This Strange Addiction by Julie Steimle (e book free reading .txt) 📕

Selena still could not place when they had met. It was in her eyes. “Really? How many years back? Did we meet while skiing?”

Audry shook her head. “No. It was on my final day of research. I was leaving, and you had just arrived.” With a meaningful gaze, she added, “It was the same day I first met our mutual friend, Matthew. He was there with all his friends as well.”

Immediately it dawned on her. Selena pulled back, blinking her long eyelashes. Her sea green eyes seemed to churn like ocean waves, colors almost changing. “That was you?”

Nodding, Audry was glad Selena remembered.

“Oh…” Selena then stared into space. “That explains a lot.” She glanced once more at Audry and nodded, smiling more genuinely now. In a way, Selena looked a little less put upon in her favor to Rick and the others for letting Audry stay at her apartment. Frankly, Selena allowed Audry to stay at her place because Rick had begged and Selena honestly had a soft spot for him.

“So, you are old acquaintances?” her grandfather asked.

Selena slowly nodded. “Yeah. She’s a friend of another friend also. But that was so long ago.”

“What kind of research do you do?” Mrs. Davenport asked, still eyeing Audry as if Selena had brought a stray dog into her house.

“I am a Zoology Major. I am currently working on my PhD in Animal Conservation,” Audry said.

Both elderly Davenports groaned softly. They exchanged looks.

Mrs. Davenport walked to her seat, having enough of the chit-chat. Her husband followed her and pulled the chair out so she could slide in. She muttered, “Bloody animal conservation. She might as well marry into the Deacon family.”

Audry colored, as it seemed that even people who didn’t like her were shipping Breacon.

Selena saw, but did not quite understand why Audry was blushing. She read into the insult, but not the significance it actually had on Audry herself. “Grandma! Really.”

Mr. Davenport silently pulled out a chair for himself. One of the kitchen helpers drew one out for Selena and then another for Audry for them to sit. It was too formal, but Audry knew the drill. It was how it was at her grandfather’s place also—same dog and pony show.

Once all of them were sitting, the staff brought out the first course, and conversation started. First came the soup.

Audry stared at it. It was a broth. As a vegan, broths were dangerous as most broths are made from bone stock. So she said, “Um, can I ask what soup this is?”

“French onion,” Mrs. Davenport said, picking up the spoon.

As person interested in vegan recipes, Audry paled. She didn’t want to be rude, but she knew beef broth was used in French onion soup. She glanced to Selena and cleared her throat. “Um… I’m sorry. I won’t be having any.”

“What? Are you allergic?” Mrs. Davenport asked rather flippantly, smirking at her. Her disdain was obvious.

Selena peeked once to Audry, wondering about that.

“No,” Audry said. “Um, I’m vegan. I don’t eat meat or anything derived from meat.”

“It’s French onion soup,” Mrs. Davenport said irritably. Clearly she didn’t like Audry at all. The hippyness of her relatives and her work in animal preservation seem to be insult enough. They were the same as Rick’s grandparents.

“Which contains beef broth,” Audry explained.

They halted, staring at her.

The kitchen staff worker smirked, wordlessly heading back in to the kitchen.

Mr. Davenport feigned a smile, pretending kindness. “Well, then, I suppose you will have to fill up on the salad.”

Selena rolled her eyes.

“Are you allergic to anything else?” Mrs. Davenport asked tersely.

Audry refrained from huffing. She was a guest for dinner,, And though the couple who had allowed her to eat with them were being rude, it was their home.

“It’s not an allergy,” Audry said. “It is a life choice. I am against the harming of living things.”

They stared at her. Even Selena. But she looked amused. Was she going to spout the same arguments as Rick did about that? He was obnoxious when he got started.

But they all changed the subject. “So… Selena, how is your new teaching position? I heard you left the school in Vermont and are now in a permanent position somewhere in New York City. It’s funny that I have to get this information from your friend Deborah Wincott, but there it is.”

Merely raising her eyebrows, Selena replied, “Well—”

“I’m here!” A bright cheery voice announced. The sharp click of heels sounded on the dining room floor.

Audry looked, as did everyone else. A leggy woman dressed in crisp clean Dior and Prada strode in on her tall heels. In her forties and clearly Selena’s mother, she was like Selena in that they were the same height and physique, but the rest was completely different. This woman had wavy blonde hair, perfectly styled like a catalogue picture, bright blue eyes and peachy skin. She radiated childishness in that she did not seem to have a care in the world, but she strutted in as if she relished showing off her curves. The woman promptly pecked Mrs. Davenport on the cheek and pulled up the seat next to her.

“I hope you were not waiting too long.” She plucked up her napkin and laid it onto her lap. Then her eyes rested on Audry. In one judgmental blink, she stared at Audry’s tee shirt, then her eyes lifted to Audry’s thick bushy brown hair. Then she turned her eyes onto Selena who was gazing dryly at her. “Oh, don’t look at me that way. And who is this? Someone you are mentoring?”

Blinking another dry glance at her mother, Selena then said to Audry, “Audry, this is my mother—Elsa-Rochelle Davenport. Mom—”

“Darling,” Ms. Davenport said, patting the table with mild irritation, “I told you to call me Elsa, not Mom. Mom is so aging.”

Selena rolled her eyes. “This is Audry Bruchenhaus, a friend of a friend.”

“Really dear? What friend?” Her mother asked, a sneer barely masked in her voice.

“Matthew Calamori,” Audry said. “He’s a good friend of another friend of ours— Jessica Cartwright, once Mason.”

Selena blinked at her. “You know Jessica too?”

