A Tough Nut to Kill (Nut House Mystery Series) Read Online Free PDF

in a mess.”
    She stretched her neck back and closed her eyes a minute.
    “It’s just that . . . well . . . I’ve been all through Jake’s files, hunted where he threw stuff in that hall closet, checked out the top of wardrobe.” She gave me a knowing look. “You know your daddy wasn’t much of a record keeper. Not until I got after him. If I’d left things to Jake, the IRS and every other government agency would’ve been breathin’ down our necks.”
    She pushed her glasses up on her forehead, and rubbed her eyes with the heels of her hands.
    “Can I help with anything?” I offered.
    “That would make two of us who don’t know what we’re doing.”
    She ruffled through a stack of papers on her desk. “Now I’m hung up on Jake’s bills. I thought I’d taken care of everything but I found one . . . Oh well, I’ll go through the check ledgers. Can’t imagine it wasn’t paid. Still . . . odd to find it at all.”
    “What’s got Mike Longway worried?” I asked. “Or just the new president rattling his saber?”
    She shrugged. “He’s talking about a problem at the bank. I’ll do what I can, but how would I know? It’s been two years.”
    I cleared my throat and took a chair opposite Mama, pulling it close to the desk.
    Miss Emma leaned back and sighed. “Your daddy never was a man for order—except where the trees were concerned. But you wanted to tell me . . . what?”
    I cleared my throat and bit at my bottom lip. I’d much rather go on talking about Daddy, but I had this Uncle Amos story to tell.
    “Somebody came in the store while I was there this morning, Mama.”
    “Let me guess. Your uncle Amos. I’ve been expecting something ever since I heard he was back in Riverville, but if he bothers Miss Amelia . . . Why, I swear I’m taking a shotgun and going over to Conway’s myself. Why’d Harry hire him in the first place? Thought he was a friend of ours. Now he’s given that miserable . . . well, you know what I’d call him if I wasn’t a lady . . . giving him a job right next door, like he did . . .”
    She blustered on awhile then stopped, smiling a chastened smile. “Guess you better tell me what happened before I explode in a million pieces and mess up my office.”
    “He asked to see you.”
    “What for?”
    “Didn’t say. Just that he’s got something for you and wanted to warn you. Don’t know what about. Probably some crazy idea he got in his head.”
    “Maybe he’s suing me. That’s ’bout what I’d expect from the man. Jake, like his daddy before him, kept hopin’ Amos would straighten up, get off the booze, and become a man. Then your daddy was dead and Amos worse than ever. Best thing that ever happened was Amos leavin’ town the way he did. Too bad he came back at all. I don’t wish harm to nobody on God’s green earth, but I’d like Amos to just go away and stay gone for the rest of his life.”
    “Hunter Austen came on in,” I continued. “He saw Uncle Amos and was worried about us. I don’t like to bring up bad memories, but you know Hunter was there the night of Daddy’s funeral. He saw for himself what Uncle Amos gets like when he’s drinking.”
    “Hunter can’t always be around to save us,” she sighed. “Good man. Still interested in you, if you ever get around to thinking about settling down someday.”
    I frowned hard at Mama. Sore subject. Me heading straight for spinsterhood. Been going on since I moved into the Nut House apartment. “I’ve got my work right now, Mama. Until I’m sure I’m doing the right thing . . . well, Hunter, or any other man, can just stay away. And I wish you’d stop pushing . . .”
    Mama threw her hands in the air. “Don’t go flying off like a mad crow. Just saying . . .” She thought awhile. “So what was it he wanted to give me?”
    “Don’t know. Hunter drove him out before it got settled. I don’t think he’d give whatever it was to anybody but you. Hunter