Fatal Impulse: A Widow's Web Novel Read Free Page B

Adams.
    She'd been so focused on her own situation, she hadn't even thought to ask about her sister. She asked, “How’s Mandy?”
    “She’s fine. Busy as ever. Little Jakey is running a fever, so she had to stay home and take care of him.” Martha busied herself at the counter, wiping crumbs away with a quick hand, then turned to face her daughter, “But she wants you to know she’s thinking about you and she’d been here if she could’ve. She sends her prayers.”
    “Her family comes first,” Andi regretted not being closer to her family. Moving away when she got married had been difficult. She and Chad had such a whirlwind romance, that summer after her junior year in college. She'd shocked everyone when she didn't return to college that fall and got married instead. Chad asked her to marry him and move to Maine, and she'd been over the moon.
    Martha frowned and sighed, “Don’t be petty, hon.”
    “I’m not. Really, I understand.” Andi got up and refilled both coffee cups, then added creamer and sugar to them and stirred.
    Martha put her hand on her daughter’s and shook her head. “Honey, you don’t have to do everything for me. I’m not Chad.”
    Andi froze. With the mere mention of his name, grief washed over her like a wave. Her husband was gone. She nodded and walked out of the room, stood in the living room for a moment, then lowered herself into a chair. What would life be like after Chad? She'd never been alone.
    Her mother followed her and sat on the couch. The two women sipped their coffee in silence. Andi gazed out the window and wondered how she ended up here. She'd been so happy when she'd married Chad, so eager to please him. But as he grew more demanding, she struggled to keep up appearances. She'd been careful not to let anyone know how difficult her life had become. She couldn't let her mother know the marriage had been a mistake, no more than she could let the women from the Library Board know that her handsome husband was a petty bully behind closed doors. Even with him gone, she didn't want anyone to pity her.
    After the coffee was gone, Andi stood and took Mama’s cup, then walked towards the kitchen. On the way, she caught her reflection in the hall mirror. Her dark ponytail fell to the center of her back, because Chad liked long hair and didn’t want it cut. Long bangs hid her blue eyes, and her round face made her look plumper than she was. Chad called her Chipmunk Cheeks. Claimed it was a pet name, but it hurt and he knew it.
    “Need any help, honey?” Martha called from the living room.
    “No,” Andi answered, as she turned away from her reflection and walked into the kitchen, “Just filling the dishwasher.”
    Her cell phone chirped again. She wiped her hands on a dishtowel and glanced at the caller ID. Anonymous. She answered.
    "Mrs. Adams?" The voice on the other end was gruff.
    Her stomach fluttered with unease. "Yes."
    "Detective Johnson. You comin' down or not?"
    She straightened and the muscles in her back tensed. "Did you find him?"
    "Not yet. Told you the Coast Guard has already got cutters out searching. Half o' Buccaneer Bay is out on the water helping search."
    She opened and closed her mouth like a fish out of water. "Um, sure. Of course. I'll be there as soon as I can."
    Martha held out her hand and motioned for the phone. Andi blinked, then turned it over.
    The scowl on Martha's face matched her voice when she spoke. "Who is this?" Her eyes narrowed as she listened. "You may be the law, but I'm her mother. The poor child had the shock of her life last night and the doctor had to give her pills to help her sleep."
    Martha pressed her lips into a thin line as she listened, then she broke in. "I'll bring her down in a bit, if she's up to it."
    Andi's eyes widened at her mother's insolence. Her mother pulled the phone from her ear and looked at it, then handed it to Andi and shrugged. "I don't know how to turn the gol-danged thing off."
    Andi took the phone