The Unkindest Cut Read Free

demanded. I had simply never spent as much time on my appearance as Sophie did. But then I wasn’t beautiful like she was. People often mistook her for a model.
    ‘‘I suppose I should go home and let you get busy with your cleaning,’’ Sophie said. She rose from her chair. ‘‘I’ll see you at Marylou’s.’’ She waved a hand at me as she exited through the back door.
    I spent the next two hours cleaning. First I tackled the bathrooms; next I vacuumed my bedroom and most of the upstairs, and I ended with some dusting. By the time I finished, I was hot, bedraggled, and dusty. A cool shower soon revived me, and I had enough time to dress and do my makeup so that I didn’t have to rush.
    At twenty-eight minutes past twelve I walked out my front door, taking care to lock it after reassuring myself that I had put my keys in my purse. Sophie answered the door for Marylou, informing me that our hostess was in the kitchen. ‘‘Her friend hasn’t come down yet,’’ Sophie said, shutting the door behind me.
    I followed her into the living room, and Sophie put out a hand to restrain me when I would have continued toward the kitchen.
    ‘‘What is it?’’ I said.
    Sophie glanced in the direction of the kitchen, and when she answered me, she lowered her voice to little more than a whisper. ‘‘Marylou told me her friend can come across as a bit strange, but she wants us to know that she’s really a nice person, once you get to know her.’’
    Looking askance at Sophie, I was about to reply when someone spoke from behind us in loud, angry tones.
    ‘‘I wish he was dead. He’s making everything so difficult, just to spite me. I ought to kill him myself.’’

Chapter 2
    Sophie and I stared at each other, her eyes widening in surprise along with mine. Slowly we turned to look at the woman who had uttered those unsettling words.
    She wasn’t paying attention to anyone around her. She was peering into the distance, and I wasn’t certain she had actually seen us. As I stared at her, I thought at first she was talking to herself, because her hands were empty, her arms hanging loosely by her side.
    Then she shifted her head slightly, and in her right ear I spotted one of those ear gadgets I had seen other people wear. They looked uncomfortable to me, and I couldn’t imagine wanting to wear a phone in my ear for any length of time. I didn’t like using my own regular cell phone to begin with, and I hardly ever turned it on. My late husband had insisted I have one in case of emergency, but luckily I hadn’t had to use it for one so far.
    Abruptly the woman focused on Sophie and me, and she stared hard at both of us. She told the person on the other end of the conversation that she had to go, and then she reached up and pulled the device from her ear.
    Not smiling, she stepped forward and held out her hand. ‘‘Paula Trowbridge. How do you do?’’ I supposed she was going to pretend that we hadn’t heard her threatening remarks.
    Sophie and I introduced ourselves, and I continued to examine Paula Trowbridge as discreetly as I could. She was around fifty, probably a couple of years on the other side of it. That made her a bit more than ten years older than I and twenty years older than Sophie. Her face had a hard set to it, and the severely bleached blond hair did nothing to soften her look. She was rail thin, bronzed from many hours in the sun, and a good two inches taller than my own five seven.
    Marylou came into the living room before we had much chance to do more than introduce ourselves. ‘‘Good, you’ve met,’’ she said with a beaming smile. ‘‘It’s so nice to have you all together with me.’’ She turned to Sophie and me. ‘‘I’ve known Paula for nearly thirty years, you know.’’
    ‘‘Marylou’s one of the few people who’ve stuck by me,’’ Paula said, frowning. ‘‘People are always letting me down. I don’t know what it is. I spend so much time trying to be a good friend,