Seer in Starlight: The Stella Novellas - Book 1 (Pentacle Pawn) by Amanda Hartford

Author:Amanda Hartford [Hartford, Amanda]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Nineteen Cents Press
Published: 2019-09-26T16:00:00+00:00

♦

When Vonda's temp picked me up, her car was already filled with the delightful scents of pastrami and Italian beef sandwiches from one of the best delis in Scottsdale.

We introduced ourselves. Lindsay was a mousy dishwater blonde about my own age. She was wearing a simple skirt, blouse, and flat shoes, all of which I was sure had “Made in China” labels.

“How long have you been temping for Vonda?” I asked her.

“On and off, for a couple of years now.”

“So, you must have known Jack.”

I was afraid for a minute that Lindsay was about to tear up, but then she took a deep breath and squared her shoulders. “He was a great guy. This has been really hard on everybody.”

She’d had a crush on him. Time to change the subject, fast. “I just met Vonda the other day, but she seems really nice.”

Her enthusiasm was back. “She’s great! I’m always happy when the agency calls and says she’s back in town.”

“Do you work for the CFO, too?”

Lindsay wrinkled her nose. “No, thank goodness. Schneider’s kind of a pickle.”

Interesting turn of phrase. “What’s his deal?”

“Nothing I can put my finger on,” Lindsay said, quickly backtracking. “He’s always been a gentleman.” She pulled into a gated community. “I guess you should just decide for yourself.”

I helped Lindsay carry in the boxes from the deli, and Vonda opened the door to the condo for us.

“Welcome! I’m so glad you could come, even under such sad circumstances.”

I thanked her, and she led me to a small dining room that overlooked a lushly landscaped swimming pool. Lindsay grabbed a sandwich and scurried off to an office in the back of the condo.

“This is beautiful,” I said. “It must be lovely to work here.”

“Oh, you haven’t been here before?” Vonda asked. She was testing to see whether Jack brought his girlfriends to the condo.

I knew I was blushing. “No, Jack and I were just work friends.”

“As were we, but we’ll still miss him around here.”

Vonda picked up a framed photograph on the sideboard. I recognized Vonda and Lindsay, with the Jack on the far side. In the middle of the photo were two middle-aged men. “This was taken the day we got the keys to the condo.”

The one next to Vonda was smiling at the camera, his arm around her waist. “Is that Jack’s Uncle Ethan?”

Vonda smiled fondly and nodded. “And the other one is our CFO, Charles Schneider.”

Schneider wasn’t smiling; he was clearly just putting up with this nonsense until he could escape back to his laptop.

“Jack was something special,” I said.

“That, he was,” Vonda said she put the photo away.

We sat at the dining table, ate our sandwiches and talked about the terms of my employment. It was pretty simple: I was on call whenever Vonda or other company executives were in residence at the condo. Otherwise, the company car was mine to use.

“Since you have your own apartment, there’s no reason for you to live here,” Vonda said, “but otherwise, it’s pretty much the same arrangement we had with Jack.

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