forgotten (Twisted Cedars Mysteries Book 2) Read Online Free PDF

there.
    Sixty-four-year-old Stella had been Jamie’s mother’s best friend, as well as business partner. For thirty-five years they’d cleaned houses together. And socialized, as well. Stella and her husband, Ward, had been like surrogate grandparents to Jamie and Dougal.
    And that certainly hadn’t changed after Jamie’s mom died of cancer.
    “I got rained out last night,” Jamie said. “And I didn’t know where to go.”
    “I’m glad you came home.”
    Stella gave her a warm hug, not seeming to mind that Jamie was damp and smelly.
    After Jamie had showered and changed into dry clothes, she offered to cook a late breakfast of pancakes and scrambled eggs.
    “That sounds delicious,” Stella said.
    “Is Amos here?”
    “Oh, he’s been gone since dawn. Fishing.”
    Jamie hesitated, noting something off in Stella’s tone. Were there problems between her and Amos? Jamie hoped not. Their home was one of the few stable things in her life.
    Puttering around Stella’s familiar kitchen helped Jamie feel normal again. She mixed up the pancake batter quickly, then put a frying pan and the griddle on the stove to heat.
    When Stella tentatively asked how she was her anger and confusion came rushing back.
    “It’s so awful what he did. I just wish I hadn’t sold my trailer. Or been gullible enough to quit my job for him. I hate not having a job to go to on Monday morning.” Her nerves tensed every time she thought about how Kyle had manipulated her into leaving her job...telling her his accountant had retired and he desperately needed help.
    But when Jamie checked with his former accountant, she’d found Kyle had let her go.
    Another lie. This one not as serious as the ones about Daisy. But still.
    “If you ask Colin Howard, I’m sure he’ll give you your job back.”
    “I hope so.” She spooned batter onto the griddle, then stopped to fume again. “How could I have been so wrong about him?”
    “You aren’t the first woman to be charmed by a bad man.”
    “I guess you’re referring to my Mom and her marriage to my father.” Jamie knew very little about Ed Lachlan. Her father had been gone before she was born. According to her brother, she was lucky.
    Given what had happened subsequently—her father remarrying, then killing his second wife in a domestic dispute, and serving time for manslaughter—Jamie acknowledged Dougal was right.
    But she felt an aching sadness about her father, all the same.
    “Amos and I blame ourselves for introducing Katie to Ed in the first place,” Stella said.
    “Mom wouldn’t want you to feel guilty. She made her own choice to marry him.” And now Jamie had made almost the same mistake as her mother. Only, instead of marrying a violent man who would one day kill his wife, she’d married one who already had.
    “I can’t believe no one saw anything the night Daisy died.” Jamie added butter to the frying pan. “In a small town like this how is that possible?”
    “There are more secrets in Twisted Cedars that you might guess.” Stella adjusted the wedding rings on her hand, then sighed and got to her feet. “Here, let me get the eggs for you.”
    “Please sit down and relax. You work hard all week. You deserve a break.”
    “Ah, you’re such a sweetie. So like your mother that way.”
    “Helping out is the least I can do to thank you. I have no idea where I’d have turned if you hadn’t offered me your spare room.”
    The house she’d shared with Kyle so briefly after their early June wedding had been cordoned off by the police after they found Daisy’s remains. Kyle had moved into his father’s apartment, while the kids, fortunately, were still at summer camp, blissfully unaware of the ugly drama playing out at home.
    “It’s a pleasure to have you,” Stella insisted, sounding like she meant it.
    Jamie put her arms around Stella’s plump shoulders and gave her a squeeze. “I can’t stay forever, though. And since Liz bought my trailer, I have no idea