Three Can Keep a Secret Read Online Free PDF Page B

don’t mind. You just surprised me. Sure, I can do that. You want to go today?”
    “No, no.” His voice rose. “Today’s Saturday. I’m sure he’s not in. How about Monday?”
    “Monday’s fine.”
    “And about tomorrow, should I pick you up?”
    “Tomorrow?” I wracked my brain. “What’s tomorrow?”
    “Our club’s annual pig roast.”
    I rubbed my forehead. “Oh, Lenny, I don’t think I—”
    “I can see why you forgot, with all that’s happened,” he said, “but you should go. It’ll be good for you.”
    I slumped against the wall, defeated. Hadn’t I just been complaining to Abe that I needed my biker friends in my life? “All right. What time will you come?”
    We set a time for the morning, and I hung up. Why would Lenny want to talk with Detective Willard? I supposed he’d tell me when he was ready, but I was burning with curiosity.
    I looked around the office, not quite sure how I felt about going out and having fun the next day at the pig roast. Until then, I supposed, I should earn my keep. No paperwork was waiting for me, since Abe had been doing most of it, so I gladly left all of my few administrative tendencies in the office and went out to do real women’s work.
    An hour and a half later Lucy was almost done scraping the paddock and I had fixed my truck and repaired some damaged boards on the main feed trough. I was famished, and exhausted. I waved to Lucy and she turned off the scraper.
    “Come on in and have some lunch,” I said.
    She looked at her watch with surprise and jumped down from the machine. “I forgot how fast time goes. I would have guessed I’d just eaten breakfast.” She gestured at her Taurus. “I can take Tess somewhere and get something to eat.”
    “Give me a break,” I said. “It won’t bankrupt me to feed you one time. Unless you need something gourmet.”
    “Gosh, no. Anything that keeps me going is fine by me.”
    Why didn’t that surprise me?
    We found Tess brushing Queenie by the side of the house, and she apologized to the dog for leaving her in the middle of grooming.
    I shook my finger at Queenie. “Don’t you go getting spoiled now.”
    Tess giggled. “I’ll take care of her. She’s nice.”
    “Yes,” I said. “She’s a good dog.” I patted my good dog on the head while she gazed up at me with an expression of canine ecstasy.
    Lucy and I left our boots at the door, checked our clothes for displaced manure, and found our way to my kitchen, Tess following closely. I pulled some shaved turkey out of the fridge, as well as whatever condiments I happened to have. Miraculously, I found a new bag of chips and had a full pitcher of instant iced tea, which I poured into three cups.
    “You stick with the Mennonite brand of chips, I see,” Lucy said, pointing at the blue Herr’s bag.
    I popped one in my mouth and talked around it. “I like them the best. And the guy on the back looks friendly.”
    “Like Grandpa,” Tess said, and Lucy smiled briefly.
    The Lucy that looked at me across the table radiated confidence and strength, and the satisfaction in her eyes had only increased since that morning. Nothing like pushing cow poop around to give you zest for life. If the amount of mayonnaise she put on her sandwich was any indication, the woman had a metabolism the size of my largest cow’s—and cows have four stomachs. She ate half the bag of chips and asked sheepishly if she could have another sandwich.
    “You been starving yourself?” I asked.
    “Just tired of McDonald’s.”
    “Not me!” Tess said.
    Lucy made a face. “It was right down the road in Lancaster and way too convenient.”
    “Sure,” I said. “Chips and processed lunchmeat are much better. Eat another sandwich.”
    Ten minutes later she was ready to get back to work. If she kept on like this, I would soon be able to take a week’s vacation without anyone knowing the difference.
    While Lucy finished scraping and Tess galloped around the yard with Queenie, I took