Mixed Messages (A Malone Mystery) Read Free

her closely against him, and kissed her passionately. He caressed her neck and shoulder, slowly moving his hand down her arm and resting it on her breast, stroking it softly. He brushed a strand of hair out o f her eyes and murmured, “Couldn’t we postpone dinner?”
    “David! The kids ! ”
    “Come on, Ann, a quickie? You know you want to.”
    She kissed him lightly on the cheek. “We can’t do this now. It’s time to eat. Will you please call the kids?”
    “Fine. Don’t say I didn’t try,” he said, backing away from her and sitting down at the table. “Dani! Davey! Dinner time!” he yelled.
    She giggled. “Thanks. I could’ve done that.”
    When dinner was on the table and everyone else was seated, Ann sat down to eat.
    “Mommy, I hate lima beans!” Davey whined.
    “Just eat a few,” Ann told him, “they’re good for you.”
    Davey puckered up his face, held his nose and, with obvious distaste, picked up his fork and speared one small lima bean, popping it into his mouth. “Yuk!”
    “Mom, did you tell Daddy about my field trip?” Danielle asked.
    “No. Not yet. Why don’t you tell him?”
    Davey started kicking one of the table legs. The constant, repetitive thunks shook the whole table, rattling the dishes and glasses.
    “Cut that out!” David ordered.
    “Daddy, our class is going to Mt. Airy Forest next Monday and we’re gonna see all the trees with their leaves changing,” Danielle said.
    “Well, that should be fun,” David said, scooping up a forkful of rice mixed with baby limas.
    Ann cleared her throat. “That reminds me,” she said. “Do … do you have five dollars? She needs money for the field trip and I’m flat broke.”
    David shot her a look. Then he turned to Danielle and smiled. “Not a problem . ” He pull ed his wallet out and plac ed a five dollar bill on the table in front of Danielle. “Have a good time, Honey.”
    “Thanks, Daddy.”
    * * * *
    After dinner, Ann cleared the table while Danielle began washing dishes. David went into the bedroom to get ready to go back out to work. Ann sat down on the sofa in the living room, with Davey snuggled up against her, and began reading to him from one of his Halloween storybooks.
    “Where’s my blue tie with the stripes?” David asked, peering around the corner from the hallway.
    Ann looked up from the book. “The last time I saw it, it was on the chair by the bed.”
    David marched down the hallway, mumbling to himself, “Can’t find anything around here. In my mother’s house … . ”
    Ann sighed and went back to reading aloud the story about a little pumpkin that was lonely in a patch of other pumpkins. A few minutes later, she heard the back door slam.
    “Mommy, where’s Daddy going?” Davey asked.
    “To work,” she said. “He’ll be back later.”
    “Why does Daddy have to work at night? Nobody else’s Daddy does.”
    “Davey, I’m sure lots of other dads work in the evening. Daddy sells insurance and he has to meet with people when they’re home from work. You know that, you silly boy,” she said, tousling his blonde hair.
    Davey giggled and turned the page and, for the next hour, Ann read to him. Danielle finished the dishes and brought out her newest Nancy Drew mystery to read. Davey sat perfectly still the whole time Ann read, listening intently. It amazed her that he could be so calm sometimes while most of the time he was the exact opposite. If I asked him to read to me right now, she thought, he’d squirm and fidget in his seat.
    At eight-thirty, Ann told the kids it was time to get ready for bed. After she’d tucked them in and kissed them goodnight, she put on her comfortable flannel pajamas and got into bed.
    She picked up Charley’s Web by Joy Fielding, one of her favorite authors, from the middle shelf of her night table. Now I get to read my book, she thought, as she settled back against her pillows. She was about halfway through the book. Usually, once she started to read, she