The Alpine Xanadu Read Online Free Page A

should stay home and play mommy. I’m just glad you were freed up from your holiday duty at the post office.”
    “So am I,” Amanda said. “With Roy still recovering from going off his rocker over his missing mama, it was more chaotic than usual. I hear he’s doing better. Doc Dewey prescribed some meds that work for him.”
    The saga of Roy’s mother, Myrtle Everson, had gone on for sixteen years after she disappeared without a trace. Every time anybody found some bones, Roy and the rest of the family would get them tested to see if they belonged to Myrtle. I had my own theory about what had happened to her, but there’d been no opportunity to prove or disprove it. Roy’s obsession with Mama had landed him in the hospital after Christmas.
    “Maybe,” I said, “when you have your baby in July, Ginny can fill in for you. Unless you think you’ll want to be a stay-at-home mom, too.”
    Amanda turned serious. “Walt and I’ve talked about that. Over the years when I worked part-time, I’d get antsy.” She offered me a quirky smile. “But a baby takes up a lot of time and I hope I’ve changed for the better. You know my pathetic history.” The smile broadened. “I can’t believe I actually considered taking up with Jack Blackwell back then.”
    I’d forgotten about their near fling. “Funny you should mention him,” I said. “He was at the funeral with Beth and the Eriks gang.”
    Amanda looked sly. “I hear he’s been seeing Tiffany since he broke up with Patti Marsh. Can you believe it? He must be almost sixty!”
    “True,” I said. “But Tiffany’s not as young as she looks. I figure her for mid-thirties. That’s still a huge age difference. But Tiff may be looking for a sugar daddy. She didn’t do very well as a wife.”
    Amanda turned somber. “I didn’t do so well for a while, either.”
    I smiled. “You rectified that situation. Skip the regrets.”
    Her own smile came more slowly. “The baby did that.” She paused, and her smile grew brighter. “There wouldn’t be a baby on the way if Walt and I hadn’t decided to grow up before we had kids. Playing the blame game on each other for not having a child almost ruined our marriage.”
    I nodded. “That’s what grown-ups do—they move on. Then you got lucky—and pregnant.”
    I left Amanda with a smile on her face. For the next half hour I went over the backgrounds of RestHaven’s staff. Shortly before three, Mitch asked if I’d checked his latest installment on the new facility. I told him I had, and only some minor tweaking had been necessary.
    “Good,” he said. “But I’d like to know how Fleetwood scoops us on some of the RestHaven news. I had the radio on when I went to the ranger station to get the trail openings schedule. KSKY’s on-air guy said Dr. Woo eventually plans to add another unit for Alzheimer patients. How do we keep getting beat on that stuff?”
    This was at least the fifth time Spence had broken a RestHaven item first. “I’ve no idea. Verify it and we’ll put it on the website.”
    “I did,” Mitch replied. “Kip’s putting it up now. But damn, it’s annoying. There’s a leak somewhere. Have you asked Spence about it?”
    “No. He wouldn’t tell me. We share some ad revenue, but not news sources.” Seeing Vida stomping through the newsroom, I gestured at Mitch. “Stand back. Our House & Home editor looks fit to spit.”
    “I cannot believe what ninnies those Eriks people are!” she exclaimed, almost elbowing Mitch out of the way. “Dot Parker told me Tiffany’s moving in with Jack Blackwell! Doesn’t that beat all?”
    “Amanda said—” I began, but Vida hadn’t run out of steam.
    “She’s going to be his housekeeper and is quitting at the Grocery Basket,” Vida continued. “Dot and Durwood are beside themselves.”
    The Parkers were Tiffany’s grandparents. Cookie Eriks was their younger daughter. Her older sister, known as La-La, lived in Bremerton. Scandal had never tainted