Wall-To-Wall Dead by Jennie Bentley Page B

dead for only a few days, and Melissa didn’t know me from Adam—or Eve. At that point, I had no idea she used to be married to Derek—I hadn’t even met Derek yet—and I also didn’t know she was involved with my distant cousin Ray Stenham, whom I’d always known to be a nasty bit of work. Even without any of that knowledge, she managed to rub me wrong in amazingly short order. It was the way she looked, the way she spoke, the way she looked at me: down the length of her perfect nose, as if I were a grubby teenager with pigtails while she was the lady of the manor.
    She’s taller than me by about five inches. We’re both blond, but while my hair is the aforementioned kinky Mello Yello, Melissa’s is like a sleek cap of spun moonlight. We both have blue eyes, but mine are the chlorinated blue of faded denim while hers are a fabulous Elizabeth Taylor indigo.
    I could go on, but I won’t. And the reason I won’t is that although Melissa used to make me feel insecure, she doesn’t anymore. Now that I’ve heard Derek tell me, repeatedly, that she made him miserable and I’ve made him happy again, and that before he met me, he never considered getting remarried, I can look at her and feel pity for someone stupid enough to throw away the best thing that ever happened to her. In fact, I can even be grateful to her, since her loss—so to speak—is my gain. Derek is the best thing that’s ever happened to me, too.
    I smiled at her. “Hi, Melissa.”
    She stopped. “Hi, Avery. Derek.” There was a purr to her voice when she said his name that was missing when she said mine. My smile turned into a grin.
    “You look lovely, as always.”
    She did. Today’s outfit consisted of a pair of slacks in Melissa’s trademark cream—her Mercedes is that color, too—along with a sapphire blue silk blouse that set off those stunning eyes. She’d paired it with sapphire earrings and—I couldn’t help noticing—the lima-bean-sized diamond engagement ring Tony Micelli had given her. I’d have thought she’d stop wearing that now that Tony had died.
    “Thank you.” She preened. Those fabulous eyes looked me over, from head to toe and back—Tinkerbell hair, plain cotton T-shirt, faded jeans, sneakers; all of it dirty from the day’s labors—and it came as no surprise when she chose not to return the compliment. I guess I should be grateful she didn’t tell me how she really felt. “So what are you two up to?”
    “New project,” Derek said, putting his arm around my shoulders.
    Melissa pouted. It didn’t make
her
look like Tinkerbell. “You bought another house? Without my help?”
    “The owner wanted to avoid involving real estate agents,” I said. “He thinks you’re untrustworthy money-grubbing bottom-feeders.”
    Melissa sniffed. “I’ll have you know we have a strict code of ethics we have to go by—”
    “Avery’s just joking,” Derek said, squeezing my shoulders in warning. “A friend came to us and said his neighbor wanted to sell his condo, quickly and easily. He’d moved to Florida and just wanted it off his hands in a hurry.”
    “Where is it?”
    Derek explained the location of the condo building, and Melissa nodded. “That’s a good spot. And there’s very rarely any turnover there. When will it be ready?”
    Derek glanced at me. I shrugged. “Four weeks,” he said.
    “Wonderful.” Melissa showed all her teeth in a bright smile. She seems to have more than the usual number, brilliantly white. “Would you mind if I stopped by sometime, just to check how you’re getting along and perhaps to give you some input on what buyers are looking for these days?”
    I opened my mouth to tell her to stay away, but Derek got in before me. “Of course, Melissa. We’ll be there most days. Come by whenever you have time.”
    I closed my mouth again.
    “Lovely.” Melissa turned to me. “Avery, dear…I got that sweet little invitation of yours in the mail yesterday.”
    Note the