Murder & Mayhem in Goose Pimple Junction Read Online Free PDF Page B

bookstore?” Tess asked.
    “ Sure. Didn’t I tell you that?”
    Something clicked into place, and Tess impulsively decided to ask for a job. “Did you say you’re short of help here, Lou? Are you hiring? I would love to have a part-time job.”
    “ And I can vouch for her, Lou, she’s good people,” Jack drawled, coming up behind her.
    “ Well honey, you must be heaven sent. I’ve been prayin’ for someone reliable to come along. I knew it would be all right. Just gotta have a little faith and a lot of patience. But God is good, and I knew he’d send me somebody special and here you are.” She gave Tess a big hug, and then gave Jack one too. Beaming, she said to Tess, “I always take any chance I get to hug that man.” She giggled. “Now when can you start, Tess?”
    “ Well, I…I suppose any time,” she stammered, taken aback at how fast she had landed a job and at how forward Lou was with Jack.
    “ Now don’t go bein’ too pushy, Lou. You don’t wanna scare her off, do ya?”
    “ Pushy, smushy, Tessie here will get used to me.”
    “ Tess, you have to speak your mind around Lou. Don’t let her work you too hard,” Jack warned, putting an affectionate arm around Lou.  
    “ Well, I’m not afraid of a little hard work, and I’m sure we can come up with a schedule that will suit us both.”
    “ That’s the spirit. Now come on back here, and we’ll get some paperwork done and iron out the details.” Lou headed for the back of the store, and Tess started to follow.
    “ Actually, Lou,” Jack called after her; she stopped and turned. “I was hopin’ to talk Tess into goin’ for a drink with me.” He looked questioningly at Tess.
    “ Well bless your heart, of course you were. Don’t let me stop you! Y’all run along and we’ll talk tomorrow, Tessie. Jest come on by in the mornin’ and we’ll get everythin’ smoothed out.”
    Tess laughed nervously. She didn’t want to go anywhere alone with Jack, the Martian man. The cheating Martian man. She'd sworn off men. Especially lying, cheating men.
    “ Lou, why don’t you join us?” Tess asked, hopefully, silently saying, Pleasepleaseplease.
    “ Well, I’d love to,” she said, clapping her hands together. “It looks like everybody’s clearin’ out of here. Jest let me get my purse and close up. I’ll meet you two kids outside in two shakes of a rat's tail.”
    “ I think I love that woman. Nobody’s called me a kid in ages,” Tess said, as they walked outside.
    “ Lou’s a honey. Salt of the earth. Just be careful of what you tell her. Her tongue’s tied in the middle and loose at both ends.”
    “ Is there a thesaurus for Southern speak I could buy? A dictionary for colloquialisms?”
    Jack laughed. “I mean if you don’t want anyone to know it, don’t tell Lou.”
    Tess and Jack stepped out onto the sidewalk and stood under the bookstore’s big green awning. It was dark out, but the street lamps lit up the sidewalk. The trees lining the sidewalk were strung with little white lights year-round, and they gave a magical look to the town square.
    “ Jack —”
    “ You really—”
    They both stopped, and he said, “Ladies first.”
    “ I was just going to say I want to thank you for vouching for me. You don’t even know me—I could end up making you look bad.”
    “ Or you could end up cursing me for getting you involved with Lou.” She looked at him funny and he said, “I’m only kidding, she’s a dear, sweet, old woman, and I can tell you are, too.”
    Tess’s expression changed from questioning to a hard stare, and he quickly corrected himself.
    “ I mean the sweet part. Not the old lady part. Seriously, you two will hit it off. Just don't tell her I said she was old. I'm happy to help, but I wanted to warn you not to let her bulldoze you into working more than you want. She has a way of talking people into things before they know what they’re doing.”
    Just what has she talked you into, Jack? No,