Page 4 of Secrets on Sapphire

Cabernet Sauvignon

Parker Lewis was an intoxicating beauty. She had shoulder length, curly red hair, dark eyebrows that were as thick as caterpillars and light freckles sprinkled across her cheeks. Parker was petite and had some of the most unique features anyone had ever seen. Her pale, yet oddly warming, hazel eyes were ones rarely found. Her eyes were the ones that had met with a pair of piercing blues the night she moved in.

She had not wanted to make a stir; she had not wanted to cause questions to be asked or to become the center of housewife gossip. All Parker wanted was to move in to her new home quietly and peacefully. However, there was something in those blue eyes that had watched her. Curiosity. Wonder. Deceit. Fear. The woman must have been Brielle, Parker had thought as she continued unpacking her things.

No sooner had Parker been thinking about Brielle, when the woman herself began walking up her driveway. Parker answered the door before Brielle could knock. The two stared at each other with almost the same intensity as they had the night Parker moved in. As Parker stared into Brielle’s eyes, she couldn’t help but notice how riveting they were. However, she could see past their bright beautyand could see they held a dark secret.

After a few seconds of standing before one another, Brielle finally shattered the glass and spoke up. “Hi. I’m Brielle. I live just down the street.” Brielle lifted a basket of baked goods Parker had not noticed grasped by her pale, thin fingertips.

Parker placed a believable smile on her face and reached out for the basket. “Thank you! You know, you didn’t have to bring over anything.” Parker placed the basket down by her feet and stuck her hand out to shake Brielle’s. “I’m Parker.” The two women shook hands and both felt an odd shiver dash through their arms.

“Come on in.” Parker ushered Brielle through the door as she picked up the basket from the floor to put in her kitchen.

As Brielle walked through the home toward the kitchen, she was reminded of all the good times she had had in this house when Sarah lived here. “You have a lovely home Parker.”

“Thank you. Did you know the previous owners?” Parker placed the basket on her kitchen table and then grabbed two wine glasses out of an unpacked box.

Parker’s back was still toward Brielle as she answered with a simple yes. Brielle wasn’t sure why she thought the question was odd, but something had seemed off with the way Parker had uttered the otherwise normal words.

“Well, was the home just as lovely when they lived here?” Parker turned around after rinsing out the glasses and placed an empty glass in front of Brielle.

“I mean, yes. I guess what I should have said was ‘I love what you’ve done with the place so far.’” Brielle pursed her lips after responding to Parker’s blunt statement.

Parker smiled and turned back around reaching for two bottles of wine. “Red or white?”

“Surprise me.” Brielle watched Parker place the white wine back in her wine stand and uncork the red. As Parker poured the red blend in both of their glistening glasses, Brielle couldn’t help but notice an intensity to her face. The intensity felt quite familiar, as if she had seen the look before. However, she could not place it before Parker filled the glasses and looked up at her.

“I hope you like red! It’s one of my absolute faves. I just love how the warmth slides down your throat like a fresh load of cum.” Parker laughed at the statement that just passed through her lips, waiting for a reaction from her neighbor.

Brielle grinned. She thought the joke was funny, but she was taken aback by how similar Parker’s quips were to a friend she had once known. A friend she had murdered. The thought kept her from laughing, but she hoped her grin was believable enough to not bring any attention to the dark thoughts swimming around in her head.

“Well, I thought it was funny.” Parker took a sip of her wine and closed her eyes, obviously enjoying the warmth of the first sip of red liquid traveling down her throat. “So, tell me Brielle, how many of the bitches in this neighborhood do we like?”

“I was actually coming over to invite you to join our book club.” Brielle began reaching in her dress pocket for the black envelope she had placed there prior to walking over.

“And here I was thinking you were just bringing me a basket of goodies.” Parker said in her sweet southern twang as she took another long sip from her glass.

Brielle let out a single gasp of a laugh as if someone had pushed on her stomach a little too hard. “I mean, the basket was to welcome you to the neighborhood. The invitation is to welcome you to our group . . . that is if you would like to be a part of it?”

“Well sure! I’m assuming this is your way of answering my question about which ladies I should be trusting?” Parker took the envelope out of Brielle’s hand and tore it open as nicely as she could.

Brielle watched Parker as she read the invitation, her lips slowly mouthing the words strewn across the paper. The left corner of Parker’s lips raised as her left eyebrow followed the same motion. “You, Sammy, Taylor, and Harley huh? This group of ladies is my welcome committee and will be my new friends?”

“If you’d like . . . and also a woman named Edie. She just moved into the house in the middle of the cul-de-sac. She got an invitation as well.”

Parker took another large sip from her glass. “Oh. She moved into the murder house.” Parker’s eyes sparkled.

Brielle coughed, before letting out a quiet “excuse me?”

“Well it was all over the news! You live here, is this new to you?” Parker shook her head, wondering why Brielle appeared lost in bewilderment. “Oh goodness. Calista? Calista Cavanaugh? She went missing. Everyone assumed her husband, Tim, had something to do with it.” Parker again took a swig from her glass. “The cops believed it so much, they took him in! Are you really not aware of any of this?”

“No . . . I mean, yes. It’s just I haven’t really thought about it. I . . . uhm . . . I have to go. I hope to see you at the book club meeting.” Visibly shaken, Brielle got up, smoothed the skirt of her dress with nervous hands and saw herself out.

Parker simply smiled and grabbed Brielle’s untouched wine glass, finishing the contents in one large gulp.

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