The Diary of Lexi Ashford (Lexi Ashford: Part One) Read Online Free PDF Page B

more minutes drift by before someone drives past me, honking their horn.
    “If you get to the fairgrounds soon, you’ll be able to catch the last part of the contest, Lexi!” a woman hollers out her window at me. “Welcome home!”
    Great. My car’s already been recognized.
    Blowing out a stressed breath, I send my mom a message that I’m just pulling into town then drive down the road. I have no plans of going to the pie-baking contest. I’m heading straight to my parents’ house so I can unpack and start looking for jobs.
    The plan is to find one, preferably one that doesn’t involve socializing with the public, and begin saving up. I’ll continue applying for jobs in the city, commuting for interviews when I have to. Hopefully, within a month or two, I’ll have a stash of cash saved, a job lined up, and be on my way back to Denver.
    Ten minutes later, I’m parked in the driveway of the two-story home I grew up in. It still looks exactly the same: blue shutters match the door, a wraparound porch, and flowers line the walkway. But my mom’s gnome collection is gone.
    “That’s weird.” I hop out of the car.
    My mom loves those gnomes as much as she loves me. I’m not kidding. She used to spend at least an hour every day out in the garden, rearranging them to keep them out of the sunlight and sprinklers as much as possible. A few times, I even caught her talking to them, although to this day she denies it.
    “Mom, did Dad finally make you get rid of the gnomes?” I call out as I enter the house through the back door. I instantly notice confetti and yarn all over the floor, and I hear a loud bang from the kitchen. “Or did you just finally decide they were creepy, little things—oh, my God!” I shriek at the sight of a man and a woman going at it on a counter covered in confetti.
    The man has on a party hat along with an apron, and the woman is naked and holding a large, wooden spoon. When they spot me, they both scramble away from each other in a panic.
    “Who the hell are you?” the man shouts as he frantically ducks behind the counter.
    “Lexi!” I slap my hand over my eyes, spin around, and run for the door, but I end up crashing into the wall and bashing my forehead hard. “Dammit! That’s going to leave a mark!”
    “Lexi Ashford, is that you?” the woman says, and I recognize the voice as Mrs. Timpler, one of my mom’s unicorn cult friends.
    I nod, keeping my hand over my eyes. “Hey, Mrs. Timpler … Um, where are my parents?”
    “Probably at the fairgrounds for the contest,” she says. “Your mom’s competing this year.”
    “That’s cool.” I feel awkward as hell. “But why are you … Well … um … having sex in her kitchen?”
    “Her kitchen?” Puzzlement rings in her voice. “Oh, she must not have told you.”
    I keep my hand firmly over my eyes. “Told me what?”
    “They sold the house to us a couple of months ago,” she explains.
    What! “Why didn’t they tell me?”
    She hesitates. “They must have been worried it’d upset you.”
    I’m not sure what to say. While I’m not a fan of Fairville, it makes me sad that the house that holds most of my memories from when I was younger isn’t part of my family anymore.
    “Why’d they sell it?” I ask quietly.
    “Oh, I don’t know.” She touches my shoulders. I think she’s going to give me a hug. My heart just about shits a brick, because, hello, she’s butt-ass naked. But instead, she pushes me in the direction of the back door. “You should probably go to the fairgrounds and ask them yourself. I’m sure they can explain it better than I can.” Then she opens the door and shoves me outside. “It was so nice seeing you again, Lexi. Make sure to stop by so we can talk more. Just make sure to knock next time. Doug and I like to spend our afternoons trying out new role-playing if you get what I mean. And right now is birthday fantasy week.”
    Unsure how to respond, I just stand there with my eyes