C's Comeuppance: A Bone Cold--Alive novel Read Online Free Page A

reformed that you can’t still call them as you see them.”
    C watched his twin squirm in the oak chair, shoot a be-damned look to his wife, and start speaking. “She’s always been a bit uptight around me. A bit—” he waved his hand from side to side, “—a bit cold I guess. Not real friendly.” He chanced a glance at Lyla. “You know she’s not.”
    “She’s very reserved.”
    “So that’s the new catch-phrase for ballbreaker.” C nodded to himself. “She’s reserved.” He drew the word out. “Well, what’s she reserving it for?” He asked Lyla directly. “Or should I ask who?”
    “You should probably ask whom.”
    “Fine, Lyla, fine. Mince words with me. You live to do it.” He stood abruptly. “Pardon me if I don’t help you do the dishes, but I’ve got a plane to catch. I’ll just go to the airport and sit stand-by.” He threw his napkin on the table and turned toward T. He caught a plaintive look in his brother’s eye and couldn’t help himself from stealing a backward glance at Lyla.
    “Oh, all right!” She scooted in the chair and C heard the sound of it scrape on the pine floor. “Sit back down, C. You can still fly stand-by for all I care, but I’ll satisfy your curiosity.”
    He flicked the hair over his shoulders and turned to her with a glint in his eye. “Then I want all the details about you and—”
    “I’ll satisfy your curiosity about Jemma.”
    “Damn, but you drive a hard bargain. You expect me to clean up, too?”
    “As your conscience dictates.”
    “Good. I knew there were times it would pay not to have one.” He reached for his tea, downed the glass in a gulp. “So tell me about your friend Jemma. She is your friend?”
    “Yes.” Lyla fiddled with the edge of the placemat. “Jemma’s never been married, she’s older than I am—”
    “Whoa. How much older?”
    “Let’s see.” Her fingers counted on the edge of the table. “When I was a freshman in high school, she was a freshman in college. Four years older. That makes her two years older than you.”
    T started laughing. “An older woman. Who would have thought?”
    “Never dated an older woman, C?”
    “Who said I was interested in dating her! My God, what an awful thought. She couldn’t even be polite and the room was sub-zero from her being so frigid.” He reached for the last piece of Italian bread. “And, yes, I have dated an older woman.” He dipped the bread into the dressing on the salad plate. A mischievous grin tapped the edges of his mouth. “We both did.” He raised his eyebrows at T. “Remember Constance?”
    T nodded his head and shared a long look with C. “One doesn’t forget Constance.” The brothers simultaneously stretched their legs.
    “Constance must have been quite an education for you boys.”
    “We were eighteen.” C bit at his lower lip. “I think it’s safe to say Constance took me from boy to man.” He couldn’t quit grinning at the thought. “What about you? Through the druggy haze—”
    “A man would have to be long dead not to remember Constance. Drugs wouldn’t dim the memory.” T sighed.
    “I don’t suppose you’re going to tell me about this tonight?”
    T shook his head. “Probably not, Lyla. It would be like Bertie telling her secrets. You wouldn’t want to know.”
    C wrinkled his nose at T’s mention of Alberta Osborne, Lyla’s mentor and busybody extraordinaire. She had immediately made up her eighty-something mind about him and he hadn’t come out on the side of the angels.
    “So let’s get back to Jemma.” C popped the last bite of bread into his mouth. “What made her such a bitch? How does she stay in business?”
    “I don’t believe I’ve ever heard anyone refer to her as such. Start at the beginning. You must have tripped a wire somewhere.”
    C chose to ignore the barb. “Well, after I can’t find a place to stay, thank you very much, I decided to take T’s advice and find a permanent place.” He smiled