Fran Rizer - Callie Parrish 05 - Mother Hubbard Has a Corpse in the Cupboard Read Online Free PDF Page B

me?”
    “Your name and that you work for him.” He looked sheepish. “And, yes, I asked if you are married. I’m not interested in married women.”
    That was nice to know. I’m not interested in married men.
    “What about you? Are you married?” I asked.
    “No, and I’m not divorced. My wife was killed in a car accident during the first year of our marriage. I have no children either.”
    That made me sad, but not so despondent that I turned down dessert when the server showed us a tray of sweets. Patel chose some kind of fancy concoction with mangos in it, while I chose—chocolate!
    Too soon we’d finished eating, though in reality, we’d been there quite a while. I just like to sound literary once in a while, and saying “too soon” makes me feel smart.
    “Is there anywhere around here where we might dance?” he asked.
    “Kenny B’s has a band and Georgio’s is a piano bar. They both have dance floors, and they’re both near here.” I knew it was time to go home, but it felt good to be with someone who appreciated me so much. I was having such a wonderful time that I didn’t want the evening to end, and I didn’t want to think about Maum in the hospital.
     
    • • •
     
    Patel took care of the bill and left a generous tip. He walked me to the Mustang. “You choose the place.” He smiled. I chose Georgio’s. The dance floor there is small, but Kenny B’s is a meat market kind of place, and I didn’t want to go there.  
    Patel followed me to Georgio’s and still made it out of his little Mini Cooper car and over to the Mustang to open my door for me. On the way inside, I asked, “Do you travel in such a small car?”
    He laughed. “No, I tow that small car behind the motor home I travel and live in when I’m with the fair. Tonight I drove it out to meet a beautiful woman who found a dead man in my beer garden.” I didn’t tell him that I once found a dead man in my brother’s motor home at a bluegrass festival. TMI. That would definitely have been TMI.
    I was glad we’d come. Dimly lit and cozy, the piano music begged us to dance, and we did. Patel wasn’t one of those men who talk while they dance. Until dinner, I’d had an unpleasant day. Now it was comforting just to let him hold me. If I’d wanted to say anything when we began dancing, it would have been, “Don’t talk now,” but I didn’t need to say it. He held me close without squeezing too tight and without trying to cop a feel.  
    We moved slowly around the dance floor in perfect tune with each other. I could feel the strength in his muscles and his tenderness at the same time. I didn’t want the night to end, but I knew I needed to go home before I was tempted to take him with me. I’m not saying I’ve been pure since my divorce, and I only recently ended my self-imposed abstinence before Dr. Donald, but I’ve never had a one-night stand either, and I had no intention of starting. I couldn’t help it that parts of me flamed warmer and warmer.
    By the time he walked me back to my car around midnight, I knew he was going to kiss me, and he did. Those warm places blazed scorching hot.  
    When he asked, “May I call you tomorrow?” I gave him my cell number. “And it’s okay to call during the day when you’re at work?” he continued.
    I almost screamed my answer.
    “Yes!”
     
     

 
     
    4
     
     
    Big Boy greeted me as he always does—joyfully, with his big paws on my shoulders and his tongue lapping my face. When he was given to me as a puppy, I didn’t realize at first that my cocker spaniel sized dog would be a great Dane in size as well as breed. He weighed more than I do before his first birthday.
    I grabbed his leash off the door knob, and we went outside. He could hardly wait to squat. He gets bigger every day, but he still squats to tee tee like a girl dog. He also thinks he’s smaller than the oak tree in my front yard and tries to play hide and seek with me by standing behind the tree. He