightened her shoulders. “In this modern age, I wouldn’t think anyone cares.”
    “You’d be surprised.” Cynthia lowered her voice, leaning forward. “Everyone is asking me where Corbin has been the past few years. I-I can’t tell them my brother just got out of jail.” Her blue eyes implored Marla. “You won’t say anything, will you?”
    “Of course not.” Both of their gazes swung to Vail.
    He raised his arms in surrender. “Hey, I didn’t hear anything. Don’t look at me.”
    Marla felt her elbow bumped and turned to face a bevy of relatives from Massachusetts she hadn’t seen in a while. “Uncle William and Aunt Harriet, how delightful.” They’d arrived with the oldest of their three daughters, Joan, who was accompanied by a youthful version of herself. “Who’s this beautiful young lady?” Marla said, regarding the pretty brunette, who had a slightly upturned nose and impishly curved mouth.
    “Rochelle recently turned sixteen,” Joan replied, beaming at her only child. “She’s just gotten her driver’s license.”
    “It’s great to see you,” Marla said. “Where is everyone else? Lori is here, isn’t she?”
    “Lori and Jeff just arrived and are getting settled. We’ve already seen Julia and Alan, but they didn’t have far to come, did they?” Joan chuckled. Her youngest sister and brother-in-law lived on Florida’s east coast.
    Vail cleared his throat, and Marla stepped aside to introduce him. ‘This is my fiancé, Dalton Vail.” She attempted to explain her family tree while he murmured a polite greeting. “Joan’s father, my Uncle William, is my mother’s brother.”
    “They’ll give you a quiz before the weekend is over,” Rochelle put in laughingly. She wore a typical teenager’s outfit: skimpy tank top that revealed her navel ring and jeans slung low over her hips.
    “So what do you do?” Joan asked Dalton as Marla gave her older cousin’s head an admiring glance. Bronze highlights glinted in the sunlight on cascading waves of ash blond hair. “I thought Marla would shy away from permanent relationships after she divorced good old Stan.”
    “I’m in the law field,” Vail stated, somewhat aloofly.
    “Oh, Stan was an attorney, too.”
    “Not a lawyer. I’m a homicide investigator.”
    “Awesome!” Rochelle cried, trotting beside him as the group followed their guide. “So, like, do you carry a gun?”
    “Usually.”
    “Have you caught many bad guys?”
    “Uh huh.”
    “Has anyone shot at you?”
    “There have been a few incidents.”
    “Ever been wounded in action?”
    “Just a few bumps and bruises, nothing major.”
    “So, like, how do you keep fit?”
    “I chase Marla around the block. It’s tough to keep up with her fast pace.”
    Behind them, Joan winked at Marla. What a hunk , she mouthed. Marla wondered what she could do to rescue Vail from Rochelle’s barrage of questions.
    She needn’t have bothered. After leading them through a forest of pines where dead needles cushioned the ground and a hush descended upon them, Champagne stopped to lecture.
    “Tobias Rutfield established Sugar Crest Plantation in 1844 at the end of the Second Seminole War,” she said in a didactic tone lacking her usual gushy