Beautiful Maids All in a Row Read Online Free PDF Page A

in sessions costing hundreds of dollars an hour. But for only twenty-six dollars, this book can change your whole outlook on life.”
    “What an asshole.”
    I hate that I watched far longer than I normally did. At least the asshat made me feel superior. He may have been a beloved millionaire, while I could barely pay my bills, but at least I wasn’t setting psychology back a century. I contained my destructiveness to me and me alone.
Go, me.
    Halfway through the travesty, there was a knock on the door. Gus and I immediately sat up at this strange occurrence. Gus seemed confused, as if he’d never heard a knock before. I’d sheltered him from things like that. Shit, I had forgotten to close the gate. Again.
Damn booze.
I got out of the chair and cautiously walked to the door. Gus stayed in the living room, his ears perked up for more strange noises. It was probably Carol checking up on me. I was sure the whole of Grafton had heard about my getting fired. I really didn’t want to deal with anything right then, but my car was in the driveway, so she knew I was home. I was going to have to play nice.
    Or maybe not. My guard immediately went up again. Time for Round Two.
    Luke stood on my porch, peeling moss off the screen. He looked up at me. “You have a big rust problem.”
    “What I have is a massive asshole problem. And apparently it’s recurring.”
    He shook his head. “Can we please not get into a verbal pissing contest right off the bat?” Our mutual silence meant we agreed. “May I come in?” I considered the request for a second. I knew the man; he’d just keep coming back and coming back if I didn’t let him in. We had that in common. With a long sigh, I opened the screen door separating us. His visit would be amusing at the very least. He scanned the inside of the house, surveying everything as he walked in. I stood behind with my hand on my hip. “I like it. It’s cozy, yet very Spartan.” Meaning I had no furniture.
    “How did you get on my property?”
    “You forgot to close the gate.” I knew it. “It’s dark in here.”
    “I get migraines.”
    Happy to have the pleasure of someone else’s company, Gus scurried out of the living room, tail wagging furiously. He bounded over to our visitor and slid his nose into Luke’s crotch. Luke chuckled uneasily and pushed Gus away. “Friendly.” I pulled Gus away from Luke and held him by the collar. “Is that one of Neil’s dogs?”
    “Yeah.”
    Luke looked down. “Kind of fat for an attack dog.”
    I scoffed. “He just likes to eat. He could rip your throat out if he wanted to,” I said, sounding childish, as if I were defending my naughty behavior to my father. “I’ll take him upstairs. You stay here.”
    I pulled a reluctant Gus upstairs to my room. He looked almost betrayed as I closed the door. Playmates were few and far between at Ballard Manor. He whined as I shut the door. I ran downstairs and found that Luke wasn’t where I’d told him to stay, the son of a bitch. I didn’t want that man snooping around my home, making judgments about me.
    “Luke?”
    He didn’t answer. I walked into the living room to find him examining my tapes. Thankfully most didn’t have labels. “What are these?” he asked.
    I snatched the tape away from him. “None of your damn business.”
    Ignoring me, he walked over to the bookcase. This gave me a chance to put the rest of the tapes under the television stand. When I was done, I looked over and saw him flipping through one of Hayden’s books. “
The History of Modern Microbiology
? Heavy reading.”
    I snatched that away from him too. “Stop looking through my things.” Luke flashed me a smile, but I just glared at him. “What are you doing here?”
    His smile faded as his expression became serious. “I was worried about you. You scared me today.”
    “In case you haven’t noticed, I’m a scary person. I’m a murderer.” I flopped into the recliner. “You were there. Remember?”
    He