Death by Association by Paula Darnell

Author:Paula Darnell [Darnell, Paula]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Cozy Cat Press
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 12

With a parting pat on Bear’s head, the lieutenant flashed me a 200-watt smile and strolled down my front sidewalk. When he reached the street, he looked back at me and waved. Feeling a bit light-headed, I raised my hand in a half-hearted salute and leaned on the door, closing it. What had I done?

I rushed to my smartphone and texted Tracey that I had a date with Wes on Thursday evening. Not surprisingly, my phone rang within seconds.

“I can’t believe you texted me the big news! Why didn’t you call?” Without waiting for my response, Tracey demanded: “Tell me everything.”

I did exactly that, describing how I’d found the list mixed in with my paperwork and my meeting with Wes. By the time I finished, Tracey was gushing with uncontained excitement. At last, I was following her advice, and she was thrilled.

“So you think I did the right thing by accepting his invitation to dinner?”

“Why would you even ask that, Lo-lo?” she said, reverting to her childhood name for me. “He sounds totally hot! You go, girl! Does he have a brother?”

We laughed. Tracey may have been between boyfriends at the time, but that was a situation that never lasted very long. My BFF certainly didn’t need my help where meeting men was concerned.

After discussing my new-found love life for an hour, we agreed to meet the next day to do the shopping for Bessie’s party. I was glad that Tracey had been able to take the day off. As a top manager at a company that specialized in branding and the design of custom-made trade show booths and displays, she has some flexibility with her schedule. Not only that, but she also has a huge SUV. With her big vehicle and my smaller one, we would be able to transport all the food with no problem. After comparing notes on our expanding grocery list, we arranged to meet for brunch at our favorite breakfast hang-out, Cuppa Joe, before driving to Costco to buy the food for the party. I wasn’t sure that our budget would cover everything that we needed to buy, but I had already decided to pick up the difference if we couldn’t stretch the money far enough.

During the night, I tossed and turned restlessly, not sleeping much at all, and after I finally fell asleep, it seemed like only minutes before I felt a wet doggie kiss on my face, and I knew that it was already time to get up and take Bear for his morning walk. After a quick trip to the bathroom, I dressed in light cotton capris, a brown t-shirt, and my been-through-the-mill, lace-up walking shoes. A glance in the mirror told me all I needed to know about my appearance. My sleepless night showed on my face, dark circles shadowing my eyes. Oh, well. I knew there wasn’t anything I could do about that now, and there’d be no time for a nap later, so I’d have to depend on caffeine, and lots of it, to get me through the day.

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