The Monet Murders Read Online Free Page B

the steel mesh chair across from me. Her lips quivered, but she didn’t cry. “Daddy means well, but I had to leave home all the same. He wouldn’t let me do anything. Except go to work at Kmart. He didn’t want me to have friends, either. Not even girlfriends. And I’ve never had me a boyfriend. Not one. Not ever.”
    “He wanted to keep you for himself?”
    “I guess so. Since Momma passed, he’s been lonely but…”
    “You have your own life to lead.”
    She nodded, her eyes misty. “I stayed, though, till he told me to quit school. That’s when I left.”
    “School?”
    “FGCU. Florida Gulf Coast University,” she added, sitting up straight. “I’m an art major. Got me a scholarship, too. I plan to be a decorator just like you.”
    Just like me. I wanted to cry. I’d seldom had a finer compliment.
    “I’m renting a room two blocks over on Third Avenue, so I can walk to work, and I get a ride to class with a girl I know. Everything’s going just fine, except for—”
    “Daddy.”
    “Yes.”
    Working nights and going to school days couldn’t be easy. She looked so frail and burdened I reached across the table to squeeze her hand. “Let’s order burgers and Cokes. You’ll feel better after you eat something.” She had a long way to go until the pub closed at midnight.
    We had nearly finished eating when she surprised me with a question. “Deva, would you like some help in your new shop? When I peeked in the window the other day, I told myself I’d surely love to work there.”
    I rested what was left of the burger on my plate. “I’m barely getting started, Lee. I can’t afford to hire anyone.”
    Her eyes flared wide. “Oh, I don’t mean for pay. I mean kind of like a—what’s the word?—internship. Yes, that’s it. Internship. For the experience, like.”
    I shook my head. “That would be taking unfair advantage of you. Besides, you have enough to do as is.”
    “I worked at Kmart all through high school and after. I got to know the Martha Stewart line real good. Martha’s another decorating lady,” she added, “just like you.”
    Just like me. I sighed and gave in on the spot. “What did you have in mind?”
    The last bites of her burger abandoned, Lee leaned forward, eyes aglow. “Well, I’m free Wednesday and Friday afternoons from two to five. I kind of thought if you’re working all alone, you might need to leave, you know, to go to customers’ homes and stuff. I could keep the shop open. At least two afternoons a week.”
    “Lee, has anyone ever told you that you’re a steel magnolia?”
    Her brow furrowed. “No. What do y’all mean?”
    “You’re strong.”
    “I wish my daddy thought so,” she said, looking as wistful as an abandoned child.
    “If he didn’t before, chances are he does now. Though you’d better be careful walking home at night. He might follow you.”
    “It’s okay, Deva. He won’t hurt me.”
    Hoping she was right, I glanced out onto Sugden Square. Couples strolling arm in arm had replaced the tourist families. As night deepened, the lights on the tree trunks transformed the palms into glimmering sculptures. A lovely sight, but I couldn’t keep staring at it without answering Lee’s question. Yet how to answer her? The last thing I wanted was to hurt her feelings, but with my entire future at stake, the truth was my only option. I pulled my gaze from the square and looked across the table.
    She was a beautiful girl, anyone could see that, but I suspected her wardrobe consisted of jeans, Reeboks and T-shirts. Loose T-shirts. Daddy wouldn’t have allowed anything else.
    “Well, for openers, interior designers sell the sizzle. The steak comes later.”
    “Y’all confusing me, Deva.”
    “What I mean is it’s an image business.”
    She nodded, her brow creasing as she waited for me to make my point.
    Oh boy, this wasn’t going to be easy, but I had no choice except to plunge ahead. “To put it in as few words as possible, you need