Crushed Velvet Read Online Free Page A

answer, nodded. “In light of circumstances, I’m going to have to ask you to reschedule the balance of your work on the exterior of the store.”
    â€œBut it’s been rescheduled twice already!”
    â€œThat isn’t a request.”
    â€œFine.”
    I found the foreman and explained the situation. He communicated to his crew, who finished their sandwiches and then packed up their tools. Sheriff Clark spoke to Rick by the driver’s side of the van. I tried to listen in to their conversation, but the sound of the construction crew loading up their truck with cones and hard hats drowned them out. Rick climbed into the van and pulled it away from the curb.
    â€œWhere’s he taking the van?” I asked Clark.
    â€œThe police station. Like I said about your fabric, until we figure out what happened here, it’s evidence.”
    The men in flannel piled into the back of the flatbed and the foreman drove it away, leaving me alone with the store, the scaffolding, and a mess of parchment paper and empty tea containers. Clark’s men carried the remaining roll of velvet out of the store. After I cleaned up the street, I went inside. I locked the front door behind me and climbed the stairs to the small Victorian apartment over the store.
    Home.
    I was met at the door by Pins, a small gray striped kitten I’d adopted after he and his brother were found in the Dumpster behind my store. He was about six months old and had grown out of his kitten appearance and into that of a frisky kitty. He maintained his playfulness, much like Needles, his orange tabby brother. I scooped Pins up, kissed him on his head, and carried him to the kitchen. He wriggled out of my arms and jumped onto the counter, onto a chair, and down onto the floor, where he buried his nose in his bowl. Needles scampered into the kitchen and joined him.
    I fished my phone out of my pocket and called Genevieve. “It’s Poly.” I paused for a second and thought about what kind of a message to leave. “Call me back as soon as you can.”
    I poured a cold glass of lemonade and sank into a chair by the table. Phil’s body in the back of the van sickened me to the point that I couldn’t think about anything else. This wasn’t the first time I’d experienced a murder since coming to San Ladrón. I’d learned how the small town treated its residents and its outsiders. It was one of the reasons Genevieve had become friendly to me in the first place.
    I’d met Phil Girard on a few occasions, but I’d never gotten to know him other than through Genevieve. I had gotten the feeling that Genevieve would have been happier to have him with her in San Ladrón than constantly on the road. The rare times I’d seen him at her tea shop, he’d been less friendly than tolerant. I’d tried to overcompensate withmy own level of friendliness, but we’d never warmed to each other. Truth was, I didn’t think he deserved Genevieve.
    Phil had been Genevieve’s ticket to acceptance in local circles. So what did that mean for her now? Was she enough of a part of San Ladrón’s community to be accepted on her own, or was she an outsider like me?
    I also knew her financial troubles were worse than she’d let on, and now—well, I didn’t know what would happen now. I wanted to tell her that I would help her however I could. Friends need friends in hard times, I knew that. It was harder to go through something like this alone than with people to lean on. I had been lucky. Not only had I found a friend in Genevieve, but I had my parents to lean on, too.
    I thought about what my dad had said when I first told him I wanted to reopen the store.
Land of a Thousand Fabrics is a thing of the past. The world has changed since the store’s heyday. It won’t ever be the same.
I knew he was right, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t make it something new.
    In the weeks