It's a Wonderful Knife Read Online Free PDF

shift.
    â€œUh-huh. Oh, no! Gee, that’s really too bad! Uh-huh. Uh-huh.”
    One more
uh-huh
from ACB, and I was going to scream!
    â€œSorry to hear that, Linda. Sure, Trixie’s right here. I’ll tell her. Oh, you already called Juanita? She has an idea? Great! Maybe Juanita could pull a double or I could work graveyard for Trixie. Or maybe some kind of combination. Okay. Have a safe trip. Bye.”
    â€œTrip? What happened?”
    â€œLinda saw the light on in the kitchen here, and she felt like she could call without waking you. She saidthat Ty told her about your accident and she’s sorry about—”
    â€œAntoinette Chloe, what trip is Linda taking?”
    â€œShe has to fly down to Florida. Her sister, Lulu, needs her help with babysitting.”
    As I stood there with my ankle throbbing and my ribs aching, my mind was going in a million directions.
    â€œUm . . . Antoinette Chloe, who is going to cook on the graveyard shift? I heard you volunteer, but I think you are going to be busy enough with my catering. And you have your own business to run, and your own Christmas stuff to do . . . and . . . and . . .”
    I took a couple of deep breaths. Things would be better in the morning.
    ACB stood. “You haven’t heard the best part. Juanita is going to contact Bob and tell him that we need him.”
    â€œBob? You mean,
the
Bob?”
    Bob—whose last name I didn’t know or couldn’t remember—was an old army buddy of Uncle Porky and cooked on the graveyard shift. Bob had been missing in action since Uncle Porky died.
    I’d never met Bob, but he always checked in with Juanita from various casinos around the U.S. and Canada, claiming that he was too ill to come in to work.
    Yeah, right.
    Bob?
Ho. Ho. Ho.

Chapter 3
    W hen I opened my eyes the next morning, the sun was streaming through my windows. I smelled coffee, and something garlicky cooking—maybe kielbasa or fried bologna.
    The clock in the shape of a ship’s wheel over the TV told me that it was almost ten thirty.
    Ten thirty! Yikes! I had a million things I needed to do.
    I pulled the lever on the side of the recliner, and the footrest dropped way too fast.
    â€œYeow!” I gasped as my casted foot hit the hardwood floor. It rattled my teeth.
    â€œTrixie, are you awake?” ACB yelled from the kitchen.
    â€œBarely.”
    â€œBreakfast is ready. Can you make it to the kitchen?”
    â€œSure,” I replied. “First I need to make a pit stop and wash my face and comb my hair.”
    I hobbled—or should I say crutched?—to the kitchen and saw the big oak farm table set for about ten. I turned to Antoinette Chloe, busy at the stove, who looked over her shoulder and answered my unasked question.
    â€œWe’re having a ‘help Trixie meeting.’ Ty’s coming over for breakfast. So are Juanita, Ray, Max, and Clyde. Oh, and your waitresses Nancy and Bettylou are coming, too, just as soon as they cash out their customers. Cindy is cooking and wants to help, but we’ll fill her in later. Everyone wants to help you, really. They all do. We’re getting a plan of action together.”
    I smiled, happy to the core. I was surrounded by wonderful friends, and they were coming to breakfast on this pretty day to plan how they could help me.
    Ray is a high school senior who is mostly my computer expert. He also busses tables and loads and unloads the dishwasher.
    Ty talked me into giving Ray a job when he was caught hacking into a computer at the Sandy Harbor High School a couple of years back and changing grades. I had reservations at first, but as it turned out, Ray has been invaluable to me and a great worker.
    I inherited Max and Clyde from Uncle Porky. They’re my handymen and were also army buddies of my uncle. They take care of the grounds; I couldn’t run the point without them. I inherited Juanita