Buzz Off - By Hannah Reed Page 0,76
help there.
“Your cousin could have been killed today,” Mom said in an accusing voice.
“We’re all at risk every time we cross the street,” I countered. “Besides, I feel bad enough as it is.”
“Where were you?”
“Away.”
“From now on, two of you have to be in the store at all times. And keep that back door locked. What were you thinking, leaving it open?”
“Nobody in this entire town had a reason to lock up anything until recently,” I said. “I bet you left your car unlocked when you came in here, didn’t you? Grams’s back door is wide open right now, isn’t it? What’s this town coming to if we have to go around afraid?”
“Johnny Jay better get on the stick and clean up this town, or we’ll fire him and get someone in who can do the job.”
Ooh, good. Get her mad at the police chief.
“I hear you were out at Hunter Wallace’s house.”
“Who told you that?”
“One of Grams’s friends saw you riding on the back of his motorcycle, heading toward his house. Please don’t tell me he’s back in the picture after all these years.”
“Nobody’s in the picture.”
I heard Holly snort from the other side of the aisle where she was listening in.
“We still need to have a talk,” Mom said.
“Not while I’m working.”
“What are you going to do until Carrie Ann can come back?” Mom wanted to know. “You and your sister will have to cover mornings and afternoons until the Craig boys can get here. Do you hear that, Holly? You both are opening the store tomorrow first thing.”
I heard a gasp and blathering.
“Or,” Mom said, “I’m going to have to pitch in and do it right. I could rearrange this store so things are laid out much better than they are.”
She had her hands on her hips and was studying the store with a sharp eye. Not good.
Not good at all.
Thirty-one
By the time the Craig twins came into the store at three o’clock, they, along with the rest of Moraine, already knew about the robbery. With a huge sigh of relief, I turned the front of the store over to them so Holly and I could go straighten up the storage room.
“What was our thief looking for back here?” I wanted to know, after checking the store’s small safe and finding it undisturbed. Thank God!
“More money in a drawer?” Holly suggested. “Lots of store owners keep extra cash in the back that isn’t as secure as ours is.”
That made sense, but my inner voice suspected there was more to it. Too many disturbing things had happened recently to ignore anything.
I called the hospital to get information on Carrie Ann’s condition. My cousin was resting comfortably.
“You’ll have to pay her for time off,” Holly said. “Since she was hurt at work.”
“Carrie Ann’s been nothing but trouble,” I said, sounding like my mother the second the words were out of my mouth.
Holly giggled. “But she’s a ton of fun.”
“That she is.”
“I’ll run up to the hospital and see for myself how she’s doing. GTG (Got To Go).”
“Let me know. And see you first thing tomorrow morning.”
After Holly left, I made a minor dent in a pile of paperwork, hating every minute of it. Bookkeeping was not one of my strong suits, but a few invoices needed immediate attention or the electricity and phone service would be disconnected. The market paid for itself and more, so money wasn’t the issue. Getting myself to sit down and do the work was the biggest problem.
After groaning through that chore, I walked down to Stu’s.
“Can I borrow the canoe again?” I asked him.
“You can take the canoe anytime you want.”
Stu was a great guy. Becky needed to land him for good one of these days before some other woman made a move.
“How come you didn’t tell me Hunter was an alcoholic?” I asked him.
“Didn’t know you didn’t know. Besides, wasn’t any of your business.”
“I guess not. Is he okay?”
“Better off than most of us. His head’s in the right place. Sometimes personal struggles make a person stronger and better.”
“My problems haven’t done a thing for my self-improvement,” I said, thinking of my struggles with my mother and my marriage. “At least, not that I’ve noticed.”
“It might sneak up on you someday when you aren’t looking.”
“How did you get so smart?”
“Born that way.”
I went around to the back of the bar and grill, shoved off in the canoe, and lost myself in the river’s action where life was simple and easy and smelled so