Sarah Woods Mystery Series (1-6) Boxed Set Read Online Free PDF Page A

pizza joint and get a large cheese pizza. Not having had a call from Daniel or Brian all day, I figured they’d be wondering about dinner. When I arrived home, Brian took one look at the large pizza box I was holding and his face lit up.  
    “ Sweet! I’m starving. Thanks for getting the pizza, Mom!” He took the box from me and set it on the table. The sweet smell of Italian seasonings made my mouth water. I reached into my purse and was taking out the bottle of pills when Daniel walked in.  
    “ What are those?” he asked, looking at the pills I’d shaken out into my palm.  
    “ Say hello to my little friends,” I said in my best, which wasn’t very good, Al Pacino imitation. I held the bottle up and shook it.  
    “ What do you need those for?” he inquired testily.  
    “ I saw my shrink this morning and he suggested I take these for a few days, for anxiety,” I replied, avoiding his stare.
    “ Cool, can I have one?” Brian stuck out his hand and grinned. Laughing, I slapped his hand away.  
    “ Get outta here,” I said, “These are all mine.” But when I looked over at him, Daniel seemed less than amused.
    “ Had I known you planned on being medicated and getting take out,” he announced tersely, “I wouldn’t have gone out of my way to plan a nice dinner, or bothered to get a bottle of your favorite pinot noir.”
    My jaw dropped. Go figure. “Dan, I’m sorry,” I began. “I guess I was just …”  
    Before I could explain further, he put up his hand to stop me-“Whatever, Sarah. Just save it.”-and I knew that was the end of the conversation. He walked out of the kitchen into the living room, shaking his head.
    Brian looked at me and shrugged. “Have some pizza, Mom. Let dad be a party pooper,” he said, handing me a slice. Half the cheese slid off before I got it to my mouth. It tasted damn good despite my petulant husband’s best efforts to make me feel guilty.  
    When we finished gorging, I took the prescribed number of pills with some water, told Brian I was going to take a hot bath, and left the table. As I made my way down the hall towards the bathroom, I consciously avoided even glancing into the living room; I could hear a game on the TV, and, honestly, I didn’t give a shit what he was thinking.
    As the bathtub filled, I sat on the edge rubbing my temples, trying not to let my world spin out of control. The past few days had been a nightmare from which I kept willing myself to wake up. It pissed me off, the thought of being so out of control, but the sensation of the hot water closing around my toes and feet and ankles was indescribably soothing. I exhaled long and luxuriously as I slipped into the tub, closed my eyes, and let my muscles relax. The meds began working their magic, and I felt myself succumbing to a blissful world of silence.  
    Forty minutes later I exited my chamber of solace, bathrobe on, and made my way to the bedroom. This time I did glance down the hall. Daniel was still sitting on the couch, alone, wine glass in hand, drinking my favorite bottle of pinot.  

 
     
    Chapter 7
    Sunday, November 7
     
     
    The next morning I awoke alone in bed. I rubbed my eyes, pushed up onto my elbows, and looked around the room. Sunday mornings usually consisted of sleeping in ‘till ten or eleven, walking around in pajamas, and eating powdered sugar donuts for lunch. Sunday was my day to be lazy, but for some reason I was feeling charged with an amazing energy I hadn’t felt for a long time.  
    I began to mentally plan my day. I would go to the gym for a cardio workout, stop at the grocery store on the way back, make my family a proper meal, and then suggest that we all go to a matinee, order a huge bucket of popcorn, and stuff our faces while watching some wonderful, mindless adventure flick. On the way to the kitchen, I noticed Daniel conked out on the couch, an empty bottle of wine next to him on the coffee table. He was lying on his side, face