Cupid's Revenge Read Online Free PDF

interested in our other problem. After all, Alex solves crimes for a living. Maybe they would like to feel close to an investigation.” I kind of doubted this, but anything was possible. “It isn’t like this is dangerous or anything.”
    “I would let Alex tell them about the problem if he wants,” Mom advised and then we dropped the conversation because Alex was back with coffee and fritters.
    I gobbled a donut and then had to leave for work.
    “Before you go, Chloe, my work gloves are missing.” Mom stopped there.
    “They’re in Dad’s van,” I said, buttoning my coat. Dad had stopped in to help with the gazebo after work and then given Mom a ride home. Being cold, she would have worn her work gloves to the van. Being warm in the van she would have taken them off again.
    “Oh good. I hate breaking in new gloves and these are already stained.”
    “Call Dad,” I suggested since I knew she wanted to. “Maybe he can bring them over on his lunch hour.”
    I kissed Alex, hugged Blue and then reluctantly left for work.

Chapter 5

    It occurred to me as I was driving into work and passed the cupid-strewn card shop window, that I didn’t have a Valentine present for Alex. Except tickets to the Sweethearts Ball and that couldn’t be disguised as anything other than self-serving and was unromantic besides. Thousands of paper carnations and ball gowns aside, the dance was one of the most unromantic things there was.
    Of course, having Alex’s parents in town wasn’t the most romantic thing either. Maybe we were screwed for this year.
    For safety reasons I was keeping my cell on while I did my rounds and answered when I saw my home phone number come up in the screen. It was Bob suggesting that maybe I could come to lunch with him and Rosemary since Alex said he had to work and Mary Elizabeth was making deliveries to clients. I could tell Bob was puzzled at this seeming coldness in his son and from the sniffling in the background that Rosemary was hurt by their son’s desertion, but I figured my mom was correct about letting Alex explain stuff to his parents, if and when he wanted to.
    “Bob, another day I would love to do that,” I lied. “But I had a late start this morning and will probably have to work through lunch.” There was a silence so uncomfortable that I had to say something. “Do you and Rosemary play Scrabble?”
    “Um— well, we used to enjoy a game or two.” That meant no.
    “Good. How about if tonight I pick up a couple pizzas and we break out the Scrabble board? That will give us a chance to have a visit.” Which I would enjoy as much as having my teeth drilled without Novocain. But it did mean that the cats would be supervised so perhaps Alex and I wouldn’t lose any more furniture or drapery. One must always look for the silver lining.
    “Listen, I’ve got to go now. You wouldn’t believe the number of scofflaws who think the red curb is for everyone but them. Bye!” I said gaily and then hung up.
    Damn. If only I could count on Mom and Dad not to say anything to Bob and Rosemary about our engagement. I would invite them to dinner to help deflect Rosemary’s growing unhappiness about their visit.
    I tried to think of things to investigate, but there wasn’t enough of a lead to follow. And I kept running up against the mental wall of my secret engagement and the fact that I didn’t really like my future in-laws. That was bad because they weren’t like a faulty appliance I could take back to the store.
    Dithering, I drove by the Kandy Kounter and the card shop again and this time noticed a pink flyer in the window next to the velvet heart boxes full of truffles. It was an advertisement for the Sweethearts Ball and the calligraphy on it looked very familiar. I had already forwarded the photo of Mrs. Graves’ garage door to Alex and the chief. I took a second photo of the poster in the window to compare handwriting. Alex had some software on his computer that I was dying to