Read Online Bombshell by Phyllis DeMarco - Free Book Online

’em.”
    Annalee turned away as Calvin and the tall deputy, whom Sheriff Calaway called Sonny, dragged her attacker into the back of their squad car. As soon as she heard the door slam shut, she lurched behind her car and threw up.
    Calaway rushed to her side, held her hair out of her face, and brought his water canteen to her lips. “It’s all right, sweetie,” he whispered. “Did he hurt you? Did he...”
    Annalee shook her head as she gulped the bitter canteen water. “I’m just scared, is all. He came upon me so fast…”
    “I don’t want you comin’ out here by yourself anymore,” he told her. “Seems the workers are all right, but you never can tell what’s gonna come off those damn riverboats. I’ll bring you here in the morning, and pick you up at night, and if you find yourself alone in the diner, you lock that door until I get here, understand?”
    She shook her head again and tried to protest, but he silenced her with a gentle kiss. “I ain’t gonna take no for an answer, Annalee. I’m not gonna let anything hurt you.”

Chapter Four
    Fifty dollars a day to pay the workers, plus an extra seven dollars to the Brown children to pick weeds, meant work progressed at a rapid pace. At the end of the first week, four men with carpentry skills had reinforced the porch, built a teak pathway from the parking area to the front door, and replaced the exposed pine timbers inside with dark cherrywood.
    By the second week’s end, landscapers had planted a lovely garden near the new outdoor dining deck, and the new industrial-sized stove was installed. Even Sheriff Calaway pitched in and helped in his spare time, once they’d seen to the long-term jailing of the hobo who’d attacked her, though his aversion to spiders kept him away until the webs had been cleared out.
    Once the cost of the new equipment and salaries for the permanent staff were figured into the equation, along with an additional two weeks’ worth of work, Annalee figured she’d spent an additional ten thousand dollars on the venture. Seventeen thousand dollars, all told, on an idea that might just leave her bankrupt in the end.
    But as she stood in the doorway and took a moment to gaze at the workers going about their business, and as Earl and Molly’s children tended to the new garden, Annalee knew it was worth it. No one looked hungry anymore. No one walked around with their bellies growling or with the look of fear in their eyes. Folks looked happy.
    And, best of all, they’d worked for it. With nothing handed to them out of charity, the Browns and all the men and women who helped renovate the Blue Lantern could hold their heads high and know it was their hard work that had brought a diner to life and put food on their own tables.
    One more week , she mused. One more week, and most of these folks will move on. The Blue Lantern will be open to the public...and we’ll find out what kind of business this place will bear.
    But what if there’s no business?
    The screen door opened and slammed shut before Annalee could be pulled from her suddenly fearful thoughts, and even then she nearly screamed with fright when a warm hand caressed a loose lock of platinum blonde hair at the nape of her neck.
    John Calaway laughed, startled by her fright, and wrapped his arms around her. “It’s only me. I didn’t mean to scare you.”
    “My mind’s been elsewhere,” she said with a soft, nerve-wracked laugh. “There’s still so much work to do before we open.”
    “I hope you’re not worried about that hobo comin’ back,” he said in a quiet voice. “I did some checking around and found out he’s wanted in Missouri and Iowa for attemptin’ things with women that oughtn’t ever be attempted. We got him, and he won’t be coming back, sweetie. And any other no-count bum who comes through here thinkin’ he can get frisky with you has got another thing comin’.”
    Annalee slinked her arms up around his broad shoulders and kissed his