Dead and Breakfast Read Online Free Page A

rest.
    Liam strode over to his scooter, a beat-up 1984 Honda Elite with scratched gold paint and a torn leather seat that he had bought cheap. He kicked a palm leaf out from under the bike and unbuckled the helmet from the handlebars. He took the paper bag and his cell phone and tossed them in the small trunk space on the back of the bike. He was just about to snap on his helmet when Autumn came barreling out of the Cayo.
    “Wait!” she cried.
    Liam sat up straighter. What did she want now? Couldn’t he just get out of here? The humiliation seemed never ending.
    Autumn halted at the bike and pushed a strand of hair from her face. She handed him a bunch of crumpled bills.
    “What’s this?”
    “It’s your day’s pay. Aunt Glenda thinks you won’t return. She wanted you to have what she promised.” Autumn’s face soured, and Liam couldn’t help but think she looked pretty.
    Liam wasn’t used to such generosity. He was more accustomed to glares and suspicious glances. He peeked back and saw Evelyn watching from the window. Yeah, like that.
    Liam returned the money to Autumn’s palm. “Tell her she can pay me weekly like we agreed.”
    Autumn appeared thoughtful for a moment. “So you’ll be back?”
    Liam buckled the helmet’s strap under his chin. “Yeah.”
    “Okay, I’ll let Aunt Glenda know.” She hesitated before turning to leave.
    Liam gently caught her wrist. “I’m sorry I implied you were a freak. I didn’t mean for it to sound that way.”
    “Sure you did.” Her smile drooped. “It’s not the first time a guy has called me that. It doesn’t bother me.”
    “It should,” Liam said. “It was rude, and I apologize. Also, thank you for pushing me out of the way of that falling light fixture.”
    “Chandelier,” she corrected.
    “Whatever. I could’ve been hurt. We both could’ve.” The words hung in the air.
    Autumn nodded and gave a slight wave before heading back inside the Cayo Hueso. Liam watched her go and caught another glimpse of Evelyn’s disapproving face.
    Liam was sick of those looks. He didn’t want to be some divorcee’s minimum-wage lackey. He wanted to work for himself. He wanted to create something of value so that if his father or his deadbeat mother ever came back to Key West, they’d regret running out on him. Unfortunately for Liam, he just didn’t know how.
    #
    Autumn entered the Cayo’s foyer with its ornate moulding and antique rug. She stared up the long carpeted staircase and blew the bangs off her forehead. The last thing she wanted to do was homework, but if she was ever going to get into a decent college back north, she needed to keep her grades up. She rested her hand on the bannister when Evelyn, who was fussing with brochures on the hallway table, cleared her throat.
    “I need to talk to you about something.” Her mother motioned toward her office. “Can you come into the back?”
    Dreading a talk with her mother, Autumn stalled before following on Evelyn’s heels like a Cocker spaniel.
    Her mother’s office was nothing more than a glorified storage closet, although it did have a small circular window that let in natural light, but little air circulation. Evelyn had claimed the office the minute they had unpacked from their move, grumbling something about never having a proper place to work at the Abernathy’s hardware store. Autumn scanned the pile of folders stacked on the desk and the packages of toilet paper shoved into the corner. Autumn didn’t think this was a proper place to do anything, let alone manage a hotel.
    Evelyn sat in her black office chair and pointed to a folding chair next to the desk. Autumn hated when Evelyn did this stuff—called her into the office like an employee instead of just talking to her like a mom.
    Autumn plopped into the chair and carefully tucked her knees under the desk. “What’s up?”
    Evelyn jiggled the mouse before turning the computer monitor toward her daughter. It was the email Autumn had sent