Read Online January Thaw (The Murder-By-Month Mysteries) by Jess Lourey - Free Book Online

waiting room.
    Kennie was perched on the edge of a plastic chair looking like she’d just lost the title of Mrs. Minnesota. Mascara ran down her chin, and a stream of snot snaked out of her nose. I speed-walked to her.
    “How is he?”
    Kennie gave me the first honest glance we’d ever exchanged. “You came.”
    “Of course I did. As soon as you called.” Three chairs over, a man threw up into a plastic bag. Across the room, a teenage boy held a bloody towel over his hand. This was a dismal place to spend a Saturday night. “What are you doing here alone?”
    Her shoulders moved the tiniest bit. “Who else would come with me?”
    Her comment pushed me back, like a puff of wind. Surely Kennie had friends, didn’t she? But I couldn’t think of one. Heck, I usually went out of my way to avoid her. The thought humbled. “Where’d it happen?”
    Kennie shrugged and blew her nose into a Hello Kitty handkerchief. I felt bad for it. I imagined it had signed up for glitter and lipgloss, not copious boogers. “Just north of town. It was a routine pull-over. Speeder. Gary got him on the side of the road and called in the license plate number. Ginny was working the call station. She heard the shots over the radio. When she couldn’t get Gary to respond, she sent an ambulance to his location.” She hiccupped.
    “Is it bad?”
    “I haven’t seen him. They won’t let me. The doctor said Gary will make it, but that’s all he could tell me because I’m not family. I’m not anyone’s family!” She blew her nose again. It came out as a sobbing honk. I reached over to the admissions desk and yanked a handful of tissues out of the communal box.
    “Here.” I waited while she blew her nose some more and wiped at the smudged mascara. I grabbed another fistful of clean tissues and waited until her breathing grew regular.
    “ They wouldn’t tell you he was going to be okay if he wasn’t,” I said. I started to pat her back, but it felt odd, so I stopped. “It’s probably just a flesh wound. And I’m sure you have family. Don’t you?” I realized how very little I knew about the mayor of Battle Lake.
    “Aunts and uncles sprinkled around the country, cousins … ” she trailed off.
    “Parents?”
    The pause made me expect the worst. “They live in Florida,” she finally said.
    I exhaled. “Well, that’s family.”
    “We don’t get along. And besides, I meant my own family. A husband and kids. A dog. A garden.”
    The man three chairs over retched into his bag. It seemed like an appropriate reaction. Still, the smell was wafting toward us, so I pulled Kennie to her feet and steered us to the other side of the waiting room. “You don’t even like to garden, and you hate kids. And where did all this come from?”
    She patted her platinum hair. “I don’t know. Gary going into the hospital has brought me closer to my mortality, I guess. What is my legacy on this earth, Mira? What am I leaving behind so people can remember me?”
    I couldn’t assure her that she was going to live for a good long time, because I bet that’s what the man I’d skated over last night had woken up thinking, too, right before he got iced. I scoured my brain for an answer. “I know! Last night, you told me you’re a plant and pet psychologist. You’re helping two of the most important things in the world. That’s a wonderful legacy!”
    “I suppose,” she said glumly.
    “Oh, I’m sure you’re very good at it. I bet people will talk about it long after you’re gone.” Like a truly obnoxious party crasher, I thought, or a particularly rotten smell.
    “Do you really mean it?”
    The hope in her sad eyes squeezed at my heart. “Of course.”
    She sat up straight, her expression immediately cleared. “Wonderful. When do you want me to come over for your plant and pet consultation?”
    My mouth dropped. Had she just played me?
    “Close that piehole, Mira. You don’t know what sort of germs are flying around this place.”