The Lure of White Oak Lake Read Online Free PDF Page A

crawfish, shotgun shells, and empty beer cans.” Jaclyn stopped at the door. “Thanks, Chet, I needed the break.”
    “You got it, baby.”
    Jaclyn could hear Skip and the others laughing as she made a retreat. She was thankful that everyone took her sexuality in stride, but it had not always been that way. She’d caused quite a stir in town when she’d been caught in the act with a woman she’d met in a neighboring town. She learned a lot that night, like Carolyn Dunn had insomnia, and liked to take walks when she couldn’t sleep. She also learned it wasn’t wise to get caught up in the heat of the moment because good sense tends to lapse. It’d been her idea to park behind the power company office. Carolyn Dunn, being nosy, peeked into the car she didn’t recognize and got an eyeful.
    That was bad enough because Carolyn told everyone in town, and the news spread to neighboring towns. A jealous husband heard the story, recognized the description of the car, and unfortunately, his wife. Jaclyn was unaware that Gwyneth was married, but when her angry spouse showed up at The Lure looking for the woman who had “forced herself” on his wife, it was revelation time for Jaclyn and her grandmother, who had not heard Carolyn’s tale.
    The confrontation brought in the police and just about everyone in town. In an effort to protect Jaclyn, Carolyn told Gwyneth’s husband in startling detail what she’d witnessed, and the encounter was obviously mutual. Two things stopped Jaclyn from being throttled that day—Skip, who happened to be at the right place at the right time, and Carolyn’s embarrassing testimony.
    That was the problem with White Oak—nothing ever happened there. No one was ever robbed at gunpoint, no houses ever broken into. There was an occasional rumor that Clarice Minden was growing marijuana amongst the other herbs behind her house, but that was all the excitement there was in the sleepy little town. So when Jaclyn was literally caught with her pants down, the gossip mill churned at a frantic pace.
    Augusta Wyatt was the most influential woman in White Oak Lake at that time, and no one wanted to cross her. Eventually, everyone took Jaclyn’s sexuality in stride. The teasing was good-natured—“Hey, Jac, pick one with a little husband next time” or “Try the cornfields like the teenagers do.” Jaclyn bore it well, her parents not so much. Pillars of the community and servants in their church, they found no amusement in the jokes. Jaclyn often wondered if that was the reason her folks took to the road as soon as her father retired from the bank. Jaclyn’s sexuality was like the proverbial elephant in the room that no one talked about when the family was together. Jaclyn’s mother, Liz, had stopped asking her when she was going to get married and pointing out that Maddie had a husband and children. Gayle was never brought up. She too was a black sheep in the Wyatt clan. But her sins were lesser in the eyes of the elder Wyatts than Jaclyn’s, and that stirred an old resentment that Jaclyn carried for her younger sister Gayle and her parents.

    ~~~

    “Jumping junipers, the welcome wagon has arrived,” Jaclyn said under her breath as she watched the commotion surrounding Morgan’s house. There was sawing and pruning, and Clarke flew by with a wave on his tractor. Morgan stood on the porch at a table made of sawhorses and an old door and scooped ice into glasses, flanked by Betsy Schaffer and Ida Pochet. No doubt both were extracting every piece of information from the newcomer as they could.
    As Jaclyn regarded Morgan, she was forced to agree with Chet’s assessment. Morgan didn’t fit into the typical feminine mold. She carried a wallet in the back pocket of her jean cutoffs, instead of a purse, and looked comfortable in the work boots she was wearing. The gray tank top she wore showed off her arms and shoulders, which in Jaclyn’s opinion were way too thin, but she did see muscle tone. Had