The Lime and the Dead: A Key West Culinary Cozy - Book 3 Read Online Free PDF

diminutive producer running after her.
    “We
meet again,” Marilyn said, without even a trace of a smile.
    “Oh
my goodness, I’m so glad to see you,” the woman panted, hands on her knees
trying to catch her breath.
    “I
can’t even begin to imagine why you’d be glad to see me,” she replied dryly.
    “Do
you think your drop-dead-gorgeous daughter might agree to fill in for us on the
show today? Bella Fontaine didn’t bother to show up, and we really need to have
someone that Amber can shop with. She’s buying clothes for her doggie,” Sabra
explained, pleading.
    “Absolutely
not. The footage that you insist upon showing tonight is not going to reflect
well upon my business because that dreadful young woman had to open her nasty,
judgmental mouth. I don’t want my daughter to have anything to do with this
program,” Marilyn shook her head in disgust. “What in the world is so darn
fascinating about someone buying clothes for their dog, anyway? When did that
kind of nonsense become entertainment? It’s utterly ridiculous. You make a star
out of some ill-mannered person like Bella Fontaine, and you want to drag my
daughter into that toxic mix? Forget it! I wish I’d never agreed to any of this
in the first place,” she fumed, turning to go.
    “Marilyn…wait!”
Sabra caught her wrist as she tried to make a beeline out of the store.
    Reclaiming
her arm, Marilyn slayed the producer with a look. “What part of no do you not
understand?” she blinked at the woman in disbelief.
    Sabra
lowered her voice. “What if we edit out the part where Bella is making fun of
the pie?” she asked, desperate.
    Marilyn
raised an eyebrow. “You’d actually do that?” she asked suspiciously.
    The
producer made a face. “If that’s what it’ll take to get that talented young
daughter of yours to participate…of course,” she shrugged.
    “Well,
I have no idea if she’ll agree to it or not, but you can call her and ask,”
Marilyn conceded.
    “She’s
going to be a star, I just know it,” Sabra grinned.
    “I
certainly hope not,” was the muttered reply.
     

Chapter 8
    “So,
how was it? Are you changing your name, moving to Hollywood and becoming a
movie star?” Marilyn teased when Tiara came in, ready for pizza and a movie.
    “Not
even close,” her daughter laughed, picking up a chewy, gooey slice of pepperoni
pizza and slapping it onto a paper plate for their weekly ritual. “It was fun,
though, not gonna lie,” she said, taking a huge bite, the mozzarella stringing
between her mouth and the triangle in her hand.
    “What
did you do?” her mother asked, handing her a napkin.
    “They
told me that I could buy whatever I wanted, I just had to make silly
conversation about it with Amber, and they’d reimburse me for the cost of it,
plus give me five hundred dollars for showing up on such short notice,” Tiara
explained, holding up her hand in front of her mouth so that she could chew
while she talked.
    “This
guy named Tucker, who drives the limo that Amber and Bella travel in, followed
us around the whole time, and whenever we bought something, he carried all of
the bags and put them in the car. So, by the time we were done filming, I had
picked out four swim suits, a couple of sundresses, some new sunglasses and
five different colors of flip-flops. Amber got way more stuff than that, plus
about twenty outfits for Lulu. I felt kind of bad for her actually, she really
doesn’t have much of a life. The guy from the yacht club that she hangs out
with sounds like a jerk, and she travels all the time, but never gets away from
the cameras and has her own life. It’s kind of sad,” she said, reaching for her
water bottle to wash down the pizza.
    “You
don’t know how glad I am to hear you say that,” Marilyn sighed with relief. “I
was hoping you wouldn’t get lured into that kind of lifestyle.”
    “Oh
please, Mom,” Tiara rolled her eyes. “You and I are just normal people who live
in the real