Bad Lies by Thomas B. Jones

Author:Thomas B. Jones
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: North Star Press of St. Cloud
Published: 2014-09-05T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 30

Clancy sure as hell didn’t want Flash playing in the St. Paul Open, and O’Donnell wondered how far the man had gone already. Surely Clancy didn’t hire someone like Sanford for the rough stuff. Those two started out in quite opposite corners, to say the least. That piece of the puzzle didn’t fit at all.

On the road home, O’Donnell bought a six-pack to go from Harry’s Tap, a 3.2 joint across from the fairgrounds off of Snelling Avenue. It wouldn’t be long until the gates would open for the Minnesota State Fair. O’Donnell mouth watered at the thought of Mrs. Hopkins’ pork and baked beans at the Hamline Methodist church tent. The corn dogs and coleslaw at the Knights of Columbus hall were darn tasty, too. And the strawberry short cake and homemade vanilla ice cream the Lutheran ladies always offered for dessert? It was enough to make a man take religion seriously.

A late model Lincoln sat in the middle of his driveway. Jill stood next to it, staring at the lake, wearing a snug bandana top and skimpy shorts. She wiggled around to wave hello, getting every penny’s worth of effect from her abbreviated outfit.

“I hope you don’t mind me chasing you out here,” she said.

O’Donnell told her he didn’t mind. “You look beautiful.”

“I need all the compliments I can get today.” Jill slid off the hood and walked by O’Donnell, trailing her fingers across his shoulder. She sat on the porch steps, once again looking out at the lake.

O’Donnell opened the door for Cosmo, who after allowing brief petting session, took off towards the neighbor’s hedge to re-mark his turf. A glance back at the porch sitters, a hasty wag of his tail, and he set off for the Ander­son’s cabin again. O’Donnell figured he needed to buy more doggie treats.

“Anything wrong?” O’Donnell asked. “You look sad.”

“I’m so sorry the way I’ve treated you, Johnny. You don’t deserve it.”

O’Donnell moved close to her, and held her hand in his. They sat beside each other on the porch steps.

“I want to apologize to you for treating you the way I have,” she said in a small, determined voice. “I haven’t been myself lately.”

O’Donnell waited for her to say more. She traced the palm of his hand with her fingers. “Do you know what I did during the war?”

He already knew about the Women’s Reserves, though still found it hard to believe.

“I joined the Women’s Reserves.” Her eyes brightened at the memory, and she looked for a reaction. He could tell this had been an important time for her. “I’m really missing those days,” she said.

Jill told O’Donnell she’d joined up with a college friend on the spur of the moment. They dropped out of classes at Northwestern, and traveled to the Hunter College campus in New York City to train with the first group of Women’s Reserves. They waited until the enlistment papers were sealed and delivered before informing their parents.

“Daddy came around a little after he recovered from the shock,” Jill laughed, “but Mother couldn’t imagine how I could do such a thing.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.