Read Online An Ex to Grind in Deadwood (Deadwood Humorous Mystery Book 5) Paperback – September 4, 2014 by Ann Charles - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Ann Charles
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me.
I threw my phone down on the bed and flopped back on my pillows. Conversations with Cornelius had a way of leaving me feeling like I was dangling upside-down from a tree limb.
A door slammed out in the hall. Seconds later, the yelling began.
“Dang kids!” I hopped out of bed, stomping out into the hallway to blow my whistle and play referee.
Twenty minutes and two timeouts later, Addy and Layne marched down the stairs in front of me, heads lowered in pouts.
“The kitchen. Now!” I said when we reached the bottom step, in case one of them thought they could make a break for it.
Happiness awaited me in Aunt Zoe’s lemon colored kitchen in the form of caffeine and carbohydrates. Old man Harvey stood at the griddle watching pancakes bubble while Aunt Zoe poured two cups of coffee.
“Good morning,” she said, setting one of the cups down in front of me. She pulled a plateful of pancakes out of the oven and placed it in the middle of the table. “Has the storm passed?”
“What storm?” Addy asked, sliding two pancakes onto her plate.
“The one causing all of the thunder upstairs.”
“Duh, Addy,” Layne said, his mouth full.
Harvey flicked Layne’s ear. “Didn’t you learn anything this mornin’, boy? Don’t mess with girls before they’ve had their feed. The only thing ornerier than a sore-toothed grizzly bear is a hungry woman.”
“Bite your tongue, old man.” I hit the buzzard with a mock glare since I didn’t have a wooden spoon handy. “You’re outnumbered by hungry women this morning.”
He grabbed two pancakes and dropped them on the plate in front of me, tossing three pieces of bacon on top. “Eat.”
“I can’t put all of this away.”
“Cut the crap, girl. Doc isn’t here, so you can fill your gullet. Besides, you’re gonna need a full stomach to face off with my nephew this mornin’.”
Detective Cooper had called last night while I was washing dinner dishes and ordered me to be in his office first thing this morning. As he’d warned back at the Galena House, he had more questions for me. My flat out NO! was met with a slew of cursing. After we’d traded a few terse insults, I’d proposed his interrogation take place at an offsite location, aka his house. I’d also insisted on Harvey coming with me since he’d been standing right there next to me in that apartment when we’d found Ms. Wolff. Cooper agreed, saying he could kill two birds with one stone that way. As high strung as he was these days, I hoped he was using a turn of phrase and didn’t plan on aiming his loaded, authentic Colt .45 bedside lamp in my direction.
“Why are you going to see Detective Cooper?” Layne asked in between slurps of orange juice. “Is this about that foot I found in the tree last summer?”
“No.” I wasn’t sure I ever wanted to find out why there’d been a bare foot with mistletoe stapled to it hanging from a tree on the hill behind Aunt Zoe’s house. Nor did I want to think about it while eating bacon. “It’s about something else.”
Layne was an ace gumshoe who couldn’t be distracted with a handful of candy like his sister. A few weeks ago, he’d brought home a library book on the art of spotting clues that a person was lying. Ever since, I’d had to be on my game when he drilled me with questions ranging from if I’d hidden the superglue from him again to how long I planned to keep dating Doc. He hadn’t been happy with either answer, even though I’d told the truth.
“Kelly’s dad wants us to come over for pizza tomorrow night,” Addy said.
“You and Layne can go if you promise to listen to whatever Jeff tells you to do.”
“He wants you to come, too, Mother dear.”
“I don’t want to go,” Layne said. “He just wants to make Mom his girlfriend.”
“That’s a good thing,” Addy said.
“I already have a boyfriend, Adelynn. How many times do we need to go over this?”
“Why can’t you have two boyfriends?”
Harvey snickered.
I threw my phone down on the bed and flopped back on my pillows. Conversations with Cornelius had a way of leaving me feeling like I was dangling upside-down from a tree limb.
A door slammed out in the hall. Seconds later, the yelling began.
“Dang kids!” I hopped out of bed, stomping out into the hallway to blow my whistle and play referee.
Twenty minutes and two timeouts later, Addy and Layne marched down the stairs in front of me, heads lowered in pouts.
“The kitchen. Now!” I said when we reached the bottom step, in case one of them thought they could make a break for it.
Happiness awaited me in Aunt Zoe’s lemon colored kitchen in the form of caffeine and carbohydrates. Old man Harvey stood at the griddle watching pancakes bubble while Aunt Zoe poured two cups of coffee.
“Good morning,” she said, setting one of the cups down in front of me. She pulled a plateful of pancakes out of the oven and placed it in the middle of the table. “Has the storm passed?”
“What storm?” Addy asked, sliding two pancakes onto her plate.
“The one causing all of the thunder upstairs.”
“Duh, Addy,” Layne said, his mouth full.
Harvey flicked Layne’s ear. “Didn’t you learn anything this mornin’, boy? Don’t mess with girls before they’ve had their feed. The only thing ornerier than a sore-toothed grizzly bear is a hungry woman.”
“Bite your tongue, old man.” I hit the buzzard with a mock glare since I didn’t have a wooden spoon handy. “You’re outnumbered by hungry women this morning.”
He grabbed two pancakes and dropped them on the plate in front of me, tossing three pieces of bacon on top. “Eat.”
“I can’t put all of this away.”
“Cut the crap, girl. Doc isn’t here, so you can fill your gullet. Besides, you’re gonna need a full stomach to face off with my nephew this mornin’.”
Detective Cooper had called last night while I was washing dinner dishes and ordered me to be in his office first thing this morning. As he’d warned back at the Galena House, he had more questions for me. My flat out NO! was met with a slew of cursing. After we’d traded a few terse insults, I’d proposed his interrogation take place at an offsite location, aka his house. I’d also insisted on Harvey coming with me since he’d been standing right there next to me in that apartment when we’d found Ms. Wolff. Cooper agreed, saying he could kill two birds with one stone that way. As high strung as he was these days, I hoped he was using a turn of phrase and didn’t plan on aiming his loaded, authentic Colt .45 bedside lamp in my direction.
“Why are you going to see Detective Cooper?” Layne asked in between slurps of orange juice. “Is this about that foot I found in the tree last summer?”
“No.” I wasn’t sure I ever wanted to find out why there’d been a bare foot with mistletoe stapled to it hanging from a tree on the hill behind Aunt Zoe’s house. Nor did I want to think about it while eating bacon. “It’s about something else.”
Layne was an ace gumshoe who couldn’t be distracted with a handful of candy like his sister. A few weeks ago, he’d brought home a library book on the art of spotting clues that a person was lying. Ever since, I’d had to be on my game when he drilled me with questions ranging from if I’d hidden the superglue from him again to how long I planned to keep dating Doc. He hadn’t been happy with either answer, even though I’d told the truth.
“Kelly’s dad wants us to come over for pizza tomorrow night,” Addy said.
“You and Layne can go if you promise to listen to whatever Jeff tells you to do.”
“He wants you to come, too, Mother dear.”
“I don’t want to go,” Layne said. “He just wants to make Mom his girlfriend.”
“That’s a good thing,” Addy said.
“I already have a boyfriend, Adelynn. How many times do we need to go over this?”
“Why can’t you have two boyfriends?”
Harvey snickered.
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