Secrets in the Shadows Read Online Free PDF Page B

talk.
By noon, they had sold out, and Lauren suggested they lock the moneybox in her SUV and stroll around to the other booths. As they walked through the park, they passed Randy Jarvis’s table, and Molly laughed.
“What’s funny?”
“Oh, just thinking about strawberries,” Molly replied nonchalantly. When Lauren sent her a puzzled glance, she explained. “When I asked Charlie what sounded good, he threw a little look in your direction. I thought for a minute he was going to tell me that you did.”
Lauren gasped. “Mom! He did not.”
“Oh, he most certainly did. Why shouldn’t he be interested in you? You’re of a similar age, you’re both attractive and unattached. I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t considered him for you.” She gave a small shrug and moved on to the next booth.
Lauren decided that changing the subject might not be a bad idea. “Have you found that shower curtain you were looking for?”
Throwing her daughter an amused and knowing glance, she nonetheless answered the question. “Not yet. I’m going to try and persuade your father to drive to New Salem tomorrow morning. Want to come along?”
“No, but thanks. I’m planning on sleeping late in the morning and being utterly lazy all day. If I take a shower, I’ll consider myself ambitious.”
“You’ll be up at the crack of dawn cleaning the entire house, and you know it.”
She chuckled. “You’re probably right, but it’s hard to change old habits. I am going to try to be lazy, though. I picked up a stack of books, and I’m looking forward to getting through at least a couple of them.”
“You’re still planning on coming to dinner, right?”
“Wouldn’t miss it,” Lauren assured her.
As they reached their booth, they saw that the men had returned and were packing it up. Charlie had just finished folding the canopy and was putting it back in its bag, and Winston was trying to figure out how to open the coffee machine. Seeing them approach, he backed off, hands held up in surrender.
“I’ll leave it to the expert. Molly, where do you need me?” She directed him to fold the tablecloths and put them in the empty boxes. Charlie returned from taking the canopy to the truck.
“Where do you want the leftover coffee dumped?”
“In the storm drain is fine. Let me get the filters out first, though.”
As she reached down into the second pot, Lauren felt a tingle run down her spine. Frowning, she looked up and around. Her mother and father were at the back of their truck, apparently arguing over Win’s ability to lift something. Lauren tried to shrug it off, but the sensation of something being wrong, of someone watching her, grew stronger.
Charlie had finished emptying the first urn and was walking back. When he saw the expression on her face, he frowned and touched her arm. “What’s wrong?”
She shook her head, trying to shake off the feeling. “I don’t know. I feel like someone’s watching me. I can’t figure out who, though.” She scanned the crowds. Her gaze locked on a woman across the park, and she drew in a sharp breath.
He quickly looked in the same direction. “Who is it?” When she didn’t respond, he said her name.
She shook her head slowly, and then, hearing her parents’ voices nearing, took a deep breath to steady her nerves. “Don’t tell my parents,” she begged Charlie. He frowned, but kept silent as Winston and Molly approached them. When she finished digging out the filter, he lifted the pot and carried it off to empty it.
Keeping her head down, she gathered the unused cups and other items, stashing them in their box. Her parents turned over the table the coffeemakers had been sitting on, folded the legs, and lifted it to carry to the truck, both a little grim-faced. When Charlie returned, he glanced at them and then back at Lauren, a questioning look on his face. She waited until they were out of earshot before answering.
“Apparently, they argued about his ability to lift.”
“That