SLAY PAIRS WITH ROSE (The Kelly's Deli Cozy Murder Mysteries Book 3) by Sophie Brent (phonics reading books .txt) 📕

be free to see other people when I was away. Emma met him by chance, and they became a couple. It was just one of those things.” Maya tried to sound casual and relaxed, but she was a terrible actress and guilt was written all over the face.

“Did you go to their wedding?” Erin asked.

“Emma and Harry’s?” Maya looked up in surprise. “No. I was still in California on an intensive course when they set the date. I couldn’t make it back. I’ve seen them many times since then. There wasn’t any problem.”

“Maya. I want to be honest with you. The way you were kissing Harry in your car just now suggests to me that you still care very deeply about him. Am I right?”

Maya clenched her hands around the glass of water so tightly that Erin was worried that it might crack.

“Harry was my best friend at university before we dated. You don’t get many good friends in life and Harry was one of them. I might have pretended that I was happy for them both, and yes, it was hard at first. I admit it. But I always wanted them to be happy together. Always. They were both my friends and I cared about them. I only ever wanted the best for them. Harry made his choice when he asked Emma to be his wife, and that was how it was going to be.”

“Did you know that Emma had asked Harry for a divorce?”

Maya replied with a quick nod of her head. “Emma told me at the hen night dinner. It came as a complete shock. Emma was always bragging about how wonderful their relationship was and how kind and generous Harry had been. It was all lies, I know that now.”

“That’s what I don’t understand,” Erin whispered. “Why did she agree to help Fiona arrange her wedding, when her own marriage was in turmoil?”

“Turmoil?” Maya coughed. “There was no turmoil. Emma threw Harry out of the house which had already been transferred into her name and told him that she was bored with him. It’s little wonder that Harry is so bitter about how he has been treated. Why do you think Emma was working as an accounts clerk? She wanted to be sure that she would be awarded a very generous settlement in the divorce hearing. It was always about the money, even from the start.”

“What do you mean,” Erin asked. “I’m sorry but I don’t understand.”

“Don’t you get it? Harry is a self-made millionaire, but his wife had to work a low-wage job to pay the bills. How about that for a sob story? She was always such an expert at playing the innocent victim.”

“So that’s why she did it! I did wonder. How very devious.” Erin whispered.

“That was Emma. Always scheming. Always coming up with clever plans.”

Maya’s voice was so cold and hard-edged that it took Erin by surprise for a moment.

She leaned closer to Maya and focused on her face.

“There is something you should know. I will never get over finding Emma like that.  Right now, I am trying to understand what happened on the day she died. Will you help? I found out earlier today that Emma lashed out at you at the girls’ dinner on Friday evening.  Why couldn’t you talk about how badly she treated you?  Please, I really want to know more.”

Maya looked up once, but her gaze instantly focused back down on her hands, now twisted around a piece of sodden tissue.

“What difference does it make?  I mean, the other girls didn’t say anything, so I just went along with them, until Rebecca spoke up.  Fiona still won’t talk to me about it, but her mother has been kind to me.  It’s just that….  It is so hard. Emma was our friend, but so is Harry.”

“Maya.  Look at me.  Help me to understand. Perhaps I can help you to get through this?”

Maya stared hard into Erin’s face for a second before jumping to her feet and pacing up and down the hotel room carpet.

“I haven’t had a day’s happiness since Emma married Harry and she knew it. Do you have any idea what it’s like when my so-called friends ridicule me behind my back?  Emma has been laughing at me for years. I wasn’t a bit surprised when she stuck the knife in when she had the chance. That was the woman she had become. Devious, bitter and cruel. Do you know what she said to me when the fire alarm went off? Do you? No. How could you? You weren’t there that night.”

Maya turned and looked out of the bedroom window at the stunning formal gardens. “I was standing with the other girls on the lawn outside the hotel when Emma grabbed my arm. She was still drunk, but it didn’t make any difference. She couldn’t wait to tell me that she had never been in love with Harry. The whole affair was set-up to make sure that I couldn’t have him or his family money. Now she was ready to move on to something better so I could have him back. Two losers together.”

Maya’s head dropped and Erin could see the tears in her eyes, but she slowly lifted her chin. “Emma stole my chance of happiness out of greed and jealousy. The world is a better place without Emma in it. And it hurts more than I can tell you to say it, but it’s true.”

Erin sat back in her chair and focused her gaze on the table in silence.

Maya stopped pacing and grabbed hold of the back of the chair, her knuckles white with the pressure and her lower jaw locked with tension. “There is something that I haven’t told anyone. Harry called me just before the dinner and told me that he was on his way to Kingmede,