Flirting with Temptation - By Kelley St. John Page 0,4
“No, I don’t.”
Granny nodded. “You told me, dear, when you were explaining the whole body language thing. And you know, I’m learning to spot some of the signs myself, when I’m at the center and out shopping and all. It does come in handy.”
“ ‘The body language thing?’ ” Clarise asked.
“Babette has been studying up on body language,” Granny said.
Clarise rubbed her eyes, then squinted toward Babette. “Studying up? Oh, Babette, are you going back to school again?”
“Don’t worry, I’m learning about it on my own. I’m done with degrees. Heaven knows I can’t handle any more student loans.”
Clarise sighed. Babette couldn’t blame her; the whole family knew she’d dug herself in deep with all of the debt she owed to three different universities, because she simply couldn’t make up her mind about what she wanted to do. Too bad she didn’t realize she liked trying to figure people out before her job at Shady Pines. Maybe she could’ve gotten a degree in psychology or something like that.
“Babette has a knack for reading folks,” Granny said, her train of thought apparently in line with Babette’s. “Why, she told me after her first day at the center who hung out with who, who despised who, and even who the denture thief was.”
“The denture thief? Someone was actually stealing dentures?” Clarise wrinkled her nose disgustedly, while Babette laughed.
“Not exactly stealing. Borrowing. And that one really didn’t involve any body language. I’d noticed that Ms. Mulhaney was on a soft diet, since she didn’t have teeth. Then I saw her munching on an apple at lunch. Later on, she was all gums again. And in the meantime, the denture thief had stolen Ms. Fenton’s dentures, for about an hour.”
“Long enough to eat an apple,” Clarise said, smothering her laugh.
“Yep.”
Granny Gert wasn’t as subtle with her laughter, and actually snorted. Thankfully, all of the wedding guests at the tables surrounding them seemed involved in their own conversations and didn’t notice. “Poor Ms. Mulhaney.”
“Anyway, at Shady Pines, I started noticing that I’m pretty good at reading people, their body language, even interpreting what they’re really saying when they speak. Most of the time, I’m spot on. And lately, I’ve been reading up on body language and researching it on the Internet, and I’ve bought a few books on intimate behavior, that kind of thing.” She shrugged. “You know me, always wanting to learn something new.”
“And getting bored with the things you already know,” Clarise said, grinning.
“Show Clarise how you do it,” Granny urged. “Why don’t you read Clarise?”
Clarise sat back in her chair and raised her brows speculatively. “Okay, I’m game. Read me, sis.”
“Read you?”
“Sure. What is my body language saying, right now?”
Babette realized that she had, in fact, surveyed Clarise’s actions throughout this conversation and had a good idea exactly what her sister was thinking. “It isn’t all that difficult, once you figure out the signs.”
“Okay, so read me.”
Babette narrowed her eyes a bit, focusing on her sister. “You’re trying to act interested in this conversation, but your hands are busy fiddling with your fork. However, your eyes are still paying attention to me.” She paused, recalling something else noteworthy, then added, “But when Granny mentioned I was studying how to read people, you rubbed your eyes.”
Clarise smirked. “And that tells you, what?”
“The fact that you’re fiddling with the fork but looking at me tells me that you understand what I’m saying is important, but you’ve got half a piece of chocolate cake left and you’re wanting to delve back in. But you don’t want to seem rude.”
Granny Gert laughed, and Clarise joined in. “Okay, I do want more cake, and I’m assuming it’s okay with you for me to have it while you discuss your latest dilemma.”
“Knock yourself out.”
“Is that all you can tell about me now?” Clarise asked, then took a big bite of cake.
“You rubbed your eyes,” Babette repeated. “That means you couldn’t believe what you were hearing. It’s a sign of disbelief, and in this case, I’d say you couldn’t believe that I was possibly going back to school again. Which I’m not, as I said.”
“Not bad,” Clarise said.
“It’s kind of fun, once you start learning how to do it. And I am still learning—certainly not an expert or anything.”
“She got the idea from Dr. Phil,” Granny said. “You know, he talks about body language and such a good bit, and Babette heard him mention it, decided that she might be able to use body language to help her figure