If Onions Could Spring Leeks Read Online Free PDF Page B

inherited from a rich relative, but Gram was certain he wasn’t rich.
    And the mere idea of his mother, Lynn, as your mother-in-law was not appealing. Lynn Rowlett was known far and wide as one of the most bothersome women in all of Missouri. Well, maybe her reputation was only cemented in Broken Rope, but
everyone
in town knew about it. Her modus operandi consisted mainly of filing complaints. Wherever she went, whatever she did, she would find something to complain about. She’d put her complaints in writing and send a letter to the editor of our local newspaper, the
Noose
, or she’d share her complaints with anyone who would listen. Fortunately, no one really listened to her very much anymore. Gram and I, and Roy for that matter, had yet to fall victim to one of her tirades, but we all suspected one was forthcoming. Gram and I had paid extra attention to the
Letters to the Editor
section of the paper since the night vegetable class had begun.
    At the moment, I inspected her as she told Roy about the tear in the seat. Was this the beginning of a new rant?
    â€œI’ll look at that today, too,” Roy said.
    Lynn pursed her lips and nodded in a manner that was so agreeable I had to stifle a gasp of disbelief.
    As I looked away from her, I caught a conspiratorial wink from my Trigger driving partner, Paul Stadler. It seemed Gram and I weren’t the only ones watching and waiting for Lynn’s next outburst.
    Normally, I would smile and perhaps wink back in response to the friendly gesture, but this time I just smiled at Paul and looked back at Roy.
    Paul Stadler had been a friend for a long time. In high school he’d been an acquaintance, but after high school and during the following decade or so, he’d worked with Jake on some Broken Rope historical books. As a result, Paul and Jake had become even better friends, thus, Paul and I had also become better friends.
    Lately, I’d had a sense that he hoped for something more than friendship, which was both odd and uncomfortable. He knew Cliff and I were together, and that nothing was going to sever that relationship again. Unless it was a long-dead cowboy ghost, of course, but he didn’t know that.
    Typically, I would think I was jumping to an incorrect conclusion, that I was being overly sensitive or even egotistical, but Jake had noticed it, too; so much so that he’d thought he should talk to Paul, tell him he was behaving inappropriately. I’d asked him not to, but I suspected there was an uncomfortable conversation in Paul’s and my future. I wasn’t looking forward to that moment and I’d started doing little things like not winking back playfully with the hope that I could avoid any awkward talks.
    Paul had never been married, but he’d always had agirlfriend. He’d always been attracted to girls with some sort of troubled background. Drugs, alcohol, abuse; there had been some ugly moments between Paul and his girlfriends as he tried to reform and “fix” them.
    I thought I wasn’t the type of woman he’d be romantically interested in, but Jake thought maybe he was trying to change his ways, even if he wasn’t quite on the right track yet.
    I hoped the friendship wouldn’t have to end, but time would tell.
    And, anyway, all romantic notions in our little group should have been spent on April and Todd. April was an early-twenties-something blonde with big green eyes and the sweetest smile I’d ever seen. Her family had moved to town a couple months earlier. She’d just finished her freshman year at Mizzou and was spending the summer in Broken Rope. Having no idea what to do with all her time, she visited one of Jake’s poetry readings and asked him if there was anything she could to do to get more involved with the town. He’d sent her to Gram’s classes, which had introduced her to Roy. She now shared her Trigger Three driving duties with Todd.
    Todd was