Read Online Pepperoni Pizza Can Be Murder by Chris Cavender - Free Book Online

you’re up to it,” I said.
    “Are you kidding? I wouldn’t miss a shift for the world.”
    After he was gone, Josh came back out front. “Maddy said I should relieve you out here so you can go back to the kitchen.”
    “You’ve got the dining room,” I said as I walked back to join my sister.
    “What’s up?” I asked as I put my apron on.
    “That’s what I wanted to ask you. Can you believe Greg? I didn’t know he had it in him.”
    “You know I don’t approve of fighting,” I said.
    “Pushing a bully back is important. It took a lot of guts for him to finally stand up for himself.”
    “Just what we need around here, more drama,” I said.
    I started working up a few crusts so we’d be ready when we needed them, knuckling the dough into their pans. I admired the fancy tossing I saw some pizza makers do on television, but it wasn’t a skill I ever planned to learn. Even if I could throw crusts with the best of them, there was no one in the kitchen to see me do it. I’d tried it a time or two, but all I’d ever managed was pizza dough on the floor and an imprint on the ceiling, where an errant crust had struck when I’d tossed it too hard.
    Ten minutes later, we had our first customer, and the evening hours flew past in a steady blur of pizzas and sandwiches. Maddy and Josh kept busy out front, and I was hopping all night in the kitchen.
    It was the kind of evening I lived for these days, but the joy didn’t last for the rest of the night. We had a visitor who upset our happy moods the second she walked through the door.
     
    Katy Johnson—Greg’s on-again, off-again girlfriend—burst into the kitchen like she was running away from a fire. Tall and curvy, Katy had flaming-red hair and an attitude that matched, most of the time.
    “Where is he?” she snapped at me as she looked wildly around the place.
    I knew who she was looking for, but that didn’t mean I had to answer the question. “Sorry, Katy, but customers aren’t allowed back here.”
    “I’m not buying anything. I have to find Greg.”
    “He’s off tonight,” I said. “I’m going to have to ask you to leave.”
    She stared hard at me, and then to my complete and utter surprise, Katy started crying. It was the strongest display of vulnerability I’d ever seen in her.
    “Eleanor, I’ve got to find him. I did something stupid, and I can’t fix it,” she said through her tears.
    “I don’t know much that can’t be repaired in this world,” I said, my voice softening. The girl was obviously in some serious pain.
    “This is too much. Greg caught me with Wade,” she simpered.
    “Are you talking about his brother ? Are you kidding me?”
    “We were just kissing,” Katy said as she dabbed at her tears. “It was all pretty innocent. Honestly.”
    “I’m sure Greg didn’t think so,” I said. “Katy, what were you thinking?”
    “Greg was getting tired of me,” she said, nearly wailing the words. “I had to show him he couldn’t just throw me away like an old pair of shoes.”
    I lost a lot of my sympathy for her then. I hated relationship games, and always had. “How did Greg find out?” Not that he needed much of a clue. Small-town living was notorious for gossip, and Timber Ridge was no exception.
    “Wade set me up!” she screamed.
    Josh came into the kitchen and looked straight at me. “Eleanor, is everything all right?”
    “It’s fine,” I said, more out of habit than actuality. Katy was anything but fine, but she’d brought it all on herself.
    Josh nodded, glanced sideways at Katy, then took the wisest course of action he could; he left.
    “Katy, how did Wade set you up?”
    “I was at his place, you know, to talk,” Katy said. “He excused himself, made a phone call, and then he came back in with drinks. The next thing I knew, we were on the couch making out. I would have stopped it—I suddenly lost my taste for revenge—when Greg crashed in. He was furious, and Wade admitted that he wanted his