Blazing Summer by Denise Grover Swank

Author:Denise Grover Swank [Swank, Denise Grover]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781503901803
Publisher: Montlake Romance
Published: 2018-06-04T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Four o’clock was the perfect time for a semiprivate conversation at Maybelline’s Diner. It was well past the lunch hour and still too early for most folks to want dinner, with the exception of a few senior citizens, and they were usually hard of hearing.

A young woman wearing jeans and a T-shirt covered in teddy bears was sitting in a booth facing the door. Her light-brown hair was pulled back in a ponytail. Her mouth was drawn, and the moment she laid eyes on me, she looked close to bolting.

I gave her a soft smile and approached her table slowly. “Clementine?”

She leaned forward to look around me. “Where’s Dixie?”

Oh, crap. It had never occurred to me that she’d expect Dixie to be with me, but then of course she would. Dixie and I had been like eggs and bacon back in April.

I stopped at the edge of the table. “She’s workin’ on another case. We both agreed she shouldn’t be workin’ on something related to her.”

She gave a quick nod, reached into her purse, and pulled out a cigarette. Then, as though realizing where she was, she stuffed it back in her purse.

“Would you be more comfortable talking somewhere else?” I asked. “Somewhere you can smoke?”

She shook her head and folded her hands on the table. “No. I’m hungry.”

I tilted my head toward the seat across from her. “Is it okay if I sit?”

She nodded, then her eyes darted toward the door.

Why was she so nervous? That, and the fact that she hadn’t asked me why I wanted to talk to her, told me that she definitely knew something.

I slid into the booth seat and grimaced when my knee hit the pole under the table.

“I heard about Amelia nearly runnin’ you down this afternoon,” she said.

I gave a half shrug, seeing no reason to comment any further. The whole town had no doubt heard about it, and soon it would probably become wider news. I settled onto the seat and tried to figure out how to proceed. Clementine was so spooked, I worried she’d take off running—whether she’d eaten or not. I needed to seem harmless.

Maybelline sauntered over with a glass of tea in one hand and water in the other. Her usual carrot-orange hair had a redder tint than usual, and her blue waitress dress was stained with something brown. She set the tea in front of me and the water in front of Clementine, then put a hand on her hip. “What can I get you girls?”

“Nothing for me,” I said, “but Clementine’s hungry, and I’m paying.”

Clementine’s eyes narrowed slightly, but she ordered a club sandwich and fries along with a Coke.

Maybelline turned to go back to the kitchen, but I called out, “Bring me a nonsweet tea, please.”

She stopped and glanced over her shoulder. “There’s only one kind of tea, Summer Baumgartner, and that’s the kind you have in front of ya. Don’t you dare suggest something they serve out in Cal-eh-forn-I-ay.” She butchered the pronunciation of California with a lot of attitude before stomping back into the kitchen with a huff.

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