The Weekenders Read Online Free Page A

breath. “Belle Isle Barbie. Hide me.”
    â€œToo late. Houdini couldn’t hide from that woman.”
    â€œWhat’s she want? Besides my soul, I mean?”
    â€œShe wants to invite you over for drinks before the full moon party tonight. And to see her new kitchen. Now, what about Ed? Don’t tell me he’s a no-show, too.”
    â€œHe took the first ferry over yesterday so he could start opening up the house for the season.”
    â€œEd’s such a love,” Riley said. “We’ve been summering on Belle Isle for nearly twenty years together, but do you think it ever occurred to Wendell Griggs to help me get the house opened up? Never! He’s just like my dad that way. He thinks magic elves show up to take down the storm shutters, sweep up all the dead bugs, air out the house, drag the lawn chairs out of storage, and get the golf cart batteries charged up.”
    â€œEd’s just feeling guilty. He didn’t help close the house down at all in November and, except for spring break when we were with you at Grayton Beach, he’s been mostly AWOL for the past six months.
    â€œLots of trials?”
    Parrish nodded. “That big plane crash in the Alps, plus there was a corporate jet that went down in the Maldives last year that got hardly any press. People die in a plane, Ed Godchaux is the man to call.”
    Riley gave Parrish a sideways glance. There was a bitter undertone to her best friend’s glib patter that hadn’t been there before.
    Parrish spied her next-door neighbor across the deck. “I’ll be right back,” she said, and hustled off in that direction.
    The ferry’s horn sounded—loud and low. It was the five-minute warning. The metal gangplank clanged against the concrete dock, and arriving passengers began trickling off the boat while the crowd of departures edged closer. Memorial Day was about to start.
    â€œMom!” Maggy appeared at her side, her face reddened and tearstained.
    Riley looked backward over her shoulder. No black Jeep. No Wendell. Another broken promise.
    Before Riley could find words to comfort her daughter, Maggy was suddenly lifted into the air by a pair of hairy, tanned arms encircling her waist.
    â€œSaggy, baggy, Maggy, why you lookin’ kinda draggy?” he sang—in perfect pitch.
    The girl’s tears were instantly forgotten.
    â€œBebo!” She thumped her uncle’s chest.
    â€œMagpie! Why the tears?”
    Banks sat on his haunches and gave a bark of happiness at the sight of the newcomer.
    Billy Nolan had that effect on people. He’d been an irresistible imp as a child, and had grown into an adorable adult. He was irresponsible, drank too much, and played too hard. He was a wildly talented and totally unmotivated jazz pianist who worked only when it suited him, which was rarely.
    And Riley Nolan Griggs doted on her baby brother, her only brother.
    She hugged Billy now and whispered in his ear. “Wendell’s a no-show, and Maggy’s heartbroken.”
    â€œI’ll kill the bastard if you want me to,” Billy whispered back.
    â€œDeal,” Riley agreed.
    â€œHow shall I do it?”
    Riley watched while the ferry’s motors churned the surface of the river as it backed away from the dock. There was still no sign of the black Jeep. “I don’t care, as long as it’s slow and painful.”
    *   *   *
    They stood against the railing on the lower deck, watching as the mainland retreated. Billy had one arm loosely draped around his sister’s shoulder and the other around his niece.
    â€œWhat are you now, fifteen, sixteen?” he asked, tapping the top of Maggy’s head. “All of a sudden, you’re three inches taller than me.”
    â€œI’m almost thirteen, as if you didn’t know it. And, no offense, but everybody’s taller than you, Bebo,” Maggy retorted.
    â€œTrue that,” Billy