The Diva Serves High Tea Read Online Free PDF Page A

anguish.
    I tried not to laugh. He couldn’t exactly tell her that he meant he would be moving Mars’s furniture.
    â€œSophie, won’t you please call the musicians for me?”
    I grabbed a pad and a pen and scribbled a message. “Dial their number.”
    Natasha dialed and held the phone out to me.
    â€œSay this to them.” I handed her the paper.
    Fortunately, Natasha was caught by surprise. She choked, but then read aloud, with the wrong emphasis. “Hi, it’s Natasha again. I wanted to apologize”—she cocked her head and glared at me, her eyes huge—“for this morning. I had an intruder in the house last night who knocked me unconscious, and I’m just not myself today.”
    She listened for a moment. “Yes, I should be fine. That’s so nice of you. At three this afternoon, then?”
    She said good-bye and hung up. “Looks like it’s going to be a good day after all.
I
should have thought of that. I’ll have Mars collect my suitcase later on.”
    Bernie and I waited, frozen in place until she shut the door behind her.
    â€œI can’t believe I stepped into that,” grumbled Bernie.
    â€œI’ll pitch in. It shouldn’t take too long, though I don’t know how we’ll move some of the bigger pieces.”
    â€œI can call a couple of my bartenders. I’ve helped move plenty of
them
.”
    Bernie was right about Mars. As we sat down to eat, Mars walked in through the kitchen door like he still owned the place. “Got enough for three? There’s nothing in the fridge. I’ve only been gone for two weeks, and all Natasha has is wine and pickled jalapeños. Not even milk or eggs. Who lives like that?”
    â€œHow did it go?” I asked.
    Mars buttered his pancake and poured maple syrup on it. “I’m not sure. I expected waterworks or slamming doors, but she was very calm. Frighteningly so, in fact. She usually makes such a fuss about things that I was slightly alarmed. She said, ‘You’ll miss me, Mars.’ And then she headed upstairs.”
    Yikes! I hoped she wasn’t busy burning his clothes or tossing them out the window. I leaned sideways to look out my bay window, but I couldn’t see their house. “Does she know you’re here? She was afraid to be in your house alone.”
    Mars gulped tea before saying, “She never came back down. But her mom is in transit. I didn’t tell Natasha that. You know how she is about her mom.”
    I did know. Natasha’s father abandoned them when Natasha was seven. Her mom had waitressed long hours at the local diner trying to provide for her little girl. I thought her mom was a hoot, but she was something of an embarrassment to Natasha, who tried to cultivate a sophisticated image. Her mother was a free spirit who preferred a more casual lifestyle.
    I frowned at Bernie, who appeared to be as surprised as I was. Something was up with Natasha. Her reaction to Mars breaking off their relationship wasn’t like her at all.
    Mars devoured his pancakes as though he hadn’t eaten in days. “Officer Wong called. She needs me to come in so they can exclude my fingerprints.” He grinned at me. “Apparently they already have yours and Natasha’s on file.”
    â€œNo leads on the intruder, then?” Bernie asked.
    â€œAccording to Wong, if there are no prints, in all likelihood they’ll never find the perpetrator, unless someone saw something but hasn’t reported it yet.”
    â€œDid you notice if anything was missing?” I bit into the last piece of my sausage.
    â€œNot a thing.”

    After breakfast, Bernie passed me on his way out the door and whispered, “I wouldn’t do this for anyone else but you.”
    I blew him a kiss.
    â€œAw, quit cozying up to Sophie,” grumbled Mars. “You’re going to help, aren’t you?” he asked me.
    â€œI’ll be along