Meadowlark Read Online Free PDF

tablets and #2 pencils. "Or do it the
old-fashioned way."
    "What about reference books?"
    She activated the nearest computer and loaded a Windows
program. "Each of these has the usual dictionary and thesaurus a
plus Internet access." The screen showed many other options. She
clicked the mouse and the monitor went blank. "That wall of shelves
next to the wet-bar in the conference room--"
    "The one with the louvered doors?"
    "Yes. That's the periodical collection." She gestured toward
one corner of the "office" where similar doors formed a reading nook
with chairs and lamps near the French doors. "That's our
library."
    "May I see it?"
    "Sure." She opened the fan-fold doors and disclosed
    floor-to-ceiling bookshelves. They were almost full. As far as I could see, all
the titles dealt with ecology or agriculture.
    I said, "That's impressive."
    "It's Hugo's collection as well as mine." A cloud darkened the
intense eyes. "Hugo wouldn't come to dinner. He's phobic about
strangers, you know."
    "I guessed."
    "And he doesn't like large groups either."
    "Is that why he moved to the apartment?"
    She nodded. "I guess so. Too many people here. I was trying
to recreate the commune."
    "Commune? Oh, the one you joined in the Seventies."
    "Keith and I joined the year we got out of high school. That's
where we met each other--and where we met Hugo."
    "Oh." I had never known anyone else who had actually lived
in a commune.
    Bianca was still brooding about Hugo. "I thought he'd like
the new house, but it just made him edgy." She sighed.
    I pointed to the door opposite the French doors. "Where
does that lead?"
    "The Wallaces' apartment."
    "Handy for Mike."
    "I had him and my kids in mind, as well as the education
center, when I planned it."
    I said, "I guess you won't suffer from empty nest syndrome
when your kids leave home for good."
    She laughed. "Papa says it's a hotel. Feels like home to me."
The smile faded. "But I wish Hugo hadn't moved out."
    Michael Wallace was showing Jay something on the
monitor--not the game. They laughed.
    Bianca checked her watch. "Oops, time to go." She made for
the stair. "Dinner at seven, Mike."
    "Yeah. Mom says I have to help serve it."
    Bianca was out of sight. I followed, with Jay just behind me,
down the spiral stair. As we left the conference room downstairs,
Bianca showed us a discreet restroom on one side of the hall and a
kitchenette on the other. She'd thought of everything.

Chapter 3
    We zipped back down the hall. The ceramic tiles echoed a
little. When we reached the living room, two men and a woman were
waiting for us, munching crackers and sipping the chardonnay.
    All three looked up as we rounded the corner near the
fireplace. A handsome bearded man in a periwinkle pullover and
jeans sat on the raised edge of the hearth strumming a guitar. I
recognized Keith McDonald. The guitar helped. He stood up, laying
his instrument on the flagstone surface. His eyes were the same blue
as the sweater.
    Bianca said, "Lark, I believe you've met my husband."
    "Once, at the Dean's house." I extended my hand, and
McDonald shook it, letting his grasp linger. His eyes were
remarkably blue.
    "Hello, again, Lark. 'Bird thou never wert.'"
    I extracted my hand. "I believe you're thinking of
nightingales, Professor McDonald."
    "Keith, please." His smile widened and the eyes sparkled.
"Nope--it's Shelley's ode. Welcome to Meadowlark Farm, Skylark."
He turned to Jay. "Dodge."
    "McDonald," Jay said. He didn't offer to shake hands but his
tone was mild, all things considered.
    Bianca said, "And these are my managers. They've been out
in the sleet saving my bacon."
    "Bacon?" The woman grimaced and extended her hand to
me. "Please, Bianca, I'm a vegetarian."
    "Angie Martini," Bianca murmured, smiling.
    Martini shook hands with Jay, too, and went back to her
wine, an angular, attractive woman, almost as tall as I am. She looked
sleek, as if she'd just stepped out of a shower into the flame-colored
silk jumpsuit. Her blond hair was