Six Cloves Under by Gin Jones

Author:Gin Jones [Jones, Gin]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Lyrical Press
Published: 2019-12-20T11:37:16+00:00

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

The trip back to the farm took Mabel past the Stevens Funeral Home. As far as she could tell, in West Slocum all roads led, not to Rome, but to its one funeral home. A depressing thought, and one that poor Bettina experienced every time she left her house. No wonder she’d wanted to barricade herself at home indefinitely. Rory and the rest of Bettina’s friends had apparently been treating her with kid gloves the last six months, and today, in her first tentative foray into real life, Mabel had insisted that Bettina work with someone she distrusted.

Mabel pushed the accelerator pedal a little harder. What was everyone afraid what would happen if Bettina was stressed? The expected consequences couldn’t have been too extreme, or Rory wouldn’t have recommended giving Bettina some responsibility, especially when that responsibility involved Rory’s daughter. Of course, Rory hadn’t anticipated Mabel running late, or Bettina’s having to supervise Kyle Sherman. Just how unstable was Bettina?

Mabel pulled into her parking space next to the farmhouse’s back patio, spraying as much gravel as Kyle had when he left the farm in a huff. She raced out of the car and into the fields to find Bettina perched on the seat of the tractor, clearly anxious to leave, while the teens and Kyle went about their work.

“I’m so sorry I’m late.” Mabel maintained a safe distance from the tractor’s massive wheels, even though the engine was off. “I lost track of time while I was picking up lunch supplies.”

“Scott’s going to be upset,” Bettina said without any particular emotion. “He hates it when I’m late, and I’m sure he has a lot to tell me today.”

“You’d better get going, then. Don’t wait for the rest of us. I’ll check in with the crew and then walk back to the farmhouse to get lunch ready.”

“You can’t leave them out here alone.” She nodded her head toward the teens, and then lowered her voice. “Not with him here.”

“Was he that much of a problem while I was gone?”

“Well, no, but that’s because I was keeping an eye on him. I never left him alone for one second. He didn’t steal any garlic on my watch.”

“I appreciate that,” Mabel said, wondering how Kyle could have possibly stolen anything, given his current clothing, even if he’d been left in the fields completely alone. “I’ll talk to Anna about keeping an eye on him for the few minutes left until lunch.”

“If you insist.” With one final glare at Kyle, Bettina reached for the key in the ignition, and then sat back again without turning it over. “I almost forgot. Rory called to say that her husband, Joe, will be picking Dawn up at dinner time. Rory’s been delayed like you were. Must be the day for it.”

“I’ll watch for him.”

“He’ll be easy to spot in his uniform. He’s a cop, almost as dedicated to his work as Scott was before…well, you know. Guys like them are always in uniform, even when they’re not.

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.