Read Online Granny Apples 05 - Ghost in the Guacamole by Sue Ann Jaffarian - Free Book Online Page B

girl.” Emma smiled at him with understanding, knowing how much Granny often wanted to hug family members and couldn’t.
    Rikki turned to Emma. “I feel like he’s right here.” She gestured close to herself with her hands. “I mean, like right
here
next to me.”
    â€œThat’s because he is, Rikki,” Emma told her. “He’s to your right.”
    Rikki reached out a hand and touched the air to her right, then pulled her hand back as if she’d touched something hot. She swiveled to face Emma. “Wait a minute,” she said, her face turning hard in a flash. “You’re not playing me, are you?”
    Emma shook her head slowly from side to side. “No, Rikki, I’m not.”
    â€œT.J. told me last night to stay away from you. He said you’re a sleazy fake who’s been paid off by my sister.”
    Granny moved forward, her face pinched with anger, her hands on her hips. “Don’t you go calling my Emma a fake or sleazy.”
    Phil straightened and stepped forward, too, standing next to Granny, although he didn’t realize it. “I can assure you that Emma is neither a fake nor sleazy,” he said to Rikki in a firm tone.
    Emma held up a hand toward Phil and Granny to stop them, then said to Rikki in a calm even voice, “T.J. is wrong. I have not been paid off or in any way compensated or bribed to be here today or to tell you certain things. You asked for my help and I’m here to give it.”
    â€œIf this T.J. is so concerned,” asked Phil, “why isn’t he here today for this meeting?”
    Rikki grasped the arms of her chair hard with her hands and looked down at the floor. “Because I didn’t tell him about it.” She looked up, first at Phil, then at Emma. “I knew he was upset after meeting you but we didn’t discuss it after you left because we both had work to do. He told me at dinner that he thought you’d been paid off by Lucy to convince me to sell. He even confronted her about it when he got back to the office.”
    â€œAfter witnessing your sister’s temper yesterday,” Emma said, “I’m sure that didn’t go over well.”
    Rikki shook her head. “To say the least. Isabel called me to say they were fighting about it right in the office, yelling and everything.”
    â€œIsabel is the secretary at Roble Foods?” Emma asked, remembering the name from the day before.
    â€œYes,” Rikki confirmed with a nod. “She said even with the door of Lucy’s office closed, people could hear the fight. She said T.J. then stormed out. At first Isabel thought he might have quit or Lucy fired him. She wasn’t sure, but thought I should know.” A pause, then a confused smile. “It felt almost like Isabel was relishing telling me this. She usually doesn’t even acknowledge my existence.”
    â€œDid either of those things happen?” asked Phil.
    â€œNo, but after Isabel’s call I half expected Lucy to call me and give me an earful, but she didn’t. A bit later I called her both at the office and on her cell, but never reached her. I left several voice mails for her to call me, but she never did. I couldn’t reach T.J. either until almost dinnertime. He said he left the office and went for a drive to cool down.”
    â€œYou didn’t work the dinner shift here?” Phil asked.
    â€œOlvera Street isn’t open late so neither are we except on Friday and Saturday nights, which is nice. It gives us and our staff a reasonable family life. Still, I left earlier than usual and went home to wait for T.J. Hector was here to cover things until closing.” Rikki looked at Emma and gave her a sad half smile. “T.J. and Lucy haven’t agreed on this sale thing, but there is one thing they do agree on and that’s that I’m a stupid idiot for bringing you into it.”
    â€œAren’t we getting