A House to Die For (A Darby Farr Mystery) Read Online Free PDF Page B

since
you've spent seven hours flying clear across the country. Your aunt
can be a giant pain in the ass."
    She glanced at Darby's surprised face and nodded.
    "I mean, have you ever met someone more unbelievably opinionated, stubborn as the day is long, and vain as Jane Farr?" She
shook her head. "I've seen her call a broker a lazy son-of-a-bitch
to his face, in front of his own clients! Man, I thought that guy was
gonna sue her skinny ass." She paused. "But I'm not telling you
anything new, am I?"
    "Nothing I haven't thought myself a hundred times."
    "I know."

    Tina pointed out the window at the grass bordering the highway. In the sweep of Thelma's headlights, Darby could just make
out the shoulders of Route 1-95, dotted with tall, spiky flowers in
shades of blue, purple, and pink.
    "Loads of lupines this year"
    Darby nodded. "I forgot how pretty they are."
    In June, the blooms of the wildflower were everywhere, elegant
splashes of color that stretched on for miles. Darby remembered
picking lupines as she walked home from school, the way the
stems were so sturdy it was easier to yank the whole plant out of
the ground then tear them. She saw her mother's gentle smile as
she trimmed the stalks, and the careful way she arranged them in
a vase on the kitchen table, as if they were a work of art. She swallowed at the memory and her throat felt rubbed raw.
    "What I'm trying to say is, I understand how you and your aunt
could have your ... differences, and I appreciate that you came anyway." She gunned the truck and passed the first vehicle they'd seen
since the airport. "The thing with your aunt, is that despite her
shortcomings, she is a hell of a woman. Her strengths outweigh
her weaknesses by far, and you can't say that about everybody. I
guess I hope you'll remember that side of her, too."
    Darby looked out the window. The last person she wanted to
talk about was Jane Farr, dead or alive, but she didn't want to upset
Tina again. "Tell me about this deal," she said. "Especially tomorrow's meeting."
    "You don't mean the planning board?" Tina snorted. "That's a
formality."
    "It's a condition of the property sale, is what it is."

    Tina sniffed. "Well, in my opinion, it's no big deal. Peyton's got
to get approval to do her resort the way she wants. The land is zoned
residential single family, and she wants to put little cottages up, plus
use it in a more commercial way. And she needs to serve booze, naturally. Who ever heard of a wedding without champagne?"
    "Jane did her homework before she got sick, though. She spoke
to all of the committee members and they all support the project.
No one anticipates anything but the board's good wishes and the
permit."
    Darby smiled grimly. She'd heard that kind of talk before. "So
you've met the buyer?"
    Tina nodded. "Peyton Mayerson's in her late thirties, from Boston, working with a small group of investors to create this wedding destination resort. You know, people from New York and
Boston book the whole damn place, have their wedding, take their
sails on the bay, yuck it up at their posh lobster bakes-it's really
catching on in Maine. Seems everybody and his brother want to
get married on the rocky coast and have what they think's a real
authentic experience. The ministers can't even keep up with it."
She snorted. "Most people I know get a bun in the oven, then go
to the JP. None of this croquet on the lawn and tents set up on the
grass" She swerved to avoid a dead animal in the road. "You know
the Trimbles, right?"
    "Mark helped my father run the sailing program at the yacht
club. He's older than me, but we know one another. Lucy and I
were friends for several years. I never really got to know Mr. and
Mrs. Trimble."
    Tina waved a manicured hand. "No matter. They're long gone,
and so's the big brother-Wes, I think he was called? Anyway, it's just Mark and Lucy and they've been very easy clients. Jane would
tell them to do something-bam!-they got