Read craftfield 01 - secrets untold for Free Online Page B

the table cloth on fire and everyone around us freaked out. Some were running for the exit and leaving their furs.”
    Something was missing from this story. “Why? It would’ve been easy to contain, right?” Surely this place had fire extinguishers handy.
    “If it had been a table like this, sure.” She grimaced. “But it was our family reunion and we had several tables pushed together.”
    Amanda’s family was huge while her own family was shrinking. Tears threatened again and she dabbed at her eyes with her napkin.
    “Okay, change of topic. Want to go to a hockey game on Saturday?”
    “Not really.” She pictured her friend as a young kid watching several table cloths go up in a blaze. “You could’ve set the entire place on fire. I’m surprised they only waited this long to let you in. I’d have refused to grant you access - ever.”
    “May I take your order?” a waiter asked.
    “Nothing for me.” Lily handed him the menu.
    “Do I need to threaten to make you eat Jell-O?” Amanda narrowed her eyes.
    Her friend’s Jell-O was like trying to eat cement. “On second thought, just a cup of soup and a ginger ale. Thanks.”
    “I’ll take a Greek salad and diet soda, please.” Amanda leaned her elbows on the table. “Once you have the soup, you’ll want a tub of it. I don’t know what they put in it, but it’s divine.”
    Lily took a sip of her water, testing her stomach. “So why didn’t you order it?”
    “Because it would take me too long with my trainer to work off that many calories.” She gave a short laugh, then reached across the table and squeezed Lily’s hand. “You can stay with me as long as you like.”
    “Thanks.” Lily rubbed her arms. “I wish I had closure. Ya know? Like whoever did this is caught.”
    “Do the cops have any leads?” She leaned back. “Sorry, I shouldn’t be dragging this back up.”
    The grief was there no matter what Lily did or thought. It was a permanent stabbing in her heart. “No, it’s okay.” She took a shuddering breath. No, it will never be okay . Her mom wouldn’t heal, or have a surgery and be all better. She was dead. “I mean, no, they don’t know anything. A Deputy Garza is supposed to contact me to give my accounts of what happened before I left. I just wish I’d—” What could she say? That she wished this had never happened? That she’d paid attention to her dream and superglued herself to her mom? None of that would bring back the fact that someone had killed her mom, and that Lily had been on the other side of town. That her mom had died alone - and for what? Two hundred dollars in the register and a dollar bill with a small pink zigzag someone had written in the upper left corner with a permanent marker?
    “Why are the police calling you? You weren’t there, were you?” Her friend’s brow knitted.
    “No.” She swallowed another sip of water, forcing the knots shifting in her gut to stop. “Just keeping me informed if they have a lead on a suspect I guess.”
    “Everyone loved your mom. I can’t believe someone would kill her.”
    Lily thanked the waiter as he brought out their food and drinks. “Mr. Griffin for one; he’s never happy about anything.”
    “What about that rude lady you’re always telling me about?” Her friend stabbed a piece of lettuce and popped it into her mouth. “She’s always in your mom’s business and stuff.”
    “Camie Barnes.” As much as she’d love to see that woman in a bright orange jumpsuit, she’d rather have her mom alive. “She’s just obnoxious and a busybody.”
    Tentatively, Lily took a spoonful of the soup. The cream chicken texture soothed her throat. Still, she couldn’t really taste it, but under Amanda’s glare, she finished it. "Thank you. I needed that." Lily leaned back against the chair, the soup warming her. Still, she felt numb, like none of this was real. What would her aunts say? They were the only family she had now. She glanced at her cell. No new