Free 1 A High-End Finish by Kate Carlisle Page B

Victorian homeowners wanted more vivid colors with numerous contrasting hues on the windows, doors, and framing.
    I climbed out of the truck and saw Billy and Sean already hard at work. The three of us had gone to school together and they were two of the best on my crew. Perched on the scaffolding, they were using claw hammers to pull off the most damaged cedar shingles.
    “Hi, guys,” I shouted.
    Billy shoved his hammer into his tool belt and rappelled down the scaffolding like an expert rock climber. “Hey, Shannon, honey. You okay?”
    Sean followed right behind him. “Yeah, we heard what happened.” Always the straight shooter, he added, “Whoever offed Jerry Saxton did the world a favor. Maybe I shouldn’t speak ill of the dead, but that guy was a tool.”
    “You knew him?” I asked.
    “Yeah, I knew him.” He scowled. “Remember Luisa Capello?”
    “Sure. She went to school with us.”
    “Right. She was a year younger and best friends with my sister.” Sean unwrapped a piece of gum, popped it into his mouth, and chewed as he talked. “Anyway, Saxton dated her for a while, and I got the feeling she was crazy in love with him. He led her on, promised her the moon, gave her all sorts of gifts and stuff. She was planning to marry him until she found out he was fooling around with not one, but two other women.”
    “Jerk,” I muttered, shaking my head.
    “And guess who spilled the beans to Luisa about Jerry’s cheating.” Sean scowled. “It was yet another woman he was cheating on.”
    “How many was he stringing along? Three? Four?” Billy pulled his baseball cap off and scratched his head. “I can barely handle the one I’ve got.”
    Sean chuckled but quickly sobered. “Just about broke Luisa’s heart. She was seeing a doctor for depression for a while, but I think she’s finally over him.”
    “I’m sorry for Luisa,” I said, remembering the pretty, tenderhearted girl from high school. Her parents had moved here from Italy to open a branch of the family restaurant. They were extremely protective of their three thoroughly Americanized children. “She didn’t deserve that.”
    “No, she didn’t,” Billy said. “I didn’t know her as well as you two did, but that’s a real drag.”
    “Oh, and one more thing,” Sean said with an evil grin. “Did you know that Saxton was also screwing around with Joyce Boyer?”
    My ears perked up. “What?”
    “Oh yeah,” Billy said, nodding sagely. “Joyce is another one of his conquests.”
    “Joyce Boyer.” It wasn’t possible, was it? Joyce was Stan Boyer’s wife. The wife that Stan was cheating on last weekend while Jerry Saxton was being murdered. In their new house! “How did you hear about her and Jerry?”
    “From Johnny,” Sean said, naming another longtime member of my crew. “Ask him. He and Todd and the other guys working on the Boyer house got an earful of Joyce and Jerry carrying on last week.”
    An
earful
? I wondered what that meant.
    “Yeah,” Billy said. “The guys were laughing about it last Friday night at the pub. Hey, we missed you there, by the way. But I guess we know why you didn’t show up.”
    “Believe me, I’m sorry I couldn’t make it,” I said, lamenting that I hadn’t been there to hear about Joyce and Jerry. I’d avoided the pub—and every other public place—last Friday because of my infamous fight with Jerry the night before. “So, Jerry was screwing around with Stan’s wife. Wow.”
    “That’s what Johnny said. Apparently the two of them were having sex in one of the upstairs bedrooms while the guys were working there.”
    I grimaced. “That is the tackiest thing I’ve ever heard. I mean, besides the fact that a bunch of guys are working there, those upstairs bedrooms aren’t even finished yet. It’s a mess.”
    “I know,” Sean said, laughing. “The guys were afraid they’d come away with splinters in their private parts.”
    I covered my ears. “Oh, ick.”
    “It’s cheesy,