Dead and Breakfast Read Online Free Page B

her father a few days ago. Autumn’s stomach soured. She wasn’t sure what upset her more—that her father had betrayed her by forwarding the email to her mother, or that Evelyn had seen how far Autumn was willing to go to move back home.
    Evelyn’s eyes darkened a little. “I know you’re not happy about being in Florida, but you can’t keep asking your dad to move back in with him.” Evelyn swallowed. “He has a new life now, and we’re not a part of it.”
    “That’s only true for you,” Autumn said. Evelyn blanched, and Autumn regretted her words. “I mean, he’s still my father. And I’m still his daughter, even if he is remarried.”
    “To a child,” Evelyn snapped. “Ugh, Jennifer is only a few years older than you.” She dropped her voice. “Do you hate it here that much that you’d want to return to the man who destroyed our family? Do you hate me that much?”
    Autumn cringed inwardly. Why did her mother always have to make everything about her? “I don’t hate you, Mom.” Autumn picked up a brass apple, a paperweight, and cupped the fruit in her hand. The apple-picking season was coming to an end in New Jersey. She and her parents used to go to Meadow Farms every September and pluck juicy red apples from the trees. “I miss home. I miss cool temperatures and dried leaves and bonfires.”
    Evelyn reached over and patted Autumn’s hand. “I miss that stuff too. Fall was my favorite time of year. I mean, I named you after the season, for goodness sake. But Key West has its own benefits. Like turquoise water and palm trees. Besides, we have an opportunity to make a new life here. To start fresh and leave the past behind.”
    Autumn didn’t want to leave the past behind. She liked the past. In the past, her parents were happily married. “Key West is nice. For now.”
    Evelyn knitted her brows. “What do you mean for now?”
    “Well, I’m not living here forever. I’m applying to college in New Jersey.”
    Evelyn slumped back into her chair. “There’s something I need to tell you.”
    Suddenly, Evelyn’s words felt heavier than that stupid brass paperweight. “What?”
    “There isn’t money to send you to college in the northeast.”
    Autumn gripped the edge of the desk. “What do you mean no money? I have a college fund. Don’t I?”
    Evelyn shook her head, but didn’t glance up. “You had a college fund. You have to understand. The hardware store was hemorrhaging money and the divorce left me and your father broke.”
    Autumn felt tears threatening to come. “What did you do with my college fund?”
    “Your aunt needed some cash to keep this place running and so I used it as an investment.”
    “You spent my college fund on this dump!” Autumn leaped up, and her eyes fell on the paperweight. She suddenly felt the urge to hurl the brass apple at that tiny glass window.
    “Autumn!” Evelyn rose. “I get that you’re upset, but don’t you see? This place could be our future.”
    “You mean your future! My future is gone because there’s no money for college.”
    “You can go to community college. We’ll figure something out.” She reached for Autumn’s hand again, but Autumn snatched it away.
    “I’m going to college next year in New Jersey, whether Dad wants me home or not. I’ll find a way.” Autumn stormed away from her mother’s cramped office and thundered up the stairs to her bedroom.

CHAPTER FOUR
    Autumn and her mother shared a set of rooms and an adjoining bathroom on the Cayo’s third floor, which was technically the finished half of the attic; the other half was for storage. Here, the rooflines pitched, forcing Autumn to duck her head as she entered her bedroom. She made a beeline for the ancient air-conditioning unit in the window and flicked on the switch. It sputtered to life and then roared.
    She longed for the kind of crisp fall afternoon where a fleece pullover provided enough warmth so that cool air on her cheeks didn’t make her shiver.