Shine On Read Online Free PDF Page B

“Well, if anyone can pull off hair of feathers, it’d be you. But really you needn’t get so dressed up for me.”
    “Looks like you got pretty dressed up, yourself, there Emmie,” Ava said, straightening the collar on her dress. “And it’s a good thing too.”
    Emmie looked confused but, in that moment of silence, noticed she could hear music from a record player in the distance.
    Ava continued, “Because my feathers aren’t for you and I’m guessing this pretty dress isn’t for me.” She smiled.
    “You said the boys were out,” Emmie said quickly and quietly. Her heartbeat pulsed in her ears.
    “They were but you took a long time to come over and they came home. What took you so long anyway?” Ava asked.
    “I ran into Walter and he wanted to talk to me for a bit about Max.” Emmie then recounted the story of what had happened earlier at work.
    There was no way she could tell Ava about the paste she was making for Walt. She’d thought about it the whole walk over to her house.
    To tell Ava or not to tell Ava. She’d decided not. What she was helping with was illegal. She wasn’t selling the ’shine but she was sure there were laws about helping someone make it. Not that she thought Ava would tell on her. Emmie just didn’t want her to be caught up in it. Heck, as soon as she could save up a little money she’d be done too. So she shared as much of the truth with her friend as she could. Ava was disgusted at what Mr. Thomas had said about Max. She said someday he would get what was coming to him.
    “Let’s not think about the crazy ole man tonight. Come on.” She grabbed Emmie’s arm and led her down the hall to the parlor.
    Well, one of the home’s parlors anyway. This was the “boys” room as Ava called it. A dark wood desk sat in the front of the room with leather couches and chairs, and blue striped curtains framing the floor-to-ceiling windows. They were actually one of the sets Emmie’s mama had made all those years ago. In the back of the room, a heavy wooden pool table was adjacent to the fireplace. That’s where the boys were playing billiards. They looked like some ad in a magazine. Posed laughing, smoking, playing pool, drinking… wait… drinking?
    Trick froze when Emmie entered, glancing immediately from Vincent to Silas with an unspoken question, obvious to all. She had never felt so unwelcome walking into a room. It was like the life had been sucked out of the place.
    “Take it easy, Trick. She’s fine,” Vince added, barely looking up from his shot at the back corner of the pool table.
    Silas put his cue down on the floor and looked right at her with a smile that made her feel uneasy. “You’re not gonna be calling the buttons are ya?”
    “Sorry?” Emmie asked genuinely confused.
    “The police,” Ava laughed at her expression. “Give her a break, boys. Sheesh.”
    Ava walked over and helped herself to a drink. This wasn’t the stuff that Walter made. Walter’s moonshine was clear. This was dark caramel brown and didn’t come from an old canning jar—it had a real bottle sealed with dripping wax.
    “Since when do you drink?” Emmie asked, sitting next to Ava to get a closer look at the glass.
    “Since a few weeks ago. It’s more of just something to hold in my hand. It’s the entire buzz in Chicago. They have whole clubs for it and everything,” Ava explained, sloshing the drink around as she spoke.
    “Well, this isn’t Chicago.” She instantly felt like she was talking out of both sides of her mouth. She wasn’t a fan of drunkards, but was prohibition right?
    “Just take a sip. It’s not that bad. It sort of tastes like that cough medicine that Dr. Baker used to mix up,” Ava said.
    “What is it?” she asked.
    Trick answered right away, clearly this conversation had peaked his interest. “It’s bourbon. Kentucky is famous for it, you know. I heard this story of some man that came down here right after the start of prohibition and bought a whole