Sally Berneathy - Death by Chocolate 01 - Death by Chocolate Read Online Free PDF Page A

that all about?” I asked.
    “I don’t know,” she mumbled. “Zach!”
    He charged into the living room, laughing and clutching a purple dinosaur that was almost as big as he was. She scooped him up and sank onto the sofa, holding him so tightly he protested and squirmed to be free.
    She let him go. He sat down between us and helped himself to a chocolate cookie. Paula didn’t say anything, and I wasn’t about to spoil his fun. Heck, what harm could one do? Oh, I know what they say! You think you can try it and not get hooked, then before you know it, you’re a chocoholic. Hey, at least the kid would have a constant source of the good stuff from his Aunt Lindsay, the Chocoholic Queen.
    “Are you in some kind of trouble?” I asked Paula. “Tell me, damn it! I’m your friend. Let me help you.”
    She shook her head, chewed her thumbnail and looked across the room.
    “Did your husband beat you?”
    The crude question got her attention. Her head spun toward me so fast, I was afraid it would keep on going and we’d find ourselves in the middle of a scene from The Exorcist . Two pink spots stood out like clown makeup on her cheeks.
    “Please don’t do this, Lindsay,” she said.
    “Well, that answers that question! Since I already know he put that scar on your face and that you’re hiding from him, you might as well tell me the rest.”
    Again she confirmed my speculation by failing to deny it. “You’re the best friend I’ve ever had. I can’t even begin to tell you how grateful I am that you gave me a job and a place to live. You saved my life and Zach’s. You’ve always been there for me, and I’ll always be there for you. I’ll do anything you ask me to do, except tell you about my past.”
    “Well, we’ve made some progress. This is the first time you’ve admitted you have a past and didn’t spring, fully grown, from the front seat of that rolling wreck you used to drive.”
    Paula bit her lip as if she regretted saying that much. Her blue-gray eyes clouded , and I realized the subject was closed.
    I pushed myself up from the sofa. “I guess I’ll go see what I can do to get Rick out of the house with minimal damage to what’s left of my emotions.” I leaned over to Zach. “Give Aunt Lindsay a hug.” He reached up and hugged my neck then planted a kiss on my cheek. A bonus.
    “I want you to know I’m not mad at you,” I told Paula, “just because you’re supposed to be my friend but you won’t even tell me the intimate details of your sex life.”
    She relaxed enough to smile.
    I ruffled Zach’s hair then crossed the room and unlocked the door. I turned back to say goodbye and wasn’t surprised that Paula had followed me. She’d have that door locked again before I was across the porch. “Time to touch up those blond roots,” I said, just to let her know I’d noticed. “And those blond brows and lashes are a dead giveaway.”
    Paula blanched, losing what little color she’d regained. “Do you think they noticed?” The question came out in a desperate whisper, and I immediately regretted adding to her fear.
    “I don’t know. Men can be pretty unobservant about stuff like that.” But I didn’t for one minute believe Trent had failed to notice. “Any time you need help, you know where I live,” I said.
    Paula nodded, that jerky motion again, and twisted her lips in an imitation smile. “Thanks.”
    I left her house feeling like a jerk for the blond roots remark and like I ought to do something to help her, but clueless what that something might be.
    I wasn’t even sure I could help myself. I took my time going back toward my house. I wasn’t in any hurry to face the task of dealing with the man that one part of me wanted gone from my life and the other part wanted back. In a different way, I was every bit as terrified of him as Paula was of the abusive man, I was now positive, she’d known in her past.
    I slapped the fender of Rick’s SUV as I went past, deliberately