Cut to the Corpse Read Online Free Page B

as if she’d just been tied to the train tracks.
    “You’re a dear, Brenna,” she said. “When I heard that Justin and Joan Miller’s daughter was living out in the wild, I thought I’d find you wearing a lot of plaid flannel and letting yourself go, but you look quite lovely.”
    “You know my parents then?” Brenna asked faintly.
    “Just in passing,” Tiffany said. “We’ve shared a box at the opera once or twice.”
    “Oh,” Brenna said.
    “I’m sure your mother will be happy to hear how well you look next time I see her.”
    “Thank you,” Brenna said. She swallowed the urge to beg Tiffany not to mention seeing her to her parents. But that would be awkward at best; still, it was a tough impulse to ignore.
    Tiffany left the break room with a wave of her hand, and Brenna glanced at her reflection in the small mirror on the back of the door. Thank the fashion gods that it was June, and it was too warm for her to wear her favorite flannel shirt. Instead, she was in a snug pair of Mudd jeans and a black eyelet tank top from Talbots. Her shoulder length, curly auburn hair was twisted into a knot on the top of her head, from which a few curly strands had escaped, softening the severity of the hairdo and framing her green brown eyes becomingly.
    “Good news!” Tenley stuck her head around the door.
    “What’s that?” Brenna asked, looking away from the mirror and focusing on her friend.
    “They’re all gone!” Tenley announced, and Brenna laughed.
    They walked back into the empty shop together and while they finished cleaning, Brenna told Tenley about her conversation with Tiffany.
    “Awfully pessimistic, isn’t she?” Tenley asked. “I wondered when I heard the Montgomerys gave Jake their permission. Now it all makes sense. They don’t expect it to last.”
    “And how about those wedding favors?” Brenna asked. “Three hundred of them for a doomed marriage. I have no idea what to do about that.”
    “You’ll come up with something,” Tenley assured her. “You’re brilliant, and it will be a fantastic showcase for your work and the shop.”
    “Promise you’ll help?” Brenna asked.
    “Absolutely,” she said.
    A soft rap on the glass front door interrupted their conversation. Outside stood Tara.
    Tenley crossed the room to open the door.
    “Hi, Tara,” she said. “What brings you back? Did you forget something?”
    “No,” she said. “Mother just told me that Brenna has agreed to make my wedding favors, and I just wanted to come back and say thank you. I think they will just be so wonderful.”
    “You’re welcome,” Brenna said. She was uncomfortable with Tara’s gushing exuberance. It curled her tongue like too much sugar in a glass of iced tea, but Tara seemed so sincere, Brenna forced a smile through her discomfort. “It’s my pleasure.”
    “I’ll see you tomorrow then,” Tara said. With a wave and a twirl of her skirt, she whirled back out the door.
    Tenley closed and locked it behind her.
    “Is she for real?” she asked.
    “I think so,” Brenna said. “I don’t get fake coming off of her.”
    “Me neither,” Tenley said. “She’s just so perky and bubbly. It’s unnatural. That girl really needs an off switch.”
    “She’s ten years younger than us,” Brenna observed. “Maybe at thirty-two, our on-off is more intermittent, like windshield wipers.”
    “You think?” A worry line creased Tenley’s forehead and she reached for the wine bottle on the refreshment table. It was empty. She made a sad face.
    “Let’s go to the Fife and Drum and have a glass of wine,” Brenna suggested.
    “Best idea I’ve heard all day.” Tenley smiled and went to retrieve their purses.
    Brenna watched her go and wondered if the sudden spring in her step had more to do with seeing Matt Collins, the bartender at the Fife and Drum, than it did a glass of wine. She couldn’t help but notice that Tenley was showing shades of Tara’s peppiness. She wasn’t foolish enough