Free Murder of a Barbie and Ken by Denise Swanson Page A

work—and everyone was talking about the murders.” May frowned. “You and your father made me look like a fool. I had to pretend to know all about it.”
    Before Skye could respond, Bunny bounced out of her chair. “May, honey, it sounds like you had a really hard day. How about the two of us get gussied up and go have a drink? I noticed a couple of real nice-looking cocktail lounges in town.”
    Cocktail lounges? Skye wondered which of the four taverns in Scumble River qualified as a cocktail lounge.
    After a long interval during which May’s mouth kept opening and closing but nothing came out, she finally managedto say, “Tempting as that sounds, I better go home and cook that no-good husband of mine dinner.”
    Bunny leaned close to May and declared, “My motto is always yield to temptation, because it might not pass your way again.”
    Skye wondered just how many mottos Bunny had.
    May shook her head, got up, and grabbed Skye, pulling her toward the foyer. “I’d like a word with my daughter, alone.” And just in case they hadn’t gotten the message she added, “Bunny and Simon, you stay there.” As soon as they were out of earshot, May ordered, “Get rid of that woman.”
    “She’s Simon’s mother. What am I supposed to do, throw her into the snow?”
    “Mmm. That would be quite a show. We could call it Harlots on Ice.” May’s smile was not at all sweet. “Simon wouldn’t care if you threw her out. Heck, he’d probably sell tickets.”
    “That may be how he feels now, but you can’t truly believe that sometime, maybe in the distant, distant future, he won’t hold it against me.”
    “Mmm. You could be right.” May thought about it. “I guess you can’t really
kick
her out, but she’s got to go. I know, I’ll stop by and tell Charlie he has to find a cabin for her ASAP. I want to have a word with that man anyway.”
    Skye kissed her mom and opened the door. “You do that.”
    May paused as she was leaving. “I don’t understand how someone like her could have a son like Simon.” May tsked. “That woman is an egg short of a carton.”
    “Sometimes I think a lot of people around here are a little scrambled.” Skye waved to her mother as May climbed into her car.
    Skye shut the door and turned, but the phone rang before she could return to the great room, so she detoured into the kitchen and grabbed the receiver. Wally’s voice greeted her.
    “Hey, Skye. Is Simon at your house, by any chance?”
    “Yes. I’ll get him for you.”
    “Thanks.”
    Skye fetched Simon, and went back to sit with Bunny.
    Bunny said, “Your mama’s real nice. I think we’ll be pals.”
    Skye’s mouth dropped open. Was Bunny totally clueless? How had the woman ever survived in a place like Las Vegas? “It takes Mom a while to warm up to new people,” Skye warned.
    “But I could tell we really made a connection.”
    Skye didn’t know what to say, so she seized the first thought that whizzed past. “What would you like for dinner tonight? I could make pasta or maybe a nice Cornish game hen?”
    The choices at the grocery store had been both limited and a little bizarre. It was too bad the police were keeping the Instant Gourmet meals as evidence. After all, she had already paid for it. But then again, the thought of eating food that had been at a murder scene was pretty revolting.
    “I’m sure Sonny will want to take us out,” Bunny said.
    “No,
Simon
won’t.” Simon leaned against the wall between the foyer and the great room. He walked over to Skye. “That was Wally. They need me at the crime scene, and then I have to arrange for the bodies to be autopsied. I’ll probably be tied up until fairly late.”
    “That’s what I figured.”
    “I hate sticking you with her. I promise I’ll sort things out tomorrow.” Simon turned to his mother. “I hope you’ll be a considerate houseguest, and not give Skye any trouble.”
    “Why, Sonny, you don’t have to worry about me. I’ve changed.