Dead to the World Read Online Free Page A

interjected.
    ‘Or you for that matter. I’m not in the mood for tofu and kale,’ Alicia said.
    ‘Second that!’ Megan said.
    ‘I do not only eat tofu and kale!’ Bess said. ‘There’s a lovely spaghetti squash in the vegetable bin.’
    Megan stuck her finger down her throat and Alicia said, ‘Spare me.’
    Bess turned on her heels and left the kitchen, heading back upstairs. Once in her room, she threw herself on the bed and pulled her new yearbook out from under the pillow where she’d hidden it. Without much help the book opened to a certain page. On it were pictures of seniors, like herself and her sisters. But the page wasn’t in the ‘P’s’ for Pugh. It was in the ‘H’s’ for Harris. Logan Harris, to be exact. Blond-haired, blue-eyed Logan Harris, with the dimples and the killer smile. He was in her chemistry class this semester and sat next to her. And he smelled soooo good. Bess again read the information under the picture: ‘Most likely to be running his place of employment before graduation.’ And it even listed his place of employment. Bess stashed the yearbook back under her pillow and headed downstairs.
    Once in the kitchen, she said, ‘OK, I give up. We can go out to dinner. And I know exactly where.’
    ‘Where’s that?’ Alicia asked.
    ‘The Eyes of Texas Steak House,’ Bess said.
    Megan almost choked on her cold pizza. ‘Are you serious? What can you eat there, Miss Vegan-two-shoes?’
    ‘I’m thinking about red meat,’ Bess said, envisioning Logan Harris bringing her a juicy steak on a sizzling platter.
    We had an uneventful night. No spirits rattling chains or moaning in the hallways. Basically, no sign of ‘Daddy’ at all. Well, maybe not exactly uneventful. It was our anniversary, after all.
    In the morning we headed downstairs, following the smell of coffee. Miss Hutchins was in the dining room, a carafe of coffee in her good hand.
    ‘Good morning!’ she said cheerfully.
    I tried to be as cheerful in returning her greeting, but I really don’t do cheerful – or human – until after at least my first cup of coffee.
    ‘It’s so nice to have guests again!’ Miss Hutchins chirped. ‘I’d been so happy here with all my guests to talk to!’ The smile disappeared. ‘That is, until Daddy came back, of course.’ Then the smile reappeared. ‘I hope you slept well.’
    ‘Just fine,’ Willis said, sitting down and reaching for a cup that he stuck out to Miss Hutchins. She filled it. I immediately followed my husband’s lead.
    ‘There is breakfast on the buffet behind you and I’ll just refill the coffee and be right back!’ she said with a smile, and scurried off.
    After several sips of coffee I was human enough to get up and check out the buffet. Looking at the offerings thereon, I had to assume that Miss Hutchins had been up since the crack of dawn preparing it all. Obviously homemade biscuits, sausage gravy, rashers of bacon and links of sausage, scrambled eggs, hash browns and what looked like homemade preserves. I’ve been to my share of B&Bs, and the usual second ‘B’ encompassed store-bought doughnuts, a bowl of grocery store cut fruit and weak coffee. I figured, Daddy or no Daddy, this was my kind of place. But in deference to my new body, I only had a little of everything. No, really.
    After breakfast Willis and I set out to explore the little town of Peaceful. Main Street was where it was happening, so we headed in that direction. It was a beautiful day for a walk – the sun was out and not yet too hot, and the earlier spring rains had helped to make the entire town look greener. Main Street itself had large planters, one at each intersection (there were three intersections – you do the math), filled with all sorts of colorful flowers. The cisterns were artfully decorated and their small square footage was used to the best advantage possible. Some were filled with crap straight from China, others with local-made crafts, and others with antiques.