Twisted Reason Read Online Free Page B

kitchen. She walked into the doorway and spotted Vicki in front of the sink holding a glass carafe.
    “Hello, Lieutenant. I’m getting ready to brew a fresh pot of coffee. Want a cup?” Vicki asked.
    “That would be nice. Thank you.”
    “Have a seat at the table. I’ll bring it over as soon as it’s ready.”
    Lucinda slid back into the chair she’d occupied earlier, but this time, in addition to observing Vicki, she absorbed the pleasant ambience of her surroundings. The kitchen design was different from that in the living room but had a soulful compatibility with it. It was warm, with a sort of south-west feel dominated by earth tones but with splashes of primary and secondary colors everywhere. “You have a lovely kitchen,” Lucinda said.
    Vicki chuckled. “Thank you. We did this a few years ago after Jimmy, our youngest, went off to college. We were feeling our oats then – free at last, free at last. Just the two of us on our own, living our own life, making a schedule based on what we wanted to do. And being a bit more spontaneous. Sure, we had to accommodate the kids when they came home on break but the rest of the year was ours.
    “The weekend after we took Jimmy to Maryland to school, we flew off to the Mexican Riviera to rekindle our old romance. And it worked – oh my, did it work. It was as passionate and intense as was when we first met.” Vicki closed her eyes; a small smile caressed her lips.
    “That sounds very nice,” Lucinda said with a smile, reminding her of the weekend she spent with Jake last Fall in the Blue Ridge Mountains.
    Vicki opened her eyes, poured two cups of coffee and carried them to the table. After sitting down, she continued, “While we were there, I bought all of these hand-painted door handles, drawer pulls and wall tiles you see scattered in the backsplash design, along with a few other odds and ends. I wanted to decorate the kitchen in a way that captured the feeling of Mexico and the magic of that weekend. I think I did a pretty good job of it. I love this room – it’s where I come when I’m feeling overwhelmed or stressed. It always helps restore my balance and serenity. Except maybe today. I don’t know if anything could work after the way this morning started.”
    “I suppose when Edgar Humphries arrived a couple of years ago, it disrupted the unbridled feeling of freedom you and Eric had – like having a child in the house again.”
    “Oh worse than a child,” she said pursing her lips. “You see, it feels right when you tell one of your kids what to do or to wear a jacket or wipe their mouth at the dinner table. But when you have to do those things with someone you respected, admired and adored, it’s a nightmare.”
    “Did you feel that way about your father-in-law when you married Eric?”
    “Oh, no, not at first. The admiration and respect were there but I was too much in awe of him to have any affectionate feelings. He was a physics professor at the University of Virginia – he’s actually Dr. Humphries. In the beginning, I was intimidated and even a little afraid of him. A gruff voice, a staggering intellect and as blunt as hell. But when Jenny, our oldest, was born, I saw a side of him I didn’t know existed.
    “When she was an infant, he was soft and gentle with her. As she became more aware of her environment, he learned sleight of hand tricks to keep her amused for the next several years. When her fascination with mathematics became obvious, he spent hours concocting elaborate word problems like ones that involved covering the surface of the earth with peanut and jelly or creating crazy scenarios with planes crashing in New Jersey cranberry bogs and oceans turning into ice cream.
    “With Eddie, he found an entirely different way to interact. Edgar spent hours learning elaborate magic tricks to share them with his grandson. He also gave him lessons in light refraction to help him have a better awareness of how to use color and light in