Free Death Takes a Holiday by Elisabeth Crabtree Page B

back into the dining car and headed their way. “Here she comes, Casanova. Just act normal,” Kyle advised softly.
    Steve glanced up nervously as Grace appr oached. “Hi there, honey.”
    “Hello babycakes,” Grace replied coldly as she passed their table. Kyle almost didn’t recognize her. Her red hair was now pulled back into a bun and her skin-tight red dress had been replaced by an oversized drab server’s outfit. He took in her sudden change of wardrobe with a sinking feeling.
    “See, what I mean, dude,” Steve whispered. “She’s obsessed with me.”
     
    *
     
    Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, Meredith Mallory, ran a shaking hand over her face. Putting a couple of bobby pins in her mouth, she grabbed her ponytail and wound it up into a bun. A few bobby pins later, she had the messiest bun Grace had ever seen. Bits and pieces of mousy brown hair hung at odd angles around her head.
    Grace sat behind the bar in the lounge car and watched her new co-worker with amusement. “Would you like a mirror?”
    “I just want to get this over with. I hate trains. I wish I could be on the Express. At least the torture would be over with quickly. Why would anyone pay for this?” She pointed to the window next to the bar. “What’s so special about this?”
    Grace looked out the window at the majestic mountainside, the trees laden with snow, and the beautiful reindeer prancing and frolicking on an over crop next to the tracks.
    “Oh my gosh, did you see that?” Grace leaned forward and excitedly pressed the side of her face to the window, trying to catch a glimpse of the reindeer retreating into the distance. “Did you see the deer?” she asked over her shoulder.
    “Have you ever seen one up close?” Meredith backed away from the window and crossed her arms. “They bite and they carry ticks. Do you want Lyme disease?”
    Grace restrained herself from pointing out that it was impossible to get Lyme disease by simply observing the deer from a moving train. She turned back around to find Meredith staring straight ahead as she stabbed a melon and began angrily hacking away at it.
    Grace followed Meredith’s gaze. Steve was sitting at the game table located at the far end of the lounge car. The blonde Grace saw sprinting to the train earlier in the day was sitting next to him, laughing as she shuffled a deck of cards.
    The only other person at the table was Kyle who was watching Grace with a wary look on his face. He started to rise, but was pulled back down by Steve.
    Whatever story Steve was telling obviously needed embellishing. He was waving his arms around like a cartoon character suddenly falling out of a plane. Grace half expected him to take off at any moment, but with a final sweep of a blue and white checkered arm, the coffee cup sitting in front of him went flying off the table.
    “I hate people,” Meredith said matter-of-factly. Picking up another plate of fruit from the mini fridge, Meredith shook her head as she speared a sliced pear.
    “ Do you mean everyone or just someone in particular?” she asked as Meredith shredded the pear in ever decreasing slices.
    Meredith didn’t answer. She tilted her head and stared past Grace’s shoulder.
    Grace turned to see a distinguished older ma n in an expensive tailored pinstriped suit walk unsteadily into the lounge car. He held both arms out like a tight rope artist as he navigated his way down the aisle. Grace wondered if it was the train that was making him so unsteady or something else. He got half way through the car before sitting—actually more like falling—back into an empty recliner.
    She noticed Steve look up in surprise. He exchanged a friendly wave with the man before turning back to the blonde sitting next to him.
    Grace looked at the older man more carefully. He was a rather handsome man, with piercing blue eyes and jet-black hair with just a few streaks of gray peppered throughout. There was something familiar about him, but she