Maid of Honor by Charlotte MacLeod

Author:Charlotte MacLeod
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781504045056
Publisher: MysteriousPress.com/Open Road
Published: 2017-03-28T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter 10

The gauge read dangerously close to empty. Kids at school were always making jokes about riding around on the fumes. Persis hoped that was actually possible; Loni was in no condition to walk. All she could do was keep nursing the car along, stealing a quick glance at her bedraggled passenger whenever she dared. Loni was a shade less green around the gills now that she’d gotten the liquor out of her stomach, but she was still awfully quiet.

“You’d better comb your hair and fix your face,” Persis told her at last. “What if somebody’s up when we get home?”

Loni started to cry again. “Don’t say that!” she sobbed. “I’ll die if Mama finds out.”

“What’s to find out? What happened to Todd? He tried to get funny and you wouldn’t come across, so he ditched you. Right?”

Loni shook her head.

“You might as well tell me so we can get our stories straight, just in case. Where were you drinking?”

“A place Todd knows of,” Loni admitted grudgingly.

“Where is it?”

“I don’t know. Down toward South Springs.”

“South Springs is at least sixty miles from here.” Which wouldn’t mean much to Todd Ormsey. He’d been picked up for speeding in far slower cars than a Sting Ray. “What sort of place was it?”

“Not the sort Chet’s folks would go to, if that’s what’s worrying you.”

“A dump, huh?”

Persis wasn’t surprised. Todd had the reputation of never spending much on his women. Apparently he’d never felt he had to.

“Didn’t you eat anything? What did you drink?”

“We had pizza and beer. Ugh!”

Loni clapped the handful of crumpled tissues to her mouth again, but she had nothing left to be sick with.

“Don’t try to kid me,” said Persis. “You didn’t get like that on a couple of beers.”

“Todd had a bottle of vodka in the car,” Loni confessed. “Quit nagging at me, will you? You’re worse than Mama. Can’t I do what I like for once in my life?”

“When haven’t you?”

“Never!” Loni exploded furiously. “Never once since I was born, if you want to know. Ever since I can remember, it’s been, ‘Loni, fix your hair.’ ‘Loni, don’t muss your pretty dress.’ ‘Loni, smile for Uncle Peter.’ Loni do this, Loni do that. If she ever said to me, ‘Loni, forget how you look and have a good time,’ I’d drop dead from the shock. Honest, sometimes I get so jealous of you, I could tear your eyes out.”

“Jealous of me?” Persis couldn’t believe what she was hearing.

“Why shouldn’t I be?” Loni raged. “You go where you want, do what you like, and Mama never says a word. I break a fingernail, and it’s a national catastrophe. So now she’s got me wrapped up in Cowles Coatings, and I hope to God she’s satisfied.”

“Aren’t you, Lon?”

“What have I got to say about it? Learn the facts of life, kid. Chet Cowles is a good catch, so Mama caught him. I’m just the worm on the hook. Worms don’t talk, they squirm. Can’t you go any faster?”

“No. I’m not taking any chances on getting stopped.

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