G'Day to Die Read Online Free PDF Page B

than he’d be performing a postmortem.”
    “It’s a terrible way to begin a holiday.”
    “I’ll say.” Especially for Claire. “Are you traveling by yourself, Conrad?”
    “No, no. My wife is with me. If you want to know the truth, this is our anniversary trip.” He smiled modestly. “Fifty years tomorrow.”
    “Congratulations!” I clapped him on the shoulder. “That’s a great accomplishment, especially in this day and age.” I couldn’t place the accent. German? Russian?
    “You must give all the credit to my wife for putting up with me all these years. The long work hours. The extended travel. The phone calls telling her I’d have to miss the children’s birthdays, again.”
    “What kind of work did you do?”
    “I was senior paleobotanist for the Smithsonian Institution, and in my spare time I wrote botany textbooks for universities.”
    Guy Madelyn motioned to us with his camera. “Do you mind? I’d like to get shots of everyone.”
    “Why don’t you take one of Conrad with his wife?” I suggested, stepping out of the way. “An anniversary photo. Where’s your wife, Conrad?”
    “Maybe later with my wife,” he said, hooking an eager arm around my waist and yanking me close. “Say, cheese.”
    Guy pressed the shutter.
    Etienne strode toward us, giving me a long, lingering look up and down. “Love the dress, what there is of it.”
    “Is this your wife?” Conrad asked, quickly dropping his arm.
    Etienne flashed a slow smile. “She could be. All she has to do is say something other than, ‘I need time to think about it.’”
    Conrad looked me in the eye. “A handsome young man asks for your hand, and you don’t say yes?”
    “I brought you some punch, Em,” Duncan interrupted, cutting in front of Etienne to hand me a glass. “The dress rocks. What’s it made of? Spandex?” He planted a kiss on my bare shoulder, then lowered his hand to the peekaboo cutout at the small of my back, grazing his fingertips over the triangle of exposed skin. “Nice.”
    Guy stepped forward and introduced himself to Etienne and Duncan with enthusiastic handshakes. “Could I drag you gentlemen over by the window so I can get a few photos of you against the lights of the Melbourne skyline?” He studied both of them with narrowed gaze. “Interesting bone structure. I bet…Never mind. We’ll see how it turns out. Do you mind?”
    “Happy to be accommodating,” said Duncan.
    Etienne hesitated before nodding agreement. He threw me a meaningful look. “Don’t move, bella . I’ll be right back.”
    Conrad wagged a crooked forefinger at me. “I know now why you haven’t said yes to the dark-haired man. The light-haired man is also in love with you. Every woman wants to be beautiful, but for the ones who are, it must sometimes feel like a curse.”
    Ooo, I liked this guy!
    “Which one will you choose?”
    I sighed my frustration. “Here’s the thing, Conrad: last November I conducted a test that was supposed to resolve all my doubts about which man was the one for me, and it failed miserably.”
    “Both gentlemen flunked?”
    “They both passed! It proved they’re both kind, generous, wonderful people, so I’m back to dithering again. And I hate to dither, but this decision is going to affect the rest of my life, so I have to be sure.”
    Conrad appeared fascinated. “I’ve never conducted a scientific test that involved human participation. What was the most difficult problem you faced?”
    “Eating all the maraschino cherries they both piled onto my ice cream sundae. I get a stomachache just thinking about it.”
    As the background music changed to a rollicking rendition of “When Johnny Comes Marching Home,” I saw my group straggle into the lounge as if their energy gauges were all registering “Empty.” They checked their watches in one collective motion, then literally sagged against each other, sucking in air. Nana gave me a limp-wristed wave before finding a chair and falling