Father’s Day Murder Read Online Free PDF Page B

table.”
    The other table, Lucy saw, was surrounded by an even larger crowd of people. It was a positive feeding frenzy; she’d never seen anything like it.
    â€œMaybe later,” she said.
    â€œI’m going to get in there before it’s all gone,” said Ted, diving into the fray.
    Lucy retreated to a quiet corner, where she stood and nibbled on her supper of hors d’oeuvres. It was a funny sort of party, she decided. Except for the Reads and their crowd, probably publishers, not much socializing was going on at all. People were just eating and drinking as fast as they could. These were most certainly the reporters and editors at the bottom of the organizational pyramid. They put in long hours, they didn’t make much money, and they weren’t about to pass up a free meal. In fact, quite a few of them were snagging snacks for later, wrapping bits of food in paper napkins and tucking them away in purses and pockets.
    Once Lucy had finished eating she didn’t see much point in sticking around, so she put her plate on a table by the door and headed for her room. She still hadn’t unpacked and she had a fresh bottle of bubble bath and an emergency chocolate bar in her suitcase. Just the thing to round out her dinner.

Chapter Five
    W hen Lucy woke the next morning it took her a moment or two to remember where she was. She missed the warmth of Bill’s body, his bulk, beside her. At home she liked to savor the first moments of her day, lying in bed and listening to the birds singing outside. Once she’d checked the clock, she always looked at the white-curtained window, gauging whether it would be sunny or cloudy. Then she’d consciously prepare herself for the day ahead by counting her blessings: being alive, being married to the man she loved, having four healthy children. Those things topped the list, but Lucy didn’t stop there. She counted the house, the well-stocked pantry and refrigerator, the peas ripening in the garden, the buds on the rosebushes along the fence, the six new pairs of underpants neatly folded in her top drawer.
    She tried the exercise in the hotel, stretching luxuriously under the crisp, white sheets, but it just made her feel homesick. It was already past seven, and at home she would have been up for an hour. She’d be hurrying Sara out the door to catch the school bus, reminding her of after-school activities and checking to make sure she had her lunch and homework. Then there would just be time for a swallow of coffee before she had to get Zoe, who took the eight-o’clock elementary school bus, started on her breakfast. It was a pretty complicated routine, and Lucy acted like a conductor, making sure everyone got fed and dressed and got a turn in the bathroom. She wondered how they were managing without her.
    Probably not very well, but there was nothing she could do about it here in Boston. She rolled over and dug the card listing room-service breakfasts out of the drawer where she’d stowed it. The Businessman’s Special with bacon and two eggs was an outrageous eighteen dollars, but she was seriously tempted by the Continental at a more reasonable twelve dollars. It would be an extravagance, but one that she herself could afford. The phone rang and she grabbed it eagerly, hoping it was Bill. Instead she heard Ted’s voice, sounding a little thick, as if he’d been out partying the night before.
    â€œG’morning,” he said. “The registration desk opens at eight, so what say you get there first thing to beat the crowd and then we’ll get some breakfast.”
    Lucy regretfully slipped the room service menu back into the drawer and checked the clock. It was almost seven-thirty, which meant that her leisurely morning was at an end.
    â€œOkay. I’ll meet you in the lobby in half an hour.”
    â€œRighto.” Ted chuckled. “I’ll be wearing a white carnation.”
    That must have been some