DEATH COMES TO AN OPEN HOUSE Read Online Free PDF Page B

was a good way to end the conversation, laughing.
     
     

 Chapter 7
    “Ah, there you all are!” A sliver of criticism glittered in Theresa’s greeting. “I was a little surprised to find the answering machine on.”
    “We were celebrating at lunch. Stan and Jean took new listings last night.”
    There was no apology in Ed’s explanation.
    Theresa smiled at Jean. “Excellent, my dear.”
    Joy took a little jump inside Jean, quickly squelched as her mentor added, “without my help. I hope it went all right.”
    Ed answered for her.
    “It went beautifully. Nice listing, well priced and the forms in perfect order.”
    “Good. I see you have learned.”
    “Thanks, Theresa. I did it just the way you said. I even used your words. They really liked me.”
    There was no hug, no handshake, but Theresa’s smile was genuine.
    “Well, why shouldn’t they, child? Stan, you have no experience to speak of. Ed went with you?”
    “Nope. It really doesn’t require genius.”
    It was a challenge, no mention that Stan had called his parents and needed Jean’s help entering the listing.
    “Take this business seriously, Stanley. You haven’t even finished training.”
    Theresa’s eyes had become smaller. Jean wondered, as she had often this last year, why it seemed that Theresa was running this office. Probably because she brought in the most money.
    “It was fine, Theresa. They both did a good job.”
    “It’s your policy, Ed.”
    Kevin had appeared from the sales room and taken a stand in the doorway, arms folded across his chest, a faint smile on his usually bland face.
    “We were both available at the other end of a phone.”
    “We agreed on that rule, though. A new agent accompanies an experienced one for at least three listing appointments. Jean has been with me on six or seven. It’s protection for the—”
    “There’s not a damn thing wrong with either of these listings!”
    Stan’s small supply of patience had run out.
    From beside her, softly, so that only Jean could hear, came Vivian’s voice.
    “Not again, Ed. Not again.”
    Vivian turned and went back out the front door. Jean watched her leave, thinking that she was like Vivian. She would have liked to follow, but there was her ad to give to Ed. She compromised and walked up the stairs to the bathroom. The angry voices of Stan and Theresa could easily be heard from below.
    “Wuss!” she accused her reflection in the mirror. Theresa and Stan fought, Ed played umpire, Kevin enjoyed the excitement. Rita would have, too. Hua would have shaken her head and gone on with her work.
    “Life is like this. Deal with it!”
    Everyone in the office seemed to have a strong personality, charged with energy and confidence. Well, she amended, Harold had confidence if not a personality. And Kevin had neither, but apparently even he didn’t run from discord. Was it crazy to think she could earn a living in this business? How could she sell herself to other people if she didn’t have a high opinion of herself?
    “But I do like myself,” she whispered earnestly to the old, black-flecked mirror. “I do!”
    The mirror offered no reassurance.
     
     

 Chapter 8
    Jean woke on Sunday with a sense of dread. She had lived with these uncomfortable beginnings for much of her life. The cause was no longer her parents’ fights and the financial dragon had lost a little weight. Was it the murder at the open house and the other threat? Or the fight Wednesday between Theresa and Stan? The office family was all she had. Her life had become too different from her high school friends, all of whom had gone to college. She had drifted away from the painful difference between her life and theirs. Mom was … well, life would be easier without Mom.
    Often, when the moon was in the right part of the sky as it was last night, Jean left the drapes open. From this third floor apartment, just the tips of a few trees were visible as Jean lay between the protective arms of her chair-bed.