Fit to Die Read Online Free PDF Page A

move until I’ve got a little less meatball and a lot more sauce to this body.” Lindy patted her round hips. “Does anyone want to ride down to that Asian building they put up where the Dairy Drive-Thru used to be? I saw some lights on as I drove past earlier tonight.”
    Filled with energy due to a combination of the temperate evening air and their decision to begin a new weight-loss program, the Flab Five members all agreed to extend their supper club evening a little longer. Dividing themselves into two cars, they drove through the center of a quiet town and headed west to one of the town’s two strip malls nestled beneath the comforting shadow of the Blue Ridge Mountains.
    “So this is where Witness to Fitness is, too?” James asked Lindy.
    “Yeah. Veronica moved into that place where Mrs. Posillico used to give dance lessons. Her oldest daughter is in my ceramics class this year and she told me her mama’s arthritis just makes teaching dance too painful.” Lindy uttered a sympathetic sigh. “Bless her heart.”
    “Hey!” Lucy shouted from the back seat. “There’s a sign on that funky building. Chilly Willy’s Polar Pagoda. Pagoda? Is that a Chinese type of architecture?”
    “Japanese,” Lindy promptly replied.
    “Actually, it’s both,” James corrected his friend. “It’s probably an Indian word in origin. It’s a Buddhist building resembling a temple. If I remember correctly, the dome shape was supposed to create balance. I’m sure Gillian could tell you more about the whole religious part of the history.”
    “No thanks!” Lindy answered firmly. “There’s someone washing the glass front door. I wonder if he’s the new owner.”
    “Howdy folks!” A light-skinned African American man with a neat goatee dropped his squeegee into a bucket with a splash and waved to James and his two female passengers. A few seconds later, Bennett and Gillian joined the group and introduced themselves.
    “Welcome to Quincy’s Gap!” Lindy added with a flourish.
    “Mighty kind of y’all. I’m Willy Kendrick, but you can call me Chilly Willy. Everyone always does in the end.” He laughed. The sound was rich and throaty and filled the night air like a song.
    James smiled at the man’s infectious laugh. “So, if you don’t mind me asking, why the pagoda theme?”
    “Well, it’s pretty darn eye-catching, wouldn’t you say?” Willy chuckled and he jerked his thumb at his new building.
    “Are you a Buddhist?” Gillian asked hopefully.
    “No ma’am. Southern Baptist born and raised, but I could use all the heavenly help I can get. I lost everything I had durin’ the Fall of ’05. I used to have my own restaurant in Biloxi, Mississippi. It was totally wiped away by that wicked woman known as Hurricane Katrina. No offense, ladies.”
    “You poor thing!” Gillian’s eyes instantly grew misty.
    “Now don’t you go gettin’ yourself all upset on my account.” Willy’s middle-aged face grew somber. “Lots of folks got a lot worse hurts than I did. All my family came out okay and that’s what really matters. I worked a few jobs in Florida and lived through a few more storms until I decided that I was damned tired of hurricanes. Figured the mountains of Virginia get their share of snow, but no tornadoes, typhoons, tsunamis, or hurricanes. Am I right?” Willy laughed again, his warm brown eyes dancing with vivacity.
    “You might not need to worry about those kinds of storms,” James began as he watched a BMW pull into the parking lot. “But there are other kinds of natural disasters in this town and here comes one of them.”
    The BMW screeched to a stop within a few feet of the small group and a petite, silver-haired woman wearing a fur-trimmed suede jacket scrambled out of the car and fixed a pair of angry, narrow eyes upon Willy.
    “I suppose this is your doing?” she demanded, gesturing wildly at the black and red painted pagoda.
    Willy issued a welcoming smile. “Yes, ma’am. Do