Read Online The Grim Steeper: A Teapot Collector Mystery by Amanda Cooper - Free Book Online
Authors: Amanda Cooper
Ads: Link
only daughter. Rose would give anything to see the two mend their rift.
The Silver Spouts arrived, and the volume of chatter in the room rose. They had their talk and discussed the Fall Fling Townwide Tea Party. Snacks were served, and the most enjoyable part of the evening for many commenced, with several of them breaking off into smaller groups to chat. Horace Brubaker and Laverne’s father, Malcolm Hodge, both nonagenarian but active and busy, sat apart at a table with two of Rose’s friends, Annabelle and Helen. Thelma and Gilda sat at the table right next to them and shamelessly eavesdropped on the foursome.
Rose and Laverne were enjoying a cup of tea with Cindy and Sophie when Josh, who had had his reddish-brown hair closer cropped so he looked older and more mature, approached. He said hello to each, then turned to Laverne.
“Miss Hodge, I was wondering, now that Cindy is, uh . . . has turned fifteen, if it would be okay if she accompanied me to a natural sciences exhibit at the college.”
Seventeen going on forty
, Rose thought, smiling at the boy. He had an old-fashioned air about him, as would any teenage boy who collected teapots. Cindy blushed and looked down at her cute shoes, a pair of Mary Janes in light blue.
Laverne regarded him sternly, her handsome face set to avoid smiling too broadly. “Well, Mr. Sinclair, I’ve discussed this with her parents and we’ve decided that since she is now fifteen, it’s up to Cindy, so you will have to ask her yourself.”
He looked a little shocked, and his freckled cheeks flushed pink, just as hers were. But he turned to her and said, “Cindy, would you like to go to the traveling exhibit at Cruikshank next week?”
With an unexpectedly shrewd look, she cocked her head to one side and said, “What kind of exhibit?”
“It’s uh, it’s amphibians and reptiles of the rain forest.”
Rose stifled a sigh. He was inviting her to go see lizards and frogs? Did he not know girls at all? She waited for the sniff of disgust.
Cindy hopped in her chair and said, “I’d
love
to go, Josh! I like snakes best. Will they have snakes? Pythons? Anacondas?” She paused and clapped her hands together. “
Boa constrictors
?” Her dark eyes were wide and sparkling.
Josh smiled broadly. “I hope so. I like lizards better than snakes. Do you mind frogs? Some girls don’t like frogs.”
Rose burst out laughing. “Well now, in my day if any boy had asked me to go see snakes and frogs with him, I would have bopped him on the nose.”
Josh and Cindy broke away and sat together discussing the exhibit, words like
herpetology
,
semiaquatic
,
neurotoxins
and
tetrapod
floating toward the adults.
“She’s interested in many kinds of animals,” Laverne explained. “Cindy wants to be a zoologist and travel to Africa someday. She may be the last kid to benefit from the Laverne Hodge college fund.” Laverne had always set aside some money for her nieces and nephews; those who needed it could apply to her for a school loan, which was eventually repaid, no interest needed, to benefit the younger nieces and nephews.
They chatted with some of the others about the Fall Fling tea stroll.
“I think we’re ready for it, aren’t we, Sophie?” Rose asked.
“We’re better than ready,” she said, with her special brand of brisk confidence, revitalized by being in charge of the menu at Auntie Rose’s once again. “We’re setting up a table outside for the strollers, with tea and snacks; I’ll be manning that. But the tearoom itself will be open, too, with you two inside for those who want to sit for a moment, or warm up.”
“This tea walk . . . yet another attempt by Cruickshank to improve relations between town and gown,” Horace, who had been listening in from the next table, croaked, his voice hoarse from a cold he was finally defeating. He cleared his throat. “I know Dale Asquith; his family had a home by the lake, and he spent summers at it. Even then, his
The Silver Spouts arrived, and the volume of chatter in the room rose. They had their talk and discussed the Fall Fling Townwide Tea Party. Snacks were served, and the most enjoyable part of the evening for many commenced, with several of them breaking off into smaller groups to chat. Horace Brubaker and Laverne’s father, Malcolm Hodge, both nonagenarian but active and busy, sat apart at a table with two of Rose’s friends, Annabelle and Helen. Thelma and Gilda sat at the table right next to them and shamelessly eavesdropped on the foursome.
Rose and Laverne were enjoying a cup of tea with Cindy and Sophie when Josh, who had had his reddish-brown hair closer cropped so he looked older and more mature, approached. He said hello to each, then turned to Laverne.
“Miss Hodge, I was wondering, now that Cindy is, uh . . . has turned fifteen, if it would be okay if she accompanied me to a natural sciences exhibit at the college.”
Seventeen going on forty
, Rose thought, smiling at the boy. He had an old-fashioned air about him, as would any teenage boy who collected teapots. Cindy blushed and looked down at her cute shoes, a pair of Mary Janes in light blue.
Laverne regarded him sternly, her handsome face set to avoid smiling too broadly. “Well, Mr. Sinclair, I’ve discussed this with her parents and we’ve decided that since she is now fifteen, it’s up to Cindy, so you will have to ask her yourself.”
He looked a little shocked, and his freckled cheeks flushed pink, just as hers were. But he turned to her and said, “Cindy, would you like to go to the traveling exhibit at Cruikshank next week?”
With an unexpectedly shrewd look, she cocked her head to one side and said, “What kind of exhibit?”
“It’s uh, it’s amphibians and reptiles of the rain forest.”
Rose stifled a sigh. He was inviting her to go see lizards and frogs? Did he not know girls at all? She waited for the sniff of disgust.
Cindy hopped in her chair and said, “I’d
love
to go, Josh! I like snakes best. Will they have snakes? Pythons? Anacondas?” She paused and clapped her hands together. “
Boa constrictors
?” Her dark eyes were wide and sparkling.
Josh smiled broadly. “I hope so. I like lizards better than snakes. Do you mind frogs? Some girls don’t like frogs.”
Rose burst out laughing. “Well now, in my day if any boy had asked me to go see snakes and frogs with him, I would have bopped him on the nose.”
Josh and Cindy broke away and sat together discussing the exhibit, words like
herpetology
,
semiaquatic
,
neurotoxins
and
tetrapod
floating toward the adults.
“She’s interested in many kinds of animals,” Laverne explained. “Cindy wants to be a zoologist and travel to Africa someday. She may be the last kid to benefit from the Laverne Hodge college fund.” Laverne had always set aside some money for her nieces and nephews; those who needed it could apply to her for a school loan, which was eventually repaid, no interest needed, to benefit the younger nieces and nephews.
They chatted with some of the others about the Fall Fling tea stroll.
“I think we’re ready for it, aren’t we, Sophie?” Rose asked.
“We’re better than ready,” she said, with her special brand of brisk confidence, revitalized by being in charge of the menu at Auntie Rose’s once again. “We’re setting up a table outside for the strollers, with tea and snacks; I’ll be manning that. But the tearoom itself will be open, too, with you two inside for those who want to sit for a moment, or warm up.”
“This tea walk . . . yet another attempt by Cruickshank to improve relations between town and gown,” Horace, who had been listening in from the next table, croaked, his voice hoarse from a cold he was finally defeating. He cleared his throat. “I know Dale Asquith; his family had a home by the lake, and he spent summers at it. Even then, his
Similar Books
