A Pour Way to Dye (Book 2 in the Soapmaking Mysteries) Read Online Free PDF Page A

her. I’m afraid
he was quite displeased. There was no need for you to rush over
here. I’m sure he’s fine. Jeff certainly believes so.”
    “ My grandfather’s probably
fine, but I’d still like to see his room,” I said.
    She looked startled by the request. “I’m
afraid I can’t do that. Our rooms are private.”
    I wasn’t about to let that stop me. “I’m
Paulus’s grandson. Understandably, the entire family is worried
about him. If I could just have a look around, maybe I could clear
this all up.”
    She nodded and was pulling a ring of keys
from her apron pocket when a tall, muscular man with a crew cut
came out to join us. “Mary, aren’t you going to finish the
biscuits?” He caught sight of me and said, “Hello. Sorry, but
you’ve caught us at a bad time. If you’d like to book a room, you
might try later today.”
    “ I’m here about my
grandfather,” I said. “Paulus Perkins.”
    He scowled at his wife a second, then said,
“Sorry, we can’t help you.”
    Jeff tried to back me down with his glare,
but I wasn’t about to give up that easily. I repeated my request.
“I need to see his room.”
    He stared at me another full ten seconds,
then said, “No way. We don’t allow that. Good-bye.” Then he
dismissed me and turned to his wife. “Mary, you need to finish
those biscuits. Our guests are going to be down soon.”
    “ He has a right to be
concerned, Jeff,” she said softly. I wanted to cheer—I was so proud
of her for standing up to him—but I didn’t want her to take any of
the heat that was meant for me.
    I said, “If you insist on doing this the hard
way, I can be back here with the sheriff in ten minutes. Your other
guests might not like it, though.”
    Jeff forgot all about his wife and took two
steps toward me. I thought for a minute he was going to take a
swing at me, and I braced myself for it. Instead, he stopped two
inches from my nose and said, “I doubt Billy’s going to back you
up. Best friends have a way of watching out for each other.”
    Great. If we had been in Harper’s Landing, I
could have had Molly over there in a heartbeat. As it was, this oaf
had called my bluff. Well, one thing I knew about poker was that if
somebody called your bluff, one viable option was to go over the
top and up the stakes even more, trying to force them to drop out
of the hand. In a voice much louder than I normally used, I said,
“That’s great. We can make it a party. The health inspector for the
county happens to be my cousin. I’m sure he’d be interested in
looking around your kitchen.” I didn’t have any such relative, but
I was hoping he would believe that I did.
    A few guests started down the stairs and must
have heard my threat. It was all I could do not to smile as they
started back to their rooms. Jeff’s face reddened, and I was ready
to duck his punches any second. The man really should sign up for
some anger management classes, but I didn’t think it was the right
time to suggest them to him.
    “ Leave before I throw you
out,” he snarled. Mary had ducked back into the kitchen, and I
couldn’t blame her a bit. I wasn’t about to give up,
though.
    “ Give me five minutes in his
room and I won’t bother you again,” I said. “He’s checking out, and
I’m taking his luggage with me.” He smiled coldly at that, though I
didn’t know why.
    I added, “If you’ve got a problem with that,
I suggest you call my attorney.” I handed him one of Kelly’s cards,
knowing she’d back me up. “Why make this any harder than it has to
be?”
    I wasn’t sure if he wanted the fight or not,
but I think Kelly’s card was enough to finally convince him I was a
gnat he couldn’t afford to swat. “Fine,” he said as he stormed
upstairs. How in the world did this man run a business dealing with
the public on such an intimate level? I didn’t care how elegant the
surroundings, or even how nice his wife seemed. He was an oaf and a
bully, and I couldn’t wait