Read Sour Grapes (A Savannah Reid Mystery #6) for Free Online Page A

heavy case and tan;ling
    her hair in the bag's zipper tab. "Are you glad to ee me? Are you surprised?"
     
    "Very glad, sweetie . . . and surprised." Savannah )laced a kiss on each of her sister's gaunt cheeks and redized
    that she was glad to see her . . . and somewhat
    mazed that she was so glad. The kid was a pain in the
     
    L.1%.." ALA,
    rear end, as Gran had said, but she loved her. She loved 'all of them; how could she not?
    Atlanta released Savannah and turned to give Tammy
    a peck on the cheek. "Hey there. You still workin' for my sister? I figured you would've flown the coop by now, no more than she pays you."
    Tammy received the kiss gracefully and replied with
    a noncommittal grunt. Savannah was grateful, knowing that Tammy held no deep or abiding affection for any
    of her siblings who had appeared on her doorstep. Bringing their own bundles of troubles and idiosyncrasies
    with them, they hadn't exactly made good impressions on Savannah's California friends.
     
    "Let's get you inside," Savannah said, as the driver exited the cab and began to unload the trunk. A frightening amount of luggage was being dumped on the driveway,
    and Savannah started to worry about her impromptu visitor's Estimated Time of Departure. Savannah didn't recall moving in that much clothing
    when she bought the house.
    Picking up as many of the bags as she could handle, she started toward the door, but Atlanta blocked her way. "Oh, yeah . . . there's just one thing." She looked a wee bit embarrassed. "This guy drove me all the way from LAX, and I owe him $145.1 was hoping you'd pay him; I'm a little short on cash, you know, after paying for my airline ticket and all."
    Savannah thought of the meager amount recorded
    in her checkbook ledger.
    Oh well, she didn't neecl electricity or water next month.
    She sighed and trudged to the door, lugging the bags--that must have contained liquid lead--with her. "Let me get my purse," she said, adding under her
     
    U.A. Mclievett
     
    breath, "and let me raid the cookie jar. . . and the piggy bank. . . and my lingerie drawer stash. . . and . . ."
    "Oh, yeah, Savannah," Atlanta called after her with a merry tone that made Savannah consider sister-cide, "my driver's been a super nice guy; be sure to tip him really good, okay?"
     
    Ten minutes later, the three women and the 237 pieces of luggage were inside, and the pouting cabby had been dispatched. The fifty-dollar tip had depressed,
    rather than impressed, him.
    "Gee, Savannah, you're getting cheap in your old age," Atlanta told her as she helped herself to a bottle 3f Tammy's diet herb tea in the refrigerator. "I mean, that was downright embarrassing, you stiffing him like that."
    Two of Savannah's three remaining nerves snapped. 'Embarrassing? You were humiliated, were you? What if [ hadn't been able to pay him at all? You'd be out there, gashing, waxing, and vacuuming his cab right now, 31ushing up a storm."
    Atlanta plopped down on a chair at the kitchen table
    Ind twisted the top off the bottle, a completely disgrunled look on her face. Tammy sat across from her, pre- :ending to shuffle and sort a stack of papers. Her eyes :winlded; she found the Reid clan an unending source entertainment.
    "Just out of curiosity, why didn't you call me and let ne know you were coming?" Savannah asked. "I could lave picked you up at the airport and saved myself a
    :couple of hundred bucks."
    Atlanta's bottom lip protruded. "I wanted to see your
     
    face when you realized I'd come to visit you. And, now I'm sorry! did, because you didn't seem all that happy to see me."
    Maternal guilt pangs stabbed at Savannah's conscience.
    . . along with some accompanying anger. Why did she always lose with this kid? Whatever she did, it was never enough. She seemed destined to blow it somehow.
     
    "To be honest, 'Lartta," she said, walking over and laying her hands on the girl's shoulders, "I was worried to see how much weight you've lost."
    Atlanta beamed. "I know! Are you