Read Online Absolutely, Positively by Jayne Ann Krentz - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Jayne Ann Krentz
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date—”
A thundering crash interrupted Tessa's question.
Molly spun around to gaze at the closed door of her office. “Oh, no, not again.”
She rushed forward and threw open the door. Her sister, Kelsey, looked up from the wreckage of her latest prototype device, a gadget designed to dispense ground spice. Molly could barely see her through the cloud of powdery sage.
“What happened?” Molly demanded.
“There was a small problem with the design,” Kelsey gasped. “Cover your nose, quick.”
It was too late. Sage wafted through the air. Molly started to sneeze. Tears formed in her eyes. She hurried into her office and slammed the door shut behind her to prevent the spice from getting into the outer shop. She seized a tissue from the box on her desk and breathed through it while she waited for the finely ground sage to settle.
“Sorry about this.” Kelsey sneezed into a tissue. “I was real close this time. Next time for sure.”
Molly had heard those words a thousand times over the years. Her father and her uncle, Julius, had both used them like a litany.I was real close this time. Next time for sure . Molly had considered inscribing those words over the door of the Abberwick mansion as a sort of family motto.
The thing was, with an Abberwick, those infamous words occasionally proved true.
“Situation normal,” Molly muttered. She sneezed again. Her eyes watered. She sniffed loudly and yanked more tissue from the box.
Kelsey wiped her own eyes and gave Molly an apologetic smile. The perfect grin revealed the results of several thousand dollars' worth of orthodontia, which Molly had sprung for a few years earlier. Molly briefly admired her investment. The family had not been able to afford such luxuries when she had been in her teens. The result was that Molly had two slightly crooked front teeth.
“You okay?” Kelsey asked.
“This will certainly clear my sinuses for the next six months.” Molly brushed sage powder off her chair and sat down. She gave the spice dispenser device a brief glance.
The machine was composed of a series of plastic tubes and levers designed to control the release of dried and ground spice. The small motor that powered the dispenser lay in smoking ruins on the corner of the desk.
“What went wrong?” Molly asked.
Kelsey bent over the wreckage with the air of a police pathologist examining a dead body. “I think the ground sage somehow got sucked into the motor and clogged it.”
“I see.” There was no point getting upset over this sort of thing, and Molly knew it. Failed experiments were a way of life for Abberwicks. She leaned back in her chair and studied her sister with a mixture of affection and resignation.
Kelsey had definitely inherited the family genius and a talent for tinkering. She had been fiddling with things since she was five. From her dollhouses to her bicycles, nothing was safe. Molly still shuddered whenever she recalled the day she walked into Kelsey's room and found her little sister with a light bulb, an extension cord, and a pair of pliers. Kelsey had intended to turn her toy oven into a real, working model.
Although Kelsey had gotten the Abberwick curiosity and a flair for invention from her father, she had received her blue eyes and coppery red hair from her mother. She had also been blessed with Samantha Abberwick's fine cheek-bones and delicate jaw. The orthodontia had provided the pièce de résistance. Molly wished her mother had lived to see just how lovely her youngest daughter had become.
She also wished that her absentminded father had not been so preoccupied with his endless plans and schemes that he had failed to notice Kelsey following in his footsteps.
It had been up to Molly to try to fill in for both missing parents. She had done her best, but she knew a part of her would always fear that she had not done enough or done it right. She could only give thanks that Kelsey did not seem to mind her lack of
A thundering crash interrupted Tessa's question.
Molly spun around to gaze at the closed door of her office. “Oh, no, not again.”
She rushed forward and threw open the door. Her sister, Kelsey, looked up from the wreckage of her latest prototype device, a gadget designed to dispense ground spice. Molly could barely see her through the cloud of powdery sage.
“What happened?” Molly demanded.
“There was a small problem with the design,” Kelsey gasped. “Cover your nose, quick.”
It was too late. Sage wafted through the air. Molly started to sneeze. Tears formed in her eyes. She hurried into her office and slammed the door shut behind her to prevent the spice from getting into the outer shop. She seized a tissue from the box on her desk and breathed through it while she waited for the finely ground sage to settle.
“Sorry about this.” Kelsey sneezed into a tissue. “I was real close this time. Next time for sure.”
Molly had heard those words a thousand times over the years. Her father and her uncle, Julius, had both used them like a litany.I was real close this time. Next time for sure . Molly had considered inscribing those words over the door of the Abberwick mansion as a sort of family motto.
The thing was, with an Abberwick, those infamous words occasionally proved true.
“Situation normal,” Molly muttered. She sneezed again. Her eyes watered. She sniffed loudly and yanked more tissue from the box.
Kelsey wiped her own eyes and gave Molly an apologetic smile. The perfect grin revealed the results of several thousand dollars' worth of orthodontia, which Molly had sprung for a few years earlier. Molly briefly admired her investment. The family had not been able to afford such luxuries when she had been in her teens. The result was that Molly had two slightly crooked front teeth.
“You okay?” Kelsey asked.
“This will certainly clear my sinuses for the next six months.” Molly brushed sage powder off her chair and sat down. She gave the spice dispenser device a brief glance.
The machine was composed of a series of plastic tubes and levers designed to control the release of dried and ground spice. The small motor that powered the dispenser lay in smoking ruins on the corner of the desk.
“What went wrong?” Molly asked.
Kelsey bent over the wreckage with the air of a police pathologist examining a dead body. “I think the ground sage somehow got sucked into the motor and clogged it.”
“I see.” There was no point getting upset over this sort of thing, and Molly knew it. Failed experiments were a way of life for Abberwicks. She leaned back in her chair and studied her sister with a mixture of affection and resignation.
Kelsey had definitely inherited the family genius and a talent for tinkering. She had been fiddling with things since she was five. From her dollhouses to her bicycles, nothing was safe. Molly still shuddered whenever she recalled the day she walked into Kelsey's room and found her little sister with a light bulb, an extension cord, and a pair of pliers. Kelsey had intended to turn her toy oven into a real, working model.
Although Kelsey had gotten the Abberwick curiosity and a flair for invention from her father, she had received her blue eyes and coppery red hair from her mother. She had also been blessed with Samantha Abberwick's fine cheek-bones and delicate jaw. The orthodontia had provided the pièce de résistance. Molly wished her mother had lived to see just how lovely her youngest daughter had become.
She also wished that her absentminded father had not been so preoccupied with his endless plans and schemes that he had failed to notice Kelsey following in his footsteps.
It had been up to Molly to try to fill in for both missing parents. She had done her best, but she knew a part of her would always fear that she had not done enough or done it right. She could only give thanks that Kelsey did not seem to mind her lack of
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