Run Don't Think (The Agency Book 1) by C.C. Bolick

Author:C.C. Bolick [Bolick, C.C.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Dirt Road Books
Published: 2018-04-26T05:00:00+00:00

* * * * *

After shopping for new clothes for myself and Skip, I felt guilty that Louisa wouldn’t let me buy anything. I insisted on buying lunch to take back to the house. Her eyes widened when I ordered Skip three barbecue sandwiches, plus a double order of fries. They got even wider when I paid for all of our meals with a hundred-dollar bill.

I watched her as she drove back in the green station wagon. Most of the other cars passed us, but she didn’t notice or maybe she didn’t care. Louisa didn’t seem like someone who worked for a government agency, but then again, my dad hadn’t either. Were she and Harold playing some kind of game with us?

Later, she let me help with dinner, something my mom had always refused. I peeled potatoes and then mashed them after they boiled as she talked about her work with the church, including a mission trip to Central America.

“Have you ever worked for the government?” I asked.

Louisa glanced up from the stove where she was frying chicken. Grease popped out of the deep cast-iron pan as she flipped the chicken over. She’d told me this was one of her favorite pans, left to her by her grandmother. She didn’t fry often, but when she did she used this heavy black pan.

“Government?” She laughed. “What kind of question is that? Harold and I both retired from jobs at an auto plant. We pay our taxes and fill out any paperwork they might ask for, but we’ve never worked for the government. More like we try to stay off their radar. Our accountant says tax audits can be grueling. I’ve always believed if you do what’s right, good things will come your way. People on TV complain about their benefits decreasing, but ours have only gone up.”

I shrugged off her teasing sound, which again felt genuine, and added butter and milk to the potatoes as she’d suggested. “It’s a feel thing,” she’d said, but obviously I felt like the potatoes needed too much milk. Louisa didn’t complain as she fixed the mess I made.

Harold walked into the kitchen as Louisa turned off the stove, with Skip right behind him. They’d both taken showers and changed out of the clothes that had been ruined by dust from hanging sheet rock and the yellow paint Louisa had insisted would brighten up the bathroom.

“I want to eat in the dining room,” she said.

He raised an eyebrow. “We never eat in that room.”

“Harold, please.”

“We weren’t expecting company,” he mumbled to Skip. “Usually the church gives us a heads-up.”

“I can call Theo,” Louisa said.

Skip and I both froze.

Harold laughed. “And say what? Thanks for sending us not one but two kids who’ve been nothing but helpful? Don’t jinx this Louisa.” He turned to Skip. “Maybe you can help me fix something, since you did an outstanding job on the bathroom. If Louisa will give us a few minutes…”

“Go,” she said with a mixture of resignation and laughter.

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