Low Country Liar Read Free Page A

You are tired. We'll have plenty of time to talk in the next two weeks. There isn't any need to try to do all our talking in one night," Mitzi insisted.
    Lisa was tired and didn't object at all to having her arm twisted. "If you are sure you don't mind…"
    "I don't mind. Do you remember which room you have?" Her aunt rose and Lisa did likewise.
    "Yes, I remember. Turn right at the top of the stairs and it's the second room," she recalled.
    "That's it. I'll be turning in now, too. I'll be rising with the sun to work on my novel, but you sleep as late as you wish," her aunt instructed. "Remember, you're on vacation."
    "Which means not dashing about to get to work," Lisa smiled. She started toward the foyer and the staircase leading to the second floor. Over her shoulder, she added, "And thanks for letting me spend my vacation here."
    "Thanks aren't necessary. I am proud to have you here. Good night."
    "Good night, Mitzi," Lisa waved as she rounded the opened double doors into the foyer.
    The staircase of heavily carved and polished cypress made a lazy circle to the second floor. Lisa climbed its carpeted steps, a hand sliding along the smooth wood of the carved banister to the top. The plaster walls of the upper-floor hallway were painted a pearl white. The color gave light to the high-ceilinged but narrow corridor.
    Turning right, Lisa entered the second room. Her previous inspection of the room had been a cursory one, a hurried tour on her arrival, cut short by her desire to return downstairs to visit with her aunt. Now she let her gaze wander around the room.
    Mitzi had said she had specifically chosen that guest room for Lisa because it seemed to be "her." The walls were a rich jade green, accented by woodwork painted ivory. A small alcove held a sofa decorated in vivid greens and golds. The silklike material of the drapes was of ivory to match the bedspread on the canopied bed. The area rug was patterned in an Oriental design that incorporated the green and off-white colors with a vivid yellow.
    The sight of her suitcases standing at the foot of the bed reminded Lisa that she hadn't yet unpacked. She sighed tiredly, then noticed her nightgown and robe lying across the bed. She picked up one suitcase. It was light as a feather. Setting it back down, Lisa walked to the closet. All her clothes were there, neatly hung on wire hangers. The rest of her things were in the drawers of a Provençal-styled dresser. The housekeeper had obviously unpacked the suitcases for her.
    "Bless her grumbling soul." Lisa repeated her aunt's earlier comment about Mildred, murmuring it in all sincerity.
    Kicking off her shoes, she walked to a second ivory-painted door. It opened into a private bathroom where her cosmetics were arranged neatly on the counter in front of a well-lighted vanity mirror. There wasn't anything left for her to do.
    Lisa glanced at the large porcelain bathtub with its gold fixtures and green and gold shower curtain, but the bed looked infinitely more inviting at the moment. Closing the bathroom door, she changed into her nightclothes.
    Climbing between the clean-scented sheets of the bed, she switched off the light on the stand beside the bed. Lisa stared at the pale silk of the canopy above her head. Tomorrow she would be meeting Slade Blackwell. She wanted to be very well rested for that. She closed her eyes.
    As Lisa followed the descending rail of the spiral staircase the next morning, she could hear the staccato tapping of typewriter keys coming from the downstairs study. Smiling to herself, she knew she wouldn't have to make any explanations to Mitzi. Her aunt was hard at work on her new novel.
    At the bottom of the stairs, Lisa paused in front of the large oval mirror to make a last-minute inspection of her appearance. The loose-fitting waistcoat-type jacket gave height to her average build, the skirt long enough to be fashionable while revealing the shapely curve of her legs. The waistcoat and skirt were spring