Nutcase Read Online Free PDF Page B

hiding it, don’t you think?” After several seconds, I stabbed the button for the elevator. “These things move slower than a drunken mule,” I muttered.
    He looked at me. “How come you’re so irritable? Did somebody steal your favorite feminine deodorant spray? What was the brand you used? Fresh Flowers?”
    “Cut it out, Thad.” The elevator door opened and we stepped inside. “I have a lot going on in my life right now.” I pressed the button to the lobby, and we started down.
    “How did your marriage counseling session with Jay go this morning?” I snapped my head around, my surprised gaze meeting his. “Oh hell,” he said, covering his eyes with one hand. “Could we forget I just asked you that question?”
    “Mona told you?” I felt betrayed.
    “It was my fault, Kate. I called the office this morning to ask about Alice Smithers’s medication, and Mona started getting all weird on me when I asked where you were. I used my great charm and people skills. She couldn’t help herself. Please don’t rat me out.”
    I tried to hide my embarrassment. “I don’t have to tell you that marriage counseling takes time,” I said. “First sessions are always tense.”
    “That’s why I steer clear of them.” He snapped his fingers. “Hey, I know how to cheer you up. How about I spring for lunch and buy you a chili dog? You love the chili dogs here.”
    “Yeah, but I need to head back to my office.”
    “What’s fifteen minutes out of your day?”
    My mouth was already watering. I grinned. “Extra onions?”
    He winced. “There goes my idea about renting a room afterward.” He pressed the button that would take us to the cafeteria, and soon after we stepped out. “Why don’t you grab a table outside,” he said. “It won’t take me long to go through the line.”
    I pushed through the glass door leading to the court-yard, where white wrought iron tables and flower beds filled with mums looked inviting. The cool November air felt good after a summer that had reached some all-time high temperature. As they did each year, the local news felt compelled to fry an egg on the sidewalk to prove just how hot it was. I’d been tempted to cook a pot roast on my front walk and prove the annual egg thing lame.
    Thad joined me a few minutes later, bearing a tray of chili dogs, salt and vinegar potato chips, and soft drinks. “Just like old times, eh?” he said. “You’re the only woman I know who likes salt and vinegar potato chips.”
    I noted the pile of onions on the chili dogs. “Yum,” I said, reaching for one. I took a bite. “Oh man,” I said.
    “Not bad for hospital food,” Thad said. “Reminds me of that little hot dog stand at Emory,” he added. “Those were the days.”
    That’s where Thad and I had met. I’d been working on my doctorate at the time. “Sometimes I really miss them,” I said.
    He took a sip of his drink, set down his cup, and regarded me. “So, where do you and Jay stand, if you don’t mind me asking?”
    “He wasn’t real happy when he left. It’s just one more thing to worry about,” I added.
    “What do you mean?”
    “I’m being evicted from my office because of the explosion.”
    Thad frowned. “That was two months ago.”
    “I managed to convince my landlord to give me an extension.”
    “Meaning you did your fake crying act.”
    “A girl has to do what a girl has to do. I’ve got until Friday at five p.m. to get out.”
    “Damn, that’s four days from now! Where are you moving?”
    “Dunno, Thad. Do you have any idea what it costs to lease a decent office these days?”
    He tossed his napkin aside and leaned forward on his elbows. “This is my fault. I wish I’d never referred George Moss to you. I wish neither of us had ever laid eyes on him.”
    I shrugged. “Hey, like you said, I’m the one who lost my temper and threw the vial of nitroglycerin against the wall. Nobody forced me.”
    “You would never have done it if you had known Moss