Death of the Couch Potato's Wife: Cozy Christian Mysteries (Women Sleuth, Female Detective Suspense) Read Online Free PDF Page A

rang. Probably Babe. Being neighborly, no doubt. I turned the water off. Conversations with Babe could take awhile.
    So, with my hair flying out from the clip holding it back from my face and my faded pink bathrobe wrapped around me in the most unflattering way, I opened the door.
    There stood Donna and Tiara, grinning with their picture- perfect hair and makeup. Did these two ever not look put together and camera ready? I’d been like that when I worked a nine-to- five job, but now that my main job was scrubbing toilets, sweats and T-shirts would do.
    I pulled my bathrobe tighter and forced a smile. “Good morning.”
    “I hope we didn’t catch you at a bad time.” Donna extended a basket of muffins. “I thought a few homemade goodies might cheer you up.”
    That was Donna for you—always proper, polite and the perfect housewife. With her petite features and striking auburn hair, she was the essence of a suburban socialite.
    “Thanks. That’s kind of you.”
    “We wanted to check and see how you were doing,” Tiara offered. She stood nearly six feet tall, willowy, and had strong features that made me wonder if she’d been a model in her younger days. Her hair was cut stylishly short, and her ebony skin was flawless. “That was quite a scare you had.”
    I realized I was being rude by not inviting them inside out of the cold. Hesitantly, I stepped back and extended my arm. “Please, come in.”
    Usually, people who cared too much about appearances annoyed me, but Donna and Tiara were the neighborhood equivalent of the cool crowd in high school. If you got in with them, you had an instant circle of friends. I could use friends right now. I mean, sure, I had Babe. I loved Babe. But I could use other friends as well. And Donna and Tiara were beginning to see me in too many less-than-stellar moments.
    My neighbors trotted inside, shoving the muffins in my hands as they passed.
    “Would you like some coffee? Tea?” I asked, closing the front door and the only hope of maintaining my dignity.
    “I would love coffee. Do you mind?” Tiara asked.
    Donna smiled sweetly. “Me too.”
    I’d just started brewing another pot. I got down two mugs and filled them to my neighbor’s specifications. I glanced at the muffins and reached for one. My hand froze mid-air. What if they were poisoned? I didn’t want to think the worst of my two neighbors, but I didn’t know whom I could trust. After a moment of contemplation, I grabbed a tray and loaded it up with the coffee and then placed the muffins there. I would wait for one of them to eat one before I did.
    This would be the reality of my life until the killer was behind bars.
    I forced a smile as I hurried back into the living room. The two ladies stopped whispering when I walked into the room and my self-consciousness soared. I knew they had been gossiping, I just didn’t know who their subject of the day was. Most likely me.
    I tucked a hair behind my ear and set my coffee onto a side table. “Everything okay with both of you lately?”
    They nodded in sync.
    “We really just wanted to check on you.” Tiara took a sip of her coffee, her big eyes peering over the rim of the mug. They’d both passed on the muffins. That meant I did, too. I’d toss them into the trash after my neighbors left. “How are you doing, sweetie?”
    I remembered the note in my mailbox—how could I forget?—and inwardly grimaced. Again, I couldn’t speak of the threat. I didn’t know whom I could trust with the information. “I can’t stop thinking about Candace.”
    “Me either.” Tiara nodded vigorously. “I mean, who would have done something like that to her?”
    I shrugged. “Good question.”
    “People have all kinds of theories,” Donna chimed in. “It seems like everyone in town is a suspect.” Donna glanced at Tiara. “I mean, not us, of course.”
    “Like whom? Who’s a suspect?”
    Tiara and Donna looked at each other, as if they had to at least try and appear