Path of the Wicked by Jennifer Stanley

Author:Jennifer Stanley
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi, pdf
Publisher: Macmillan
Published: 2010-05-22T04:00:00+00:00

The next day Cooper was struggling to replace the fuser assembly on a Canon copier so that it would no longer produce double images when her cell phone rang. Since her hands were dirty, she ignored the melodious burst of her phone’s Love Me Do ring. When it began to ring again, the Beatles crooning rather loudly in boisterous harmony, the manager of the clothing store swiveled around in her chair and frowned.

“Can I get that for you?” she asked Cooper acerbically, tapping her pencil with impatience. “I’m trying to fill out my hours schedule and I just can’t do the math when I’m distracted.”

“Sorry, ma’am.” Cooper hastily wiped her hands with a rag, grabbed her phone, and stepped out the back door, which was reserved for deliveries, smoke breaks, and banished service people, such as herself.

Noting that both calls had come from Ashley, Cooper immediately grew annoyed. “Some of us have jobs to do!” she blurted out as her sister answered the phone.

There was a moment of silence. “Coop. I need a favor.”

Surprised by Ashley’s tone, which was uncommonly quiet and edging toward timidity, Cooper quickly agreed.

“I’ve got an appointment with Dr. Easter this afternoon,” Ashley explained. “He’s the foremost infertility doctor in Richmond.”

“I thought you decided to give yourself more time before seeing a specialist,” Cooper noted gently.

Ashley sighed mournfully. “The time it takes most couples has come and gone. Something’s wrong, Cooper. I can feel it inside and I need to know what the problem is. I’m going to get one of those 3-D ultrasounds this afternoon and Lincoln won’t, well, he can’t . . .” She trailed off.

“Of course I’ll come.”

“You won’t even miss any work,” Ashley hurriedly explained. “I took the last appointment of the day so Lincoln wouldn’t have to cut his weekly staff meeting short, but now he says he’s got some Fall Madness Sale coming up and has to be there to fire up his salesmen.” She sniffed. “I can’t believe he thinks that talking one of his employees into wearing a werewolf suit for Halloween is more important than us having a baby. I need to see Dr. Easter, but I just couldn’t go alone, Coop. I’m . . . I’m scared.”

Trying to suppress the anger she felt toward Lincoln for being so unsupportive of her sister, Cooper kicked at the concrete wall she was leaning against with the point of her black boot. “Don’t be. Everything’s going to be all right. I’ll even hold your hand if you want me to.”

“Gross!” Ashley uttered a characteristically theatrical squeal. “I don’t want grease all over me!” She let loose a small giggle. “Besides, who knows what parts of me are going to be exposed. Your neck would be red as a fire truck!”

The sisters laughed and said good-bye. Back inside, the manager’s scowl had deepened. “I’m ready to use my copier now,” she whined while straightening one of her five necklaces. “When will it be fixed?”

“In just a few moments, ma’am,” Cooper replied politely through gritted teeth.

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