Red Julie (An Olivia Miller Mystery Book 2) Read Online Free PDF

they hadn’t been apart at all.
    When they were fourteen, a new girl came to town for the last few weeks of the summer. Brad was smitten with the girl and he spent days mooning over her which drove Olivia crazy. When Brad asked the girl to the movies one evening, Olivia was furious. Every day for two weeks, he spent with the new girl. Olivia wanted to gouge her eyes out. Olivia would sit in Aggie’s shop in the afternoons, pissing and moaning while Aggie tended the store. “Why would he want to hang around with her? She just does her hair and doesn’t want to swim and wears makeup and she’s so boring,” Olivia would say. Aggie just listened. Or Olivia would ride with Joe to one of his house projects and would fume and rant while Joe painted or tiled or repaired. He tried to give Olivia a job to do to distract her but she was so angry she would only do it half-heartedly or with such rage that she risked ruining whatever task Joe had assigned her. That was the last summer Brad and his family came to Ogunquit and, at the time, Olivia had resented that he had ruined their last weeks together in favor of some blonde pixie.
    Olivia watched Brad for a few minutes. She hadn’t seen him for seven years. He was tall now, with broad shoulders, but she would have recognized him from any angle or distance. The best friend I ever had. The sight of him warmed her with the sun of other summers, and of things that used to be but weren’t any more.
    She crossed the street. Brad looked up as she approached and recognition passed over his face. They smiled at each other.
    “In the market for a new book?’ he asked.
    “I might be,” she replied.
    “Then you’ve come to the right place.”
    Olivia nodded. Brad stepped forward and hugged her. Olivia realized that despite all the summers they had spent together, they had never hugged before.
    “You look good,” he told her.
    “You too,” she said.
    His face was serious. “I’m sorry about Aggie.”
    “Thanks,” Olivia said. She blinked and changed the subject. “So, you’re back and working here.”
    “Actually I own it.”
    “You do? Well, congratulations.”
    “Thanks. I’m going to try to make a go of it. I know everything’s ebooks now but some people still want to hold the book in their hands. I have a little café inside too. I’m planning on having author readings and signings and sometimes some music in the evenings.”
    “Wow, I’m impressed,” Olivia told him.
    His dark brown hair flopped over his forehead. His eyes were the color of the sky and to Olivia’s surprise her heart did a little flip. He leaned on the broom.
    “I finished college a year early. Then I spent last year working in an independent book store while I developed my business plan. Decided to move back here and set up shop.”
    “I hope it works out, Brad. It looks great.”
    “I hear you’re going to law school in the fall,” Brad said.
    Olivia looked surprised. “Yeah, I am.”
    “I see Joe a lot. He told me. Harvard. Wow, that’s great. Just like Aggie.”
    Olivia nodded.
    “She was always so proud of you,” Brad said.
    Some people approached and entered the store. Brad put the broom against the door jamb.
    “Have time to come in?” he asked.
    “Not right now. I have an appointment. Another time though,” she said.
    “Come by anytime. Maybe you’ll even get a free latte.”
    “Really?”
    “Yeah. I know the owner.” Brad grinned. He took a few steps toward the entrance but stopped before going in and turned back to Olivia. “Sorry about that last summer. I was dumb.”
    “Yeah,” Olivia said. “You were.” She smiled at him.
    ***
    Sunday night, Joe and Olivia made it to their favorite restaurant in the cove. They sat outside on the patio and had a fine meal while watching the boats in the cove. They raised their glasses and toasted their dear Aggie.
    They walked home along the ocean.
    “It’s going to take a long time to go through Aggie’s stuff,” Olivia