Trouble In Bloom Read Online Free PDF

"His name is Johan."
    I knew his name. He'd treated Riley's sprained wrist over the summer and had been permanently attached to Ana ever since.
    It was time for an amputation, in my opinion. He was much too needy. I'd barely spent any time with my cousin at all lately.
    Talk about needy.
    This is what self-discovery had come to.
    "Well?" I said.
    She sighed. I could hear noise in the background—Ana was a probation officer and had a tiny cubicle in a small office at the courthouse. Things could get pretty rowdy once in a while. "We broke up."
    "Really?"
    "You don't have to sound so excited by it."
    "Me? Excited? Nev—"
    "I know you didn't like him."
    "Like, shmike. It's not my place—"
    "You're such a crappy liar." I heard the smile in her voice.
    "I know. What happened?"
    Her long drawn-out sigh came across the line. "Whenever I was naked I felt like he was examining me with his eyes. You know, checking my moles and stuff like that."
    "So he definitely had to go."
    "Definitely. If he's looking at moles instead of other things, it wasn't going to work."
    I could see how that would irritate.
    "How about a movie tonight?" she asked.
    "Can't. I'll be down at the HoD studio."
    "That's right! You're a stahh! Are the camera people there?"
    "Sitting right across from me." I lost my hand of Spider Solitaire. I cursed under my breath and clicked out of it.
    "How weird is that?"
    "Weird. Want to come tonight?" I asked.
    "And meet Thad Cochran! Yes!"
    I'd have to warn her about Thad. "Better yet, you'll meet Carson Keyes."
    Roxie perked up, took notes. I could imagine the editing needing to happen before tonight's eleven o'clock airing of the show.
    When Ana didn't say anything, I started to worry we'd been cut off. "Ana? You there?"
    She sighed heavily. "Carson Keyes? Seriously?"
    "Yep. He's doing a week-long piece on the show."
    She started coughing. Wheezing.
    "You okay?"
    "Just . . . an asthma . . . attack."
    "You don't have asthma."
    In a stage whisper she said, "I've got to get my hair done. Carson Keyes. Whoo-eee."
    So much for any heartbreak over Dr. Feelgood.
    "Oh!" Ana added, "make sure they don't air you saying that asthma part, okay? I could get fired."
    I looked at Roxie. "Ana asks that you don't use that last part, my asthma comment."
    Roxie gave me a thumbs-up.
    "I'll pick you up at five," I told Ana.
    "I can drive."
    "No!"
    "Fine. Oh!" She coughed. "I'm sending someone over later on today. Sweet kid."
    "I don't need anyone, Ana. It's almost winter—"
    "Just humor me," she said, and clicked off.
    All but three of my employees had been "sent over" by Ana. They were a great group, criminal backgrounds and all. Honestly, I don't know what I'd do without them.
    There had been some changes at TBS in the last month. I'd cut back on the workload, sticking solely to one major makeover a week and one mini per week. Business had picked up so fast over the last year I found I couldn't keep up. It was too much. Everyone had been overworked and overextended. Rather than expanding the company, I'd opted to cut back on my projects, though I did have a side project in mind for Deanna Parks, a high-energy, up-andcoming designer who had worked for me a couple of years now. Overall, I wanted to keep my small business small.
    The new schedule had been working out great. I'd hired two new part-time contractors to help out Kit Pipe, my overworked head foreman. He'd been enjoying having his own little crew. And of course, I still occasionally hired out, mostly to Ignacio Martinez, a fl oating contractor who provided a team of manual laborers when the going got tough.
    Unfortunately, business was going to drop off soon due to the weather. I had outdoor projects lined up through the middle of November, and several indoor designs planned throughout the colder months. My full-timers would stay on, but my part-timers would only work on an as-needed basis.
    Until winter kicked in, I'd keep everyone around. There was always a lot of preparation to