Digging Up Trouble Read Online Free PDF

one wanted to view the Lockharts' yard in its current state. Not even me.
    "Does the HOA know about the work going on here today?" I'd had issues with homeowner associations before and didn't want to deal with that kind of hassle today.
    Lindsey shook her head. "No."
    "Are they going to be up in arms over it? We'll be making a lot of noise."
    "They want the yard fixed up more than anyone."
    I just hoped there wouldn't be any problems. My stress level couldn't take any more.
    "I'm going to, uh, go grocery shopping," she said, already stepping away. "You have my cell phone number?"
    Again my eyebrow twitched. Something just wasn't right about this whole job. Most clients liked to stick around, watch our progress. Some even baked us cookies and brought us lemonade. I was bummed. I'd wanted a chance to poke around her house, see if there were any pictures of Leah Quinn lying around. "Yes."
    "What time will you be done?" she asked, looking somewhat worried.
    Both eyebrows lifted. Uh-oh. Something was definitely wrong. "Six."
    "Right. Six. Okay. 'Bye!"
    I heard Kit unloading the skid loader and went down to the curb to see if Jean-Claude had showed.
    He hadn't.
    I growled.
    That was it. He was so fired when I saw him.
    No more Ms. Nice Guy.
    Girl.
    Whatever.
    There I went again, rambling to myself. Never a good sign my day was going to go well.
    I decided to make myself useful as Kit tackled the backyard with the help of Ignacio and his crew.
    To help ease my tension, I decided to get started with the planters. Nothing soothed me more than planting flowers, getting my hands dirty. I dumped my clipboard into the cab of my TBS truck and made sure my cell phone was clipped to my waistband.
    The only color in the front yard was a terra cotta pot full of thriving white pansies on the front step. Maybe if there were leftover flowers from the backyard, I'd have Deanna add some to the front mulch bed, where three sad-looking spireas were in need of pruning.
    From the bed of the truck I pulled out five large glazed white pots and set each on the ground. They were tall, maybe two and a half feet high, but not very wide. Maybe eighteen inches at best.
    I hunted around the utility truck for gravel, which would provide good drainage and stability, and for potting soil, which I would mix with topsoil for planting.
    I'd just finished stacking five sacks of potting soil on the Lockharts' driveway when a hoity-toity female voice said from behind me, "Who are you?"
    I turned. A small woman with long blonde hair stood on the curb, eyeing me.
    "Nina Quinn," I said. I held out a hand to shake, but caught a glimpse of it. Filthy. I rarely used gloves when planting. I pulled my hand back. "And you are?"
    "Meredith Adams."
    That cleared that up.
    Under severely plucked eyebrows big blue-gray eyes bulged slightly. Why they bulged I had no idea. Was this some sort of evil eye I'd never encountered?
    When she continued to stare, I began wondering if she was all there. Upstairs.
    "What are you doing here?" she finally said on an exasperated sigh, and I realized she'd been waiting for an explanation. That cleared up the eye-flaring thing.
    Unfortunately, I had issues with people interrogating me for no apparent reason. "What are you doing here?" I asked her. Ha! Take that.
    "I asked first."
    "So?"
    "So? So answer!"
    It was wrong toying with her like this, but I couldn't help myself. Not with the way she stood there, five feet of quivering righteous indignation. "You."
    She drew in a deep breath, held it, and then released it in a snorty way, like a bull before it charged. "I am Meredith Adams, vice president of Fallow Falls Homeowners Association. I demand to know what is going on."
    I just couldn't help myself. I blamed it on the stress of my day. "Sorry. I only speak to presidents." I lifted a bag of potting soil and shrugged.
    She turned from valentine pink to fire engine red in two seconds flat. Her mouth opened widely, then closed again with an audible