Read Online Two Tall Tails by Sofie Kelly - Free Book Online

“Angie had new carpeting put in her spare bedroom a couple of weeks ago.”
    I nodded. I remembered seeing the carpet installer’s van in Angie’s driveway one morning when I was leaving for the shop.
    The young mother leaned sideways and waved at Molly as she came past the end of the house, walking in a wide circle in the backyard, both hands still clutching Matilda’s leash. “I asked her about it because we’ve been thinking about putting carpet in the baby’s room.” She put her other hand protectively over her abdomen. “She took me upstairs to show me what the carpet looked like, and when we were coming back down, she told me that they even fixed the place on the stairs where the runner was loose.”
    Once again Tom’s gaze moved to the house next door before coming back to Katie. “It doesn’t make sense that Angie fell on a loose edge just after it was repaired,” he said.
    â€œThe carpet on the stairs was fine the day I was there,” Katie added.
    Tom and Katie were suggesting that Jason was behind Angie’s fall. Was it possible?
    â€œPeople don’t always do a good job when they fix something,” I said, feeling a little odd to be defending Jason.
    â€œAnd other people can undo good jobs,” Tom said, the set of his jaw telling me that he had already made up his mind.
    The sun had gone behind a cloud, and I suddenly felt a chill. I folded my arms over my chest. “I don’t like Jason,” I said, choosing my words carefully, “but do you really think he would go that far? For what reason?”
    â€œMoney,” Tom said. He smoothed a hand over his hair. “Angie asked me to recommend a lawyer when she redid her will. Jason and another niece are Angie’s only relatives, and she told me that they would split her estate when she’s gone. He can’t seem to keep a job. If something happens to Angie, he won’t have to.”
    â€œIt just seems so . . . extreme,” I said.
    I looked at Katie, who was twisting her wedding ring around her finger. “I don’t know what to think,” she said, narrowing her blue eyes. “But I know what I saw and there was nothing wrong with the carpet on the stairs.”
    â€œThat young man is bone lazy,” Tom said. “He acts like an honest day’s work is beneath him, and he has a nasty streak—we’ve all seen it.”
    Katie nodded.
    The old man’s lips were pulled into a tight, pale line. “He bumped my birdbath on purpose. He wanted to break the gazing ball.” His eyes shifted over to the jagged pieces littering the driveway. “He wanted me to see that my friendship with Angie doesn’t matter.”
    â€œBut it does matter,” I said. “When Angie comes—”
    He shook his head. “No. Don’t tell me that once Angie comes home, everything will be fine.” He pointed at the house. His Scottish burr was getting more pronounced. “He’s not going anywhere, Sarah. If we don’t stick up for ourselves, that pillock is going to bully us all into hiding inside with the curtains drawn.”
    I exhaled softly. “Please, Tom, promise me you won’t do something you’ll regret.”
    He almost smiled. “I promise you that anything I do,
I
won’t regret.”
    There wasn’t anything else to say. I helped Tom pick up the pieces of the shattered gazing ball. Thankfully it seemed to have broken into large pieces for the most part. I put them in the garbage can, swallowing down the sour taste at the back of my throat as I remembered the day Angie had given it to the old man. Katie swept the driveway with Tom’s push broom, and I used a leaf rake to get the last few small broken bits of glass out of the grass. I had a spiteful urge to leave the few pieces that weren’t on Tom’s property right where they were, but I pushed the feeling away and cleaned