Scrappy Summer Read Online Free PDF Page A

supplies—which made it easy to get her cornered
     for questioning. They had all learned a thing or two about interrogation over the
     past few years.
    Annie slid open the glass door and walked into Sheila’s basement. “Are we ready?”
     she said.
    The others nodded in unison.
    “I didn’t think Mike was ever going to get home,” she said. “Sorry I’m a bit late.”
    “She should be here any minute,” Sheila said. “All you have to do is stand by the
     door, Annie. Try not to let her out.”
    Annie started to say something but appeared to think the better of it and closed her
     mouth.
    “She’ll be surprised to see us,” Paige said, looking up from her latest Louise Penny
     mystery novel.
    “I hope so,” Vera mumbled. “I just hope she keeps her mouth shut. Mama would have
     my hide. She and Macy’s mom go way back.”
    The doorbell rang. Sheila opened the glass sliding door as Annie stepped aside.
    “Well, hello,” she said. “Please come in while I get your things.”
    Macy entered the room and saw the two women sitting at the table and nodded a hello
     to them. She stood close to the door.
    Annie slipped in front of it, briefly bumping into Macy, who turned, startled. “Oh,”
     she said. “I didn’t see you there.” She smiled a tight, nervous smile.
    Annie didn’t respond.
    The room held a nervous tension.
    “Well,” Macy said, “I can’t wait to see that scrapbook paper in person. It looked
     so lovely in the catalog.”
    “Oh, I think you’ll love it, once I find it,” Sheila said. “It was right here. What
     did I do with it?”
    “Have a seat, Macy,” Vera said. “It might be a while, you know. Sheila is getting
     so scatterbrained these days.”
    “No thanks,” Macy said, looking around nervously. “I really need to go. Sheila, when
     you find my paper, give me a call—”
    “Please sit down, Macy,” Paige said, standing and moving around to the other side
     of the table. “We insist.”
    “What? What’s this?” Her face reddened, a slight quiver on her chin.
    Paige gently pushed her into the chair. “Have some pie,” she said, and Sheila sat
     a plate with a slice of DeeAnn’s pie in front of her.
    “Oh no, I couldn’t,” Macy said.
    “Why not?” Paige said, leaning down into her face. Macy backed her face up. “We all
     know you love pie.”
    “I’m in a hurry,” she said, tight-lipped. “And I’m not hungry.”
    The room quieted.
    “Tell me something, Lacey,” Annie said and sat down beside her.
    “It’s Macy,” she said.
    Annie made a waving gesture. “Okay. Sorry. Macy, how does this competition work? I
     mean, the contestants bring their pies to the Baptist church, right?”
    “Yes,” she said. “That’s right. They are stored at the church because we have the
     facilities for it. No other place in town does.”
    Annie handed Macy the fork. “Taste the pie. Tell us what you think.”
    Macy reluctantly took the fork.
    “Then what happens to the pies?” Paige asked.
    “Then they are taken to the fire hall the next day.”
    “Who takes them?” Annie asked.
    “Whoever has a van or a truck. You know, someone with the space. It changes every
     year,” she said, cutting into the tip of the slice with her fork.
    “Who was it this year?” Paige asked.
    “The Burkholders,” she said, and Paige looked at Sheila with a knowing gleam in her
     eye.
    Macy took a bite of the pie and promptly spit it back out onto her plate. Her face
     turned red, and she coughed. Sheila handed her a glass of water and a napkin.
    “Good Lord! Are you trying to kill me?” she squealed.
    “No,” Paige said. “Of course not. We just wanted you to take a bite of the pie you
     destroyed!”
    “What? Well, I have no idea what you’re talking about. You all are just plain crazy.
     I’ll show myself to the door!”
    But Annie beat her to it. “Not so fast, Macy.”
    “What do you want from me?” Macy said, looking up at the tall, dark, and beautiful