Read Online miss fortune mystery (ff) - bayou bubba by sam cheever - Free Book Online Page B

Number Two,” she quickly clarified. When I nodded she went on. “He told me he’d found it drifting loose in the bayou. I had no reason to doubt him.”
    “Do you know where Lyle was that day, Lena?” Ida Belle’s voice was firm, as if she knew the other woman would resist giving up the information.
    Lena glanced from Ida Belle to me, looking slightly panicked. “I…Lyle didn’t want you to know why he was on Number Two, Ida Belle. And it had nothing to do with Bubba.”
    Ida Belle’s eyes narrowed. “He’s got a still out there doesn’t he?”
    Lena nodded. “I’m sorry. He’s not trying to undercut your business, Ida Belle. I promise. It’s just that we really need the extra money the shine brings in. He sells it outside of Sinful. Mostly.”
    I had a feeling what the qualification was all about. I’d seen the array of bottles behind the counter at the back of the store. “He sold some to Bubba, didn’t he?”
    Lena nodded. “Yes. He did. And I sold some of it here. But only to tourists, Ida Belle. People who came from other cities so we didn’t cut into your market.” She looked so worried about what Ida Belle would think that I felt sorry for her. It was obvious she didn’t mean any harm.
    I touched her arm and she looked my way. Her green gaze sparkled with unshed tears again. “I love my new purse. And your shop is wonderful.”
    She smiled and it transformed her small, pale face. “Thanks, Felicity. Just keep an eye on that tooth pull. If it ever falls off give me a call and I’ll send you a new one.”
    “I’d like to buy a couple more of these purses for my friends back home. Can you show me what you’ve got?”
    “I’d love to.”
     
     
     
     

 
     
     
    CHAPTER NINE
     
    By the time we left Lena’s a half hour later, I could barely walk for all the bags I was carrying. Once I got started I’d had trouble stopping. I bought purses for two of my friends, a smaller shoulder bag for myself, and then couldn’t resist getting one of the pretty straw hats for sunbathing. Then Lena showed me her collection of light cotton sun dresses, handmade and hand beaded by local women, and I was lost.
    Ida Belle opened the door of the truck for me and I climbed in, my bags catching on every conceivable surface before I managed to wrench myself free and fall into the back seat, head first, butt out.
    Lucky me, Gertie was there to give my butt a shove and launch me across the seat. My cheek scraped across the old fabric of the seat and I landed with a grunt on top of the bag with my purses in it. “Thanks a lot, Gertie.”
    She climbed into the front seat as Ida Belle turned the key. “Glad to help.”
    “It was nice of you to buy all that stuff from Lena,” Ida Belle said.
    I shoved myself upright and rubbed my cheek, wondering if it had fabric burn. “I was happy to help her out, but I promise I bought all that stuff because I loved it.”
    Paper crackled in Gertie’s vicinity and she shoved a chunk of dark chocolate fudge into her mouth. “I mph thst fpudch.”
    Ida Belle reached into the bag. “I can see that. Maybe next time you could say it after you swallow or before you take a bite. You sprayed chocolate all over my dash.”
    Winking, Gertie held the bag back to me and I extracted a chunk of the fudge for myself. “This smells delicious.”
    “Lena makes it herself. Her fudge recipe wins blue ribbons almost every year at the state fair,” Gertie said.
    I took a bite and the chocolate creaminess melted over my tongue. Closing my eyes, I moaned in delight. “So good.”
    I spotted the sign for Alligator Bridge and inspiration struck. “Hey. Would you guys mind if we drove back past Lena’s ? I’d like to see if we can figure out where Bubba was going on his bike.”
    Ida Belle yanked the wheel to the right and, slowing only slightly, swung the truck around, spitting up gravel and dust on the side of the road. The elderly truck teetered on two wheels for a beat, suspension