Love Lies Beneath Read Online Free PDF Page A

months.
    â€œHe’s great. I don’t know if I told you this, but he and a couple of his friends have put together a band. Just for fun, you know. Graham plays the drums, and . . .”
    I tune out for a short, sweet span. I love my sister, but she does know how to stretch a story. She should have been a novelist instead of a technical writer. Or maybe an epic poet. We are passing Placerville before I notice she’s stopped talking, as if waiting for an answer. “I’m sorry. What did you just say?”
    â€œHmph. I asked if you’d thought any more about Christmas.”
    They invite me every year, and I usually have a good excuse to say no. This year, there’s no husband, no conflicts, no real reason not to agree. I could lie, but untruths become so tiresome. “You know I hate to intrude. Christmas is a family day.”
    â€œUm . . . hello? You’re family.”
    â€œNot Graham’s, though.”
    â€œBelieve it or not, he takes ownership. What’s mine is his, et cetera.”
    Truthfully, I’d rather spend the holidays alone on the moon than pretending good cheer with the Schumacher clan, but I keep that to myself and change the subject. “So what do the girls want for Christmas?”
    â€œJessica’s hot for the latest iPhone. She’s barely twelve, but apparently all her friends have one. Suzette wants a new snowboard. She progressed really far last year and is ready for something a little more extreme. By the way, she’s royally pissed that she couldn’t come on this trip. Maybe next time we could bring her along?”
    â€œI don’t see why not. And what about Kayla?”
    â€œAll she really wants is a way into the San Francisco Art Institute.”
    â€œArt?” Shows how much I know about my nieces. “What kind of art is she into?”
    â€œShe’s an incredibly talented illustrator, but what really interests her is computer animation and film. Barring a career there, she’d settle for graphic design.”
    Wow. Who knew? I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to show a little interest in the girls. “So why SFAI?”
    â€œIt’s an exceptional art school, and close enough to feel like familiar ground. But it’s so expensive! I don’t suppose you have any connections on the scholarship committee?”
    â€œI might know someone who knows someone.” The main campus is very near my house, and one of Finn’s grown children is an alumnus. Yes, I’m acquainted with people there, or at least people who know people. But that’s not really the point. “If tuition is a problem, you can always ask.”
    â€œOh, Tara, that’s so sweet of you, but—”
    â€œDon’t tell me. Graham would never accept my money. But he wouldn’t have to know. He could think it was a scholarship, and it would be, from an anonymous benefactress. Anyway, it’s an option.”
    There. Christmas gifts accomplished. One iPhone, with AppleCare. One upscale snowboard, plus Tahoe ski trip. And one thirty-thousand-dollar, give or take, tuition.

Five
    The conversation devolves all the way to trite as Melody launches a deep discussion about the relative merits of glucosamine for canine joint problems. Seems her seven-year-old golden retriever can’t keep up with the junior black lab, and one vet says “yada yada” while the second says “yada.” I think we need to spice up this dialogue.
    â€œMaybe Barney should try yoga,” I joke.
    â€œYoga?” She is seriously consternated.
    â€œYeah. I’m actually considering it myself.”
    â€œI thought you said yoga’s for wussies.”
    â€œIt might be. But I’ve got an ulterior motive.”
    â€œDo tell.”
    So I do. And, because I don’t want to discuss dogs anymore, I go ahead and add the part about Ben. By the time I get to the pepper spray, we have crested Echo Summit and