Death By Bourbon Read Online Free PDF

him.”
    “Oh, poor Franklin.”
    “Are you still going to be my friend? Are you going to stand by me?”
    “Of course I am, you ass. But I’m not going to like it one bit. Not one bit.”
    Matt looked relieved. “Good. Then I expect you to come to our engagement party next
     Saturday at Lady Elsmere’s house. Be there by eight-thirty. I’ll send the Bentley.”
    “June knows about this?”
    Matt nodded.
    “I’ll be there but I won’t be pleasant.”
    “Just be there, Rennie,” Matt said, calling me by his pet name for me.
    “Matt. Please think this over. I’m begging you.”
    “It’s done. I’m not turning back.” He placed his hand on my shoulder. “Please, Josiah.
     Stand by me.”
    I acquiesced. I mean – what could I do? He had been my best friend since Brannon had
     left. Matt had stood by me through thick and thin. I had to be his friend in this
     even though it made me sick. What was I going to say to Franklin?
    Like Scarlett O’Hara, I would think about that tomorrow.

6
    It was Saturday night. The front lawn was covered in Mercedeses, Lexuses and an occasional
     beat-up farm truck. Jake took the car into the back where he could gather me into
     the wheelchair without a lot of gawkers. Once he had my green chiffon print dress
     folded to neatly cover my pink satin bedroom slippers, I straightened his tuxedo tie
     and together we boldly entered Lady Elsmere’s house through the back sunroom, down
     the long marble hallway and into the grand foyer.
    Spying us, Charles, Lady Elsmere’s butler and right hand, hurried over with glasses
     of champagne and small plates of canapés so that it looked like we had been there
     for some time. We were terribly late and had gotten there just in time to hear Lady
     Elsmere give a toast to the engaged couple who were standing hand in hand on the stairwell.
    Everyone drank but me.
    I had to admit Meriah looked stunning in a white and gold lamé dress with a diamond
     hairpin borrowed from Lady Elsmere, aka June Webster from Monkey’s Eyebrow, Kentucky.
    Meriah’s face was glowing and her tawny skin gleamed in the soft light provided by
     beeswax candles. For a moment I almost believed that she truly loved Matt, but deep
     down I knew better.
    Matt surveyed the room until he saw me. His brooding face brightened.
    I lifted my glass to him.
    He gave me a slight nod of acknowledgement, which Meriah caught. Her head swiveled
     so fast I thought she’d get whiplash. I bit my lip so as not to giggle.
    Everyone gathered to congratulate them and slap Matt on the back. Meriah was soon
     swept away by the “girls” who wanted to know all the “details” while Matt went to
     drink with the “boys” in the library.
    Lady Elsmere walked over to me. “You’re late.”
    I swiveled my wheelchair around. “You’re right.”
    She flicked her hand at Jake. “You there. Go drinking with the rest of your kind.
     I want to talk to Josiah.”
    Jake gave me a quick kiss on the cheek and strode down the hall to join the rest of
     the men.
    “I wish you’d quit talking to Jake as though he’s a servant to do your bidding.”
    “So the Choctaw is back.”
    “June, don’t piss me off. I’ll ram your spindly legs with my wheelchair.”
    “I’m just showing you how you treat Meriah.”
    “I am very polite to her.”
    “Polite, cold and forbidding. You’re not nice.”
    “You approve of this marriage? Oh, I forgot. You married a gay man, which is how you
     got your title.”
    “Don’t be rude, Josiah. It may not have been the marriage that dreams are made of,
     but I loved my Bertie and he loved me. We made it work.”
    “She doesn’t love Matt.”
    “How do you know? Are you such a magician that you can see into Meriah’s heart? There
     are many kinds of love. Many kinds.” She pointed a diamond-laden claw at me. “If you
     want to keep Matt in your life, make peace with her or you will force him to choose
     between the two of you.”
    I didn’t have a