Shaded Light: The Case of the Tactless Trophy Wife: A Paul Manziuk and Jacquie Ryan Mystery (The Manziuk and Ryan Mysteries Book 1) Read Online Free PDF Page A

house, and finally, the last twenty-four in a very comfortable three-story house on a large, well-treed lot. Cabbagetown had been home.
    But this spring, George had decided Cabbagetown was no longer good enough for them, and they should move far from the heart of the city to a suburb where other affluent people lived. It took some getting used to. She suspected her feelings were much like Cinderella’s might have been after the honeymoon when Prince Charming carried her over the threshold of the castle and said, “Okay, honey, this is home now.”
    But this one room she loved. She smiled as her eyes moved from the view through the patio doors to the interior of the room. She called it the “day room” because the real estate agent had deemed that to be the proper name, but she thought of it as her own personal refuge—a soft, gentle space, perhaps a little large with its numerous groupings of chairs and coffee tables, but bright and cheery and comfortable. The feminine equivalent of her husband’s heavy book-lined study. Only in this room did she really feel at home. But it was to be expected that it would take some time to get used to living in a mansion.
    A bright whistle from outside broke into Ellen’s thoughts and she started, turning her head toward the now-open patio doors.
    “Hello, Aunt Ellen.”
    Ellen’s glass of ginger ale tumbled from suddenly numbed fingers. Amber liquid seeped into the thick rose carpeting.
    A tall man in his mid-thirties stepped through the patio doors. Backlit by the bright sunshine, his silhouetted frame looked thin to Ellen, and somewhat stooped. His face, indistinct at first because it was cast into shadow by the intensity of the sunlight behind him, was an ordinary face, unremarkable except for the complete baldness of his shaven head.
    He set down a worn dufflebag, walked over to pick up one of the foil-wrapped toffees threatening to overflow an elegant crystal swan candy dish, and sank into a floral recliner chair. “You’ve certainly done well for yourselves,” he said.
    Ellen leaned toward him, her back stiff, every muscle taut. “What on earth are you doing here?”
    “Just dropped in to see my favorite aunt.”
    His favorite aunt looked anything but pleased to see him. “What have you done to your hair?” Her voice changed suddenly. “You aren’t sick, are you?”
    “It was turning gray at an alarming rate. Made me look old. It was either dye it or shave it. This seemed easier. Besides, baldness is in these days. Very sexy.”
    “Does George know you’re here?”
    “Not yet.”
    “Bart, you know how upset he’ll be. We have guests coming! There’s no room.”
    “You mean you’d turn me out in the cold? Your own flesh and blood?”
    “You aren’t either my flesh and blood! You’re George’s nephew. And it’s not cold out. It’s July, and so hot you could live outdoors easily. You probably have been.
    “And what happened to the money George gave you? Surely you haven’t gone through it already? You know he said it had to last the rest of the year.”
    “Slow down, Aunt Ellen. You’re getting all worked up. The truth is I’ve had a bit of bad luck. But I can get the money back with a little ingenuity. I was in the neighborhood, so I dropped in. I’ll leave if you don’t want me.”
    Bart stood up and reached for his dufflebag. As he picked it up, he said, “Sure is hot out there. I had to walk for miles.”
    Ellen said nothing.
    At the open patio door, he turned. “Are you really going to send me penniless into the cruel world?”
    She stared at him. There was something of her husband George there, and something of their son Kendall, too. But it was muted by the lines of dissipation on his face and the cynicism in his eyes. She hoped with all her heart that life would never do to Kendall what it had done to Bart.
    “Well?” He set the bag down and held out his hands. “What’s the verdict?”
    There was nothing about him that looked