Dangerous Relations Read Online Free Page B

carnations the day her sprained wrist was x-rayed. But red roses and a dinner invitation! The image of a candle-lit dinner arose in her mind. Not that
she'd go, of course. She had better sense than to get involved with Brett Waterstone.
    The phone rang, jarring her back to the present.
    "Ardin!" her mother demanded. "Where are you? Half the afternoon's gone, and you're
nowhere in sight."
    Ardin opened the kitchen cabinet and took down the two flowered mugs her mother had
asked for.
    "I'm leaving right now. Be there in ten minutes." She hung up before Vera could toss out
another complaint.
    Before driving to the assisted-living residence, she stopped at the greengrocers in town to
buy a bunch of the red grapes Vera loved. As she walked along the path toward the three brick
buildings, she sighed. If only the place didn't look so stark and dreary, like the institution it
was.
    She wrinkled her nose at the disinfectant odor as she opened the glass door of the middle
building. As always, the sight of old people shuffling with walkers along the florescent-lit halls filled
her with dismay. Her mother wasn't old--only fifty-eight--but years of hard drinking, severe
arthritis, and unsuccessful hip surgery had worked together to keep her wheelchair-bound most of
her waking hours.
    Vera had fought Dr. Addison when he'd insisted that she come here after her last bout in
the hospital, but common sense had forced her to accept her only viable option. Despite her
ailments and disabilities, Vera's indomitable will remained unbowed. She still tried to manage her
own life and that of her only child. One of the many reasons Ardin had chosen to live in
Manhattan.
    At least her studio apartment seemed cheerful enough, adorned with the few items of
furniture Vera had brought from home. Ardin bent down to kiss her mother's cheek. She set down
the mugs and handed her the bag of fruit.
    "Mmmm, thanks, dear," Vera said, as she stuffed her mouth with grapes. "They're sweet,
just the way I like them. How's Julia doing? I called last night but she couldn't stop crying, so I said
I'd call again in a few days when she'd calmed down some."
    "Good idea," Ardin agreed. Her mother's straight-forward practicality was a relief after her
morning with Aunt Julia. "She felt better after she napped."
    Vera devoured another handful of grapes. "Who I feel bad about, is the little angel. Suziette
wasn't maternal, but she was the only mother Leonie had. Frankly, Julia hasn't the strength to take
on that child full-time." She smiled. "I thought her handsome stepdaddy was planning to adopt
her."
    "Oh, he wants to, all right. Now more than ever. But there's the small matter of Suziette's
will."
    Vera's steel-gray eyes met Ardin's. "Am I to understand that you and Brett had a little chat
about this?"
    Ardin felt the blood rush to her ears. "Actually, we did, last night. He was upset when I told
him Suziette had made Aunt Julia Leonie's guardian."
    Her mother shook her head. "Dead or alive, Suziette screws everything up."
    "Mother!"
    "Well, she does. The only sensible thing she ever did was marry Brett Waterstone, and she
made a mess of that in no time."
    Ardin's mouth fell open. "How do you know?"
    "Julia. How do you think?"
    Aunt Julia must know about Suziette and Corey.
    Vera pursed her lips, as if debating whether to say more. "Julia did swear me to secrecy, but
there's no harm in telling you, now that Suziette's dead."
    "Tell me what?"
    Vera rolled her wheelchair forward until her mouth was inches from Ardin's ear. "She was
carrying on, not a month after the wedding, with that Greek Adonis--what's his name? Her personal
trainer over at the gym."
    "Her personal trainer? You don't mean Dimitri!" Ardin nearly fell off her chair in shock.
"How does Aunt Julia know?"
    The gray eyes gleamed with mischief. "She overheard Suziette set up an
appointment for a session at the gym and some hanky-panky afterwards."
    Dimitri. Corey. Being married hadn't stopped her cousin from making