Egg Nog (Aloha Chicken Mysteries Book 12) by Josi Avari

Author:Josi Avari [Avari, Josi]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Quill Canyon Press
Published: 2021-11-30T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eight

The next gift recipient to enter the office, Zora Remke, was a girl in her mid-twenties. She had a long, blonde ponytail and big blue eyes.

Saffron had met the girl before. She worked at Doc Morgan’s vet office as a vet tech. She was very good with the chickens, and very quiet. She always seemed a little sad, though Doc Morgan said she really enjoyed her job and was excellent at it.

“Hi Zora,” Saffron smiled, “Sorry to take you away from the party.”

“That’s okay,” Zora said, “I understand.”

“You can pick up the gift you got from the gift exchange,” Saffron said, indicating the desktop.

Zora fidgeted. Her eyes flicked back and forth from Saffron to the desk full of items. Finally, she picked up the silver frame.

“Did you know Sal Dumont?” Saffron asked.Finally, she spoke, but Saffron could barely hear her.

“Yes,” she said, “I knew him.”

That was more of a lead than Saffron had found so far. She waited a few seconds for Zora to continue, but the girl didn’t offer any more information.

Saffron asked a follow-up question, “So how did you know him?”

“Oh, I don’t actually want to talk about it, because I’d rather people not know at all, but I suppose you can ask anyone around here. He used to be my stepfather. When he was married to my adoptive mom. I’m sorry, it’s all super complicated.”

Saffron had spent her childhood being quizzed by kids at bring-your-father-to-school day. She knew how it felt to see families with very linear connections and then try to describe yours. She wanted to let Zora know that though it felt complicated, the shape of her family was something Saffron was willing to work on understanding.

“So you were adopted, huh?”

Zora looked up, searching Saffron’s face, “Yes. When I was born. My adoptive mom and dad—the Remke’s—couldn’t have children, so they adopted me. She was a nurse here in Maika’i, and she was around babies all the time. But then they divorced, and my dad moved away, and my mom married Sal. But then she divorced him and moved with her new husband to Maui. But by then I was in college down in Honolulu, and I had a job here at the vet clinic when I finished, so I just stayed.”

“Was that awkward?” Saffron asked, “Still living here while Sal was living here, too?”

“No,” the girl answered simply, “It wasn’t that much different.”

“Did the two of you get along? Before the divorce, I mean?”

Zora shrugged, “Yeah, he was fine. He wasn’t ever mean to me or anything. Mostly, he was just really involved in his work, so we didn’t really see him that much.”

“But you didn’t want people to know you were, well, not related, but, I guess, associated with him?”

“No, because even though he was more or less indifferent to me, he was a real jerk to lots of other people, and I never met anyone who actually liked him. Not even my mom, and she married him.”

“Why did she marry him if she didn’t like him?”

Zora sighed, “That’s embarrassing, too.

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.