The Jewelry Case Read Online Free Page B

well-used cookbook. After sitting unused for a year, the cereal might need to be thrown out, but there were enough cans of soup and chili to live on for a week or so. She pulled out a drawer by the sink, which revealed boxes of candles, matches, and an emergency radio. Esther had apparently believed in being prepared.
    Then she glanced outside the sliding kitchen door, another mid-century update , and noted a hand-painted china pet-food bowl on the step. Ray followed the direction of her eyes. "The Perlemans always had cats," he said. "Long as I can remember."
    "Do you know what happened to Esther's pet?" She felt a stab of hope that the cat hadn't starved without the old woman to feed it. She wasn't an animal person, but she hated to think of any living creature suffering.
    "Dunno. A neighbor might have taken it in, or maybe it went feral. Or got eaten by coyotes. There's still a few of them around here." He didn't sound very interested. "If you step this way, ma'am, I believe there's a powder room down the hall you might want to take a look at."
    It had luridly pink floral wallpaper, and was situated near a set of creaky stairs. Upstairs, Paisley found three small bedrooms, the front one with a beautiful view of the ancient oak's middle branches, the other two with a view over the large back yard, fringed with tall trees. She opened a door between them and found a large bathroom with a claw-tooth tub.
    For a moment, she did not notice the cracked tiles or the old-fashioned wallpaper as she indulged in a vision of herself soaking in bubbles, surrounded by scented candles, hair piled atop her head.... Then she looked up and saw brown stains on the ceiling. Ray had been right. The roof leaked.
    The old stairs creaked under Ray's weight as he followed her upstairs. "So what do you think? Still plan to stay?""
    She let the words tumble out before she changed her mind. "I've got a little money left in the bank, enough to make any necessary repairs. By the time the house is in shape, we can find a buyer. We could talk to this Steve ... er.... Steve...."
    "Lopez."
    "Steve Lopez. Until then, a cold shower or two won't hurt me. If it rains, I'll put buckets under the roof leaks. As for food, I saw some canned goods in the kitchen, and you said it was less than a mile to River Bend. Give me the number of a contractor, and I'll take care of everything."
    His friendly expression disappeared at her peremptory tone. She could guess what he was thinking: Diva.
    Little did he know the diva act was just that, she thought: an act she had adopted to cover her innate shyness and raging insecurity. When Jonathan had plucked her out of obscurity, she couldn't convince herself that she deserved her new-found success. The daughter of an itinerant alcoholic, she had never really known a stable home life. Singing had been all she could cling to.
    But Jonathan had changed all that. She had thrown herself into her new life with abandon, glomming on to the character of what she thought a diva should be. The singer Jonathan wanted her to be. Hence the designer clothes, the heavy makeup, the jet-set lifestyle. It almost seemed natural by now.
    She winced. Divas could get away with bad behavior because of their talent. But she was no longer an up-and-coming new star of the Met, with reporters begging for an interview. Maybe, just maybe, it was time to ditch the act and figure out who she really was.
    Turning away, she fingered the edges of the scar while struggling to combat a fresh wave of depression. Later she would gargle with hot tea and honey. If she rested her voice over the summer.... Plenty of other singers had come back after similar tragedies. When Frank Sinatra was a young man, he had strained his voice, and although it had never regained its former silky quality, his career had not suffered. Adele had famously undergone throat surgery just before winning her first Grammies. Julie Andrews....Well, no, perhaps not Julie Andrews. With a shiver,