Read Online The Possum Hollow Hullabaloo (The Penelope Pembroke Cozy Mystery Series) by Judy Nickles - Free Book Online Page B

the medical report on his wife gets back from Little Rock.”
    “That’s good to know. Mary Lynn will be relieved, too. The social worker let Ellie and Evie come back here for the weekend since…”
    “Right. Brad has to question Ellie about her mother. He’s not looking forward to it.”
    “Poor little girls.”
    “You be careful, Penelope. Jeremiah’s not the only Hadden in Possum Hollow, although he’s probably the only one who’d bother to come to town right now.”
    “We can always hope. Thanks, Rosie. I’ll have something for dinner Sunday if you and Brad want to come by. You can even take it home with you. I know you don’t get much time together at home right now.”
    “Thanks, we just might do that. I’ll call you tomorrow.”
    Penelope went back to the table where Jake and Sam were having another bottle of beer. “On the house,” Jake said, tapping the brown bottle.
    Penelope scanned the empty room. “Did you know this was going to happen, Sam?”
    “If I knew, do you really think I’d have brought you and Mr. Kelley here?”
    “Jake, son. Just Jake.”
    “I suppose not.” Penelope let her eyes meet his briefly, then dropped them. “No, I know you wouldn’t deliberately put Daddy and me in harm’s way.” She tried to smile. “We didn’t finish our dance.”
    “Another time, Nell.” He emptied his bottle and set it down. “Ready to go home?”

CHAPTER THIRTEEN
     
    Sam didn’t come to breakfast, and Jake said he hadn’t seen him since the night before. “You two looked good dancing together,” he said, trying to lighten his daughter’s mood.
    “Did we?”
    “Your mother and I loved dancing.”
    “I remember. You used to dance to the phonograph in the foyer sometimes.”
    “Phonograph. Been a while since I heard it called that.”
    Penelope sighed. “There are too many new gadgets these days. Cassettes, CDs, iPods. Who knows what else will come along?”
    “I should be saying that instead of you.”
    “I don’t like things the way they are lately.”
    “Things could change.”
    “Pigs could fly, too. I’m going to Mary Lynn’s and see what the latest is with the girls. You know Bradley has to talk to them about their mother.”
    “That’ll be hard on all of them.” Jake finished his coffee and got up. “I’ll go see what the Toneys are up to.” He leaned down and kissed Penelope’s cheek. “Smile, darlin’. It’s the only way to survive.”
    ****
    Penelope peeked into the den where Ellie and Evie were sprawled on the floor watching cartoons. They wore matching pink flannel pajamas with multi-colored cats tumbling over the pants. “Have you managed to spoil them completely in two days?” she asked Mary Lynn as they sat in the kitchen.
    “They were due, don’t you think?”
    “Has Bradley called?”
    Mary Lynn teared up. “They’re so happy. It’s like they just chucked their whole miserable little lives and settled in here with Harry and me.”
    “He has to do it, Mary Lynn.”
    “I know. I called Tonya Cisneros. She says she wants to be here. Damage control, I guess. Then she’ll probably take them to a shelter or a foster home.”
    “Why? I thought she was trying to get you and Harry recertified as foster parents. This is the perfect place for them, especially with Jeremiah…”
    “Brad told me what happened last night. Having their father locked up indefinitely could make a difference, I guess.” Mary Lynn stirred her coffee, now grown cold. “But if the girls tell Brad that he killed their mother…”
    Penelope poured out the cold coffee and refilled her friend’s cup. “It’ll work out, I just feel it in my bones.”
    “I never realized how empty this house was before.”
    “I guess I never realized how much you and Harry missed having children.”
    ****
    Penelope didn’t see Sam at all on Saturday or Sunday, although she knew he slept in his bed, and the meals she left for him disappeared regularly. Bradley and Rosabel didn’t come