A Deadly Slice of Lime: A Key West Culinary Cozy - Book 6 Read Free

filed the lawsuit while she was in the
Emergency Room,” she grimaced, disgusted. “I say that we do some poking around
and see what Elizabeth Melman is all about. If we can somehow prove that she
was faking it, we may be able to get her attorney to drop the case, and not
have to even bother going to court.”
    “That
would be a relief,” her mother nodded. “Let me do some research – I’ll see what
I can find out.”
    “You
mean you’re actually going to interact with a computer?” Tiara teased, knowing
her mother’s extreme aversion to using technology.
    “Desperate
situations call for desperate measures, my dear,” Marilyn replied dryly. “Don’t
you have somewhere to be?” she raised her eyebrows, then looked at the door
leading out of her office.
    “As
a matter of fact, Dad is taking me on a charter fishing trip this afternoon,”
her daughter sobered. “I told him that I’d be ready around one o’clock, is that
okay?”
    “Of
course,” came the automatic reply, followed by an attempt at a smile. “Kelcie
and I should be done with baking in an hour or so, and the afternoon traffic on
a Tuesday isn’t typically that bad, so I’m sure that we can handle it,” her
mother assured her, trying to sound upbeat. “Besides, if I have to sit up at
the front counter, I can use the computer up there to do some poking around,
and kill two birds with one stone.”
    “You’re
sure that you won’t need me?” Tiara asked again.
    “Nope,
we’ll manage sweetie,” Marilyn insisted, wondering why her daughter now seemed
a bit sad.
    “It’s
just…I want to go fishing with Dad, but I’m afraid it’s going to be awkward,”
she admitted finally. “Like…I don’t know what I’m supposed to say to him. He’s
really just a stranger, so part of me really doesn’t want to go,” she confessed.
    Sensing
her daughter’s rare insecurity, she got out of her desk chair and wrapped her
in a warm hug. “It’s going to be okay, honey, it really is. You’re a strong,
confident, charming young woman – of course your dad wants to get to know you.
Don’t let what happened between us cloud your perspective of him, he may be an
entirely different person now. Besides, you two always managed to get along
well, even when he and I were fighting like cats and dogs. Let him love you
however he knows how, and show him what a wonderful person you are,” Marilyn
advised, brushing a stray wisp of hair from Tiara’s eyes.
    “You
won’t be upset?” she asked.
    Her
mother gave her a genuine smile this time. “No, honey, I won’t be upset. Having
your father in your life isn’t something that’s going to harm my relationship
with you. I love you more than anything, and nothing is going to change that,”
she assured her daughter, seeing a measure of relief in the young woman’s eyes.
“Now scoot on out of here and let me get my work done,” she said, taking Tiara
by the shoulders and marching her out the door.
    “Okay,
okay,” she grumbled, laughing at her mother’s antics, which she knew were for
her benefit. “But let me know if you find out anything good about Ms. Melman.”
    “You
got it,” Marilyn assured her, heading back toward the kitchen as her daughter
readied the display cases and front counter for opening.
    **
    Tiara
left at noon to go home and get ready for the excursion with her father, and
Marilyn watched her leave, feeling a bit melancholy. Her marriage had failed,
her daughter was grown and accomplished and amazing, and when she landed her
dream job, which, with her qualifications would most likely be sooner rather
than later, Marilyn would be alone. While she knew and embraced the fact that
this was the nature of life and parenting, she was definitely not looking
forward to the day that she would have to watch her only little bird fly away
from the nest.
    Shaking
herself out of her reverie, she switched on the computer beside the cash register,
and took out a notepad on which to make notes