Deadly Valentine Read Online Free PDF Page B

grateful for her release.
    Laurel was already swinging about to look on the other side of the lagoon. Obviously, the Grahams didn’t fascinate. Second marriages (and third and fourth and fifth) were nothing new to Laurel. She peered into the darkness.
    “Can’t see the other two houses from here. Too many pines. The farthest one,” Annie pointed toward dense pinewoods across the pond, “was the original home on the property, antebellum. It belongs to a retired general and his wife. Second wife.” Might as well be accurate.
    “A general.” There was a note of fondness in her voice. One of Laurel’s husbands had been in the military.
    “Nasty old coot. Glowered at me the other day when I jogged by. Guess General Houghton thinks the whole path belongs to him.” It had been no ordinary glower. Annie wouldn’t quickly forget those dark, burning eyes or the pulse that throbbed at the temple of that ancient bald head. “Don’t see how his wife stands him.” Annie paused. “Second wife.” Not that Eileen Houghton was all that young. Early fifties, probably. Attractive enough in a matronly way. Annie realized that she and Billye Burger were in the minority as first wives. For all that it mattered. “Eileen used to bea nurse or something like that, so I guess she knows how to put up with impossible people.”
    “Annieee! Laurel!” Max’s tenor boomed from the patio.
    “Coming,” Annie called happily. And so what if she had to go to Sydney’s party. She would have fun. She always had fun with Max.
    As they hurried back toward the house, Laurel asked urgently, “The last house, the other one we can’t see. Is that where we are going to the party?”
    “Yes. The Cahills.” Annie avoided mentioning Sydney’s name.
    Laurel didn’t know it was verboten. “Sydney Cahill?”
    “Yes.”
    “A beautiful young woman. But so sad.”
    Annie didn’t think Sydney was the least bit sad. To her mind that was on the order of describing a blood-lusting pit bull as playful. “Sydney’s—” Annie took a deep breath. She didn’t want to get into it. She walked faster. There was Max on the terrace, absolutely gorgeous in his tux.
    Laurel kept pace. “Sydney’s husband. I suppose he’s older?”
    “Another second marriage,” Annie said briskly. “A disastrous one, from all I hear. Howard’s first wife died and he fell for a pretty body. He’s handsome as all get-out, in a rugged way. And rich. Sydney lucked out.”
    “Party time,” yodeled that cheerful tenor.
    Annie waved a greeting.
    “Disastrous,” Laurel said cheerily.
    Annie detected a note of satisfaction, but dismissed it. After all, why should Laurel care about Howard Cahill’s marriage?
    Max acted as tour guide as they took the lagoon path to the Cahill property.
    “The name of the compound is taken from the lagoon, Ma. Scarlet King Lagoon.”
    “What a romantic name!” Laurel exclaimed.
    It wasn’t that Laurel’s romanticism irritated Annie, but she felt honor bound to be factual. “The lagoon’s named for some snakes that live there.” To be fair, she grudginglyadded, “Nonpoisonous. And pretty, if you like snakes. A red nose and yellow bands set off by black.”
    The path angled away from the lagoon, passed a charming gazebo, and wound into the gardens.
    Laurel beamed. “I’m sure Saint Francis would be enchanted. He loved
all
creatures. And so should we.”
    For the first time, Laurel’s preoccupation with saints began to worry Annie. She had no desire to find all God’s creatures welcomed to her new house. There was no telling how far Laurel would go when in the grip of a new enthusiasm. She opened her mouth to warn Laurel about consorting with snakes, because the island hosted four poisonous species, cottonmouths, eastern diamondback rattlers, timber rattlers, and copperheads, but Laurel spoke first, her tone tinged with awe. “What a
remarkable
house!”
    Laurel rarely evinced amazement, but Annie understood. The Cahill mansion