Read Online Seams Like Murder by Betty Hechtman - Free Book Online
Authors: Betty Hechtman
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We started to walk toward the information booth, which was the closest thing I had to an office.
“Molly, I’m worried about Yarn University. We have invested quite a bit of money and can’t afford for it to be a flop, or even for any single class to be a flop. I don’t want unhappy students asking for refunds.”
“Don’t worry,” I reassured her. “It’s going to be fine. In fact, we’re all getting together here after the bookstore closes to go over things,” I said, trying to sound confident and in charge. “We have the event here coming up. All the teachers will show off what each class is going to make.”
Mrs. Shedd’s face started to relax. “Of course. You do seem on top of things. I knew I was making the right decision when I made you assistant manager.”
If only Mrs. Shedd had walked away then. Instead, Adele came in the door and flew across the open space, stopping next to the information booth. She was in full drama mode with her hand to her forehead. “Molly, you’re lucky they let you go so quickly. I told them about my fiancé, Eric, but nobody seemed to care, and they kept me there forever, asking me again and again if I knew who that person was.”
Adele had worked at the bookstore longer than I had, and we’d initially gotten off to a bad start because I had been hired as the event coordinator and she had expected to be moved up to the position. As a consolation, she’d been put in charge of the children’s department, which mostly involved putting on story time. Considering she didn’t like kids, it wasn’t much of a prize, at first, anyway. But then she realized she could dress up in costumes and do dramatic readings. Since costumes and drama were second nature to Adele, it was as if she’d found her calling. Best of all, the kids loved it.
Mrs. Shedd was staring at me now with her mouth hanging open. “Tell me that the person you’re talking about isn’t dead and that it wasn’t the real reason you two were gone so long.”
My silence spoke volumes, and Mrs. Shedd started to shake her head and mutter to herself about how I always seemed to encounter dead people.
“Pamela, I know what you’re worried about,” Adele began, calling our boss by her first name. “I just want to assure you that there is no reason to worry. If Sheila can’t do it, I can always take her place. I’ve even developed a shortcut to her color effect.”
My eyes were wide, and I was waving my hands franticallybehind Mrs. Shedd, trying to stop Adele before she said anything more. Luckily, Adele was more interested in showing off her version of the piece than talking about Sheila’s problems. She had pulled out the same blue length of crochet she’d shown us earlier and laid it on the counter of the information booth for Mrs. Shedd to see.
“Adele, it’s very nice, but learning Sheila’s special method is what’s attracting all our sign-ups,” our boss said. “If we do Yarn University again, maybe we can have you do a class then.” I let my breath out when I realized Mrs. Shedd had missed the comments about Sheila. Adele appeared disgruntled as she put away the strip of crochet. Mrs. Shedd turned back to me.
“Molly, I don’t know how you do it, but dead bodies seem to show up in your life way too often. It must make people nervous about spending too much time with you.” She sighed. “I shouldn’t say this, but you better tell me the details.”
Joshua Royal joined us as I was telling the story. Joshua and Mrs. Shedd were partners in more than just the bookstore, though they didn’t talk about it, and we all pretended that we didn’t know. They were the perfect example of the unfairness of nature. They were both somewhere in their sixties but wore the age so differently. Her blond hair was natural and didn’t have a single gray strand, but her body and face had settled into a matronly shape, while Joshua still had a boyish quality to him. It didn’t matter that his shaggy
“Molly, I’m worried about Yarn University. We have invested quite a bit of money and can’t afford for it to be a flop, or even for any single class to be a flop. I don’t want unhappy students asking for refunds.”
“Don’t worry,” I reassured her. “It’s going to be fine. In fact, we’re all getting together here after the bookstore closes to go over things,” I said, trying to sound confident and in charge. “We have the event here coming up. All the teachers will show off what each class is going to make.”
Mrs. Shedd’s face started to relax. “Of course. You do seem on top of things. I knew I was making the right decision when I made you assistant manager.”
If only Mrs. Shedd had walked away then. Instead, Adele came in the door and flew across the open space, stopping next to the information booth. She was in full drama mode with her hand to her forehead. “Molly, you’re lucky they let you go so quickly. I told them about my fiancé, Eric, but nobody seemed to care, and they kept me there forever, asking me again and again if I knew who that person was.”
Adele had worked at the bookstore longer than I had, and we’d initially gotten off to a bad start because I had been hired as the event coordinator and she had expected to be moved up to the position. As a consolation, she’d been put in charge of the children’s department, which mostly involved putting on story time. Considering she didn’t like kids, it wasn’t much of a prize, at first, anyway. But then she realized she could dress up in costumes and do dramatic readings. Since costumes and drama were second nature to Adele, it was as if she’d found her calling. Best of all, the kids loved it.
Mrs. Shedd was staring at me now with her mouth hanging open. “Tell me that the person you’re talking about isn’t dead and that it wasn’t the real reason you two were gone so long.”
My silence spoke volumes, and Mrs. Shedd started to shake her head and mutter to herself about how I always seemed to encounter dead people.
“Pamela, I know what you’re worried about,” Adele began, calling our boss by her first name. “I just want to assure you that there is no reason to worry. If Sheila can’t do it, I can always take her place. I’ve even developed a shortcut to her color effect.”
My eyes were wide, and I was waving my hands franticallybehind Mrs. Shedd, trying to stop Adele before she said anything more. Luckily, Adele was more interested in showing off her version of the piece than talking about Sheila’s problems. She had pulled out the same blue length of crochet she’d shown us earlier and laid it on the counter of the information booth for Mrs. Shedd to see.
“Adele, it’s very nice, but learning Sheila’s special method is what’s attracting all our sign-ups,” our boss said. “If we do Yarn University again, maybe we can have you do a class then.” I let my breath out when I realized Mrs. Shedd had missed the comments about Sheila. Adele appeared disgruntled as she put away the strip of crochet. Mrs. Shedd turned back to me.
“Molly, I don’t know how you do it, but dead bodies seem to show up in your life way too often. It must make people nervous about spending too much time with you.” She sighed. “I shouldn’t say this, but you better tell me the details.”
Joshua Royal joined us as I was telling the story. Joshua and Mrs. Shedd were partners in more than just the bookstore, though they didn’t talk about it, and we all pretended that we didn’t know. They were the perfect example of the unfairness of nature. They were both somewhere in their sixties but wore the age so differently. Her blond hair was natural and didn’t have a single gray strand, but her body and face had settled into a matronly shape, while Joshua still had a boyish quality to him. It didn’t matter that his shaggy
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