Read Online Bolted by Meg Benjamin - Free Book Online

holding. Greta nodded and turned back to the counter.
    “You going back to your hole?” Alice asked him, tearing into another bite of muffin.
    He nodded. “If Greta can give me a ride. I left my truck there.”
    Alice shrugged. “I’ll give you a ride—I need to go to Promise Harbor for supplies. What about that sorry excuse for an intern?”
    Hank sighed. His intern was a constant trial. “I left a couple of voice mails for him. If he doesn’t show up again today, I’ll call his advisor.”
    Greta frowned. “Advisor?”
    “Professor Mitchell works at Broadhurst College,” Hyacinth recited. “He’s associate professor of arthropology.” She gave him a glistening smile.
    “Archaeology/anthropology,” he corrected gently. “Thank you, Hyacinth.”
    “Not arthropology?” Her smile dimmed.
    “No. But that would be sort of cool. Arthropods are invertebrates. I guess then I’d be a professor of bugs.”
    “That would be cool.” Hyacinth’s expression turned thoughtful. “Can I come along, Grandma?”
    “All right, but everyone needs to get moving.” Alice pushed herself to her feet.
    Hank considered shaving so that he could wait around for Greta. Forget it. Time to slow this whole thing down a little. He really did have to get back to the dig, and waiting around for Greta might lead to more time-consuming activities. “Okay, let me get my hat and I’ll join you.”
    Greta gave him another sunny smile. “See you at lunchtime. Don’t work too hard.”
    He grinned back without really meaning to. The woman was infectious. “I never do. See you.”
    Only after he’d walked out the door did it occur to him that he’d just left Greta alone with Nadia. Which might or might not be a good idea.
     
     
    Greta studied Nadia from the corner of her eye as she piled the dishes in the sink. She didn’t look like she was ready to commit mayhem, but who knew? She was willing to bet that Alice hadn’t been particularly sensitive in her explanation as to why Greta was taking over as cook. She really didn’t want to rub salt into any open wounds.
    Nadia sipped her coffee, staring out the window at the backyard garden. In the morning sunlight, the color of her hair looked even more unreal. Greta wondered if she’d be as gray as Alice without the not-particularly-effective dye job.
    After a moment, Nadia put down her cup and picked up the remaining half of her muffin. “I’m really not angry, you know.” She gave Greta a quick smile over her shoulder. “I’ve been trying to get out of cooking for at least two years, ever since Alice decided it was my job. You’d think two years of canned spaghetti and overdone peas would have convinced her, but she’s always been stubborn.”
    Greta paused, then ran her dishrag around the muffin pan. “You did that on purpose?”
    “Well, of course I did it on purpose.” Nadia frowned. “You don’t think I really enjoyed having my food taste like that, do you?”
    “I didn’t know for sure,” Greta hedged. She stared down at the sink, trying to think of what she should say next.
    As it turned out, however, Nadia didn’t need her reply to keep talking. “Alice thinks I don’t contribute enough to the household, which is bunk, of course. My creams and lotions are doing quite nicely, and I expect a much bigger bump in sales once my website is fully functional.”
    “Creams and lotions?” That at least seemed safe enough as a topic.
    “Indeed.” Nadia swiveled in her chair so that she was facing the sink. “I have a complete line of hand and body lotions. I’m planning on expanding into soaps, too, but that requires either lye or glycerin and I’m not ready to work with either one yet.” She gestured toward the backyard. “I’m growing lots of herbs for the lotions, though, that I could use for the soaps as well. Rose geranium, verbena, lavender, sage and several others like basil that I haven’t done much with so far. Perhaps you might like some of them for