Sweat Tea Revenge Read Online Free PDF Page A

like a banshee over their honeymoon plans, but she certainly hadn’t murdered him. Theodosia knew that the one thing that Delaine desired above all else, the one thing she couldn’t magically conjure or buy for any amount of money, was to put the title
Mrs.
in front of her name.
    And now her chance at that had been shattered. Yes, Granville’s death was tragic, simply tragic.
    Theodosia hunched her shoulders and turned to leave. Time to go home, she decided. Time to take off this silly bridesmaid’s dress. To go downstairs and confab with Drayton and Haley, her tea shop cohorts. Get a hug and a kiss from her boyfriend, Max. Try to salvage something good out of this day.
    Only someone had suddenly loomed in her way. “What?” she said, raising a hand, feeling a little threatened. Then she saw it was Bill Glass. He stood in the hallway, cameras still slung around his neck, looking disheveled and a little on edge.
    “What are you doing here?” Theodosia asked. “Still angling to get that million-dollar shot?”
    Glass shook his head. Like her, he’d lingered long after the body had been wheeled out, seemingly pondering the crime scene. “No, but this pretty much confirms what I’ve heard all along.”
    Theodosia turned toward him. “Confirms what? What are you talking about?”
    “That this place is unlucky,” said Glass. He flapped a hand. “Get a load of Granville’s room number.”
    Theodosia glanced at the door. “Three-thirteen,” she said tiredly. “So what?”
    “You don’t know?” said Glass.
    “Know what?” Really, Glass could be awfully tedious.
    Glass’s brows pinched together and he looked suddenly somber. “You didn’t know this place is supposed to be haunted?”

4
    “It hardly feels
like we’ve had any weekend at all,” sighed Drayton. It was Monday morning and the Indigo Tea Shop wasn’t yet open for business. He and Theodosia were seated at a small table next to the stone fireplace. Haley, their youthful chef and baker extraordinaire, had just ferried out a plate of scones, fresh from the oven. Though the atmosphere was cheery, the three of them were not.
    “We’ve barely had any downtime,” Theodosia agreed. “Between the wedding fiasco on Saturday and being debriefed by various investigators yesterday, our real lives were completely obliterated.”
    “But just think how Delaine feels,” said Haley. She rarely had a soft spot in her heart for Delaine, but today she’d done a complete about-face and was really quite sympathetic.
    “She feels awful,” said Theodosia.
    “Seriously now,” said Drayton. “Do you think Delaine ever really loved Granville?” He plucked a scone from Haley’s serving plate and placed it on his own smaller plate. “She always struck me as being pretty much of a serial dater.”
    “She loved him,” said Theodosia. “As much as Delaine could love anyone.”
    “Except for her cats,” said Haley, pushing stick-straight blond hair behind her ears. “Dominic and Domino. Her two Siamese. I think she loves them more.”
    “You’re probably right,” said Theodosia. Delaine was a pain and a gossip and a little bit crazy, but when it came to small animals she was an absolute saint. She took in strays, bottle-fed abandoned raccoons, and braked for turtles, snappers as well as painted. Delaine had even spearheaded a major fund drive last year to finance a special cat and kitten wing at the Loving Paws Animal Shelter.
    “Delaine was awfully desperate to get married,” Drayton said as he split his scone in half and dropped on a frothy dollop of Devonshire cream.
    “Desperate to find love,” added Haley.
    “Since their engagement,” said Drayton, “poor Dougan Granville struck me as someone who’d suddenly awoken to find himself caught in a leg trap.”
    Theodosia considered their words. Yes, Delaine’s rush to the altar had been like watching a NASCAR race: lots of torque, muscle, and speed. And, yes, maybe she had been a little desperate