Audry nodded. “Yes. Of course. Jessica and Matthew were working together in New York when I first met her. I had met Matthew already, but I became friends with Jessica later that year. She sort of helped me out with an ex-boyfriend problem I was having. We’re still good friends. I just saw her last week.”

“Ex-boyfriend?” Elsa Davenport asked, sounding surprised Audry would even attract a boyfriend.

“Stalker,” Audry clarified, restraining the urge to snap at the woman. A fiercely competitive aura seemed to radiate from that snotty woman—like she was jealous of any woman who drew attention away from herself. It was almost wicked queen level for a snow white—only this woman was no queen. She was the female equivalent to a player, what people once called a slut. But it was rude to think such a thing next to Selena who despite being a debutante, was dignified and well-mannered.

But the grandparents seemed to perk up, interested at Audry’s words.

“Really?” Selena blinked at her curiously. “How come you didn’t come to the wedding then?”

“I got an invitation,” Audry said sheepishly. “But I already had plans for a research and rescue trip in Africa. It was really bad timing for me, but I did send a gift.”

Selena chuckled a little. But then she nodded. “Yeah… I remember Jessica saying something about one of her bridesmaids being in Africa. That was you?”

Audry nodded, smiling.

“You sent her the soymilk maker.” This time Selena was grinning.

Nodding again, Audry grinned back.

Elsa cleared her throat. “How fascinating. Have I ever met your friend Jessica, darling?”

Glancing to her, Selena replied, “No, Mom. You’ve never had the opportunity.”

Her mother’s smirk seemed to curl as she inquired, just as her soup was brought out, “And what kind of person is this friend of yours?”

With a glanced to Audry, Selena said, “A police detective.”

All the Davenports stared.

“A what?” her mother asked.

“And how did you meet this police detective?” her grandfather asked.

Lifting up her hands, Selena said, “Calm down. I met Jessica Mason when she was still in high school. It was at the Vermont school—”

“Oh…” Once more her grandparents nodded, relieved.

Audry gazed at Selena, having not known this. She had thought Jessica had gone to high school in Massachusetts.

“It was for a brief while in summer,” Selena explained for Audry’s benefit.

Oh. It was probably a summer camp.

“Do we know her family?” Mr. Davenport asked, listening curiously.

Around then the staff brought out the salad and the soup was removed. Audry noticed there was bacon sprinkled on the salad, and there were chicken chunks inside it. She massaged her forehead, glancing once at the staff server who had brought it out. She whispered, “Can I get one without any meat on it?”

“What’s that?” Elsa perked up, hearing Audry.

“No, Grandpa. We don’t know the Mason family,” Selena answered him. She then winked at Audry. “Her father is currently in prison.”

They all stiffened.

“He’s a performing magician,” Selena continued, picking up her salad fork, “who also is a burglar. But her mother is a highly skilled translator of foreign languages who is employed to write contracts…” she stabbed up some lettuce and cranberry chunks, holding it in front of her mouth, “…for Deacon Enterprises.” Then she put the salad into her mouth, chewing contentedly.

The temperature in the room seemed to drop. And the silence went to deafening.

“You made friends with—”

“Someone who is a friend of a friend of mine?” Selena said once she swallowed her bit of salad. “Why, yes. Of course I did. And for that matter Jessica married his best friend.”

Selena’s grandparents practically bristled like angry porcupines. If they had quills they would have stuck out sharply.

“What?!”

“Andrew Cartwright,” Selena said, matter-of-factly. She then smiled at Audry. “You’ve met him, right?”

Blinking at her, wondering why Selena was purposefully antagonizing her grandparents as they had just agreed that things related to Rick Deacon along with Tom Brown were taboo topics, Audry dumbly nodded. “Yeah, of course. I met Andrew right after I came back from Africa. You know Jessica’s pregnant now. They’re going to have a baby.”

This time Selena blinked at her. “Really? And Rick didn’t say anything about it.”

Audry shrugged, peeking to Selena’s stunned family. “I’m sure he had other things on his mind.”

“Wait.” Mrs. Davenport rose from her seat. She stared directly at Audry. “You know Howard Richard Deacon the Third?”

Audry peeked to Selena who cringed a little, finally remembering their supposed secret. But Selena nodded to Audry, giving permission to admit the truth. “Uh, yes. We are sort of passing acquaintances. We tend to bump into each other at environmentalist conferences, and I did my Master’s research on some of the Deacon family’s land.”

The Richardsons paled. Elsa didn’t, though. She seemed oblivious, munching away on her salad. The grandparents looked to Selena as the grandmother said with care, “Darling, is there anything else you failed to tell us about your guest?”

“Oh, calm down,” Selena said with surprising influence in her voice. Everyone in the room seemed to relax on command, including Audry, though she found it odd. “Audry is just an innocent soul who had stumbled into a few ghoulies.”

“YOU ARE NOT TO USE THAT WORD IN THIS HOUSE!” her grandmother shrieked, her face going abruptly white.

Selena rolled her eyes.

But Audry leaned back, shaking. What was wrong with these people?

The servers soon took away the salad. Audry had been unable to eat any. And they brought out the main dish—chicken cacciatore. Staring at the piece of dead bird meat, Audry moaned.

“What? Are you not hungry?” Elsa said, smirking as she took up her knife and fork for the new course.

“I’m a vegan,” Audry said to her, trying to stay out of the argument.

“There is nothing wrong with the word ghouli—” Selena finally said, plucking up her newest fork.

“A vegan?” Elsa nodded approvingly. “I wanted to try that. I hear it’s really good for the skin. What’s your take?”

“EVERYTHING about that word is wrong!” Mrs. Richardson