Caught on the Book by Laura Gail Black

Author:Laura Gail Black [Black, Laura Gail]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: CROOKED LANE BOOKS

Chapter Fifteen

I walked into Twice Upon a Time to the sound of my door chimes tinkling over my head. “Hi, Mason, how’s business today?”

“Hey, boss lady.” He rushed from behind the counter and threw his arms around me in a bear hug. “Are you okay?”

“Other than struggling to breathe right now, sure.” I laughed as he jumped back.

“Sorry.” He furrowed his brows and jammed his hands in his pockets. “I heard what happened and was worried about you.”

“I’m fine. I promise.” I swung my gaze around the empty store. “Slow day?”

He shook his head and stepped behind the counter to grab a stack of receipts. “It’s been busy. This is just the lunch lull.”

I looked at my watch. Darn, half the day was gone already. “I’m just grabbing a few things for Eddy and me. We’re staying at Keith’s until I can get the locks changed on my apartment.”

“You’d better get on that if you don’t want to pay weekend rates to get it done.” Mason dropped the receipt stack back into the tiny basket under the counter. “Let me know if I can help with anything.”

“Just keep looking after the store.” I placed a hand on his arm. “I know I’ve dumped it off on you this week, and I’m sorry. I really do appreciate the hard work you do.”

A smile brightened Mason’s face. “You know I love this place, probably as much as you do. So it’s all good.”

I gave him another quick hug—one that didn’t risk breaking my ribs this time—and hurried up the spiral stairs to my apartment. When I finally located another suitable duffel under the bed, I laid it open on the bed and loaded it with clothing for four days, several more toys for Eddy, the book I was reading, and my hair dryer, which I’d forgotten in my haste the night before. I’d had to use Keith’s, which ran too hot and had frizzed my wavy hair into a dark-blonde fluffy mess for the day.

In the kitchen, I put several days of dog food into Ziploc baggies and tossed them into the duffel on top of my clothes. I searched the apartment for anything someone might want to steal and added my aunt’s and uncle’s wedding rings and the antique copy of The Five Little Peppers and How They Grew that Keith had given me a few months ago to the bag and zipped it closed, a bit disappointed to realize most of my stuff wouldn’t interest a burglar, unless they wanted to steal a TV or a coffeemaker.

Bag over my shoulder and keys in my hand, I went back through the connecting doors to the spiral staircase and locked both. As I came down the stairs, a familiar form stood with her back to me at the counter.

Emma Sutter turned when one of the stairs creaked under my foot, concern etched on her face. “Jenna, there you are. I wanted to make sure you were okay.” She rushed forward and pulled my hands into hers, squeezing them together and cramping my fingers.

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.