The Body in the Cornfield by Catherine Dilts

Author:Catherine Dilts [Dilts, Catherine]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: female amateur sleuth mysteries cozy mystery, woman women’s fiction chick lit female characters, women friends friendship girlfriends buddy story, Oklahoma local book club small town, humor romance, murder thieves, Contemporary Fiction
Published: 2023-11-14T16:00:00+00:00

Shanice had accomplished nothing this evening except give the university gossip mill fodder. She tried to enjoy dancing with Kevin. If she thought about it, which she tried not to, he was only a few years younger than Shanice’s twenty-seven years.

Concentrating on remembering the dance steps prevented casual conversation, but when the song ended, Kevin invited her to say hello to the rest of the students.

“Just for a minute,” Shanice said. “I’ve heard this place gets rowdier later in the evening.”

“True dat,” Kevin said. “We don’t stick around. I’m not exactly on a curfew, but my folks will lock the door on me if I stay out too late.” He laughed.

Four students welcomed Kevin back to their place at the bar, slapping him on the back and congratulating him on becoming teacher’s pet. Kevin waved off their comments.

“Somebody had to break the ice. I don’t see any of you dancing.”

One of his buddies wearing the buzzcut of a recent military recruit bowed toward Shanice. “May I have this dance, ma’am?”

Ma’am? Now she really felt safe with these young men. The five-ish years difference in age must have made her seem like an older sister to them. Or an aunt.

“Do you see that table near the dance floor?” Shanice asked. The five young women looked like they might be college students, or at least closer in age to the young forestry students than Shanice. “Looks like a girls’ night out, and no one has asked them to dance yet.”

“Go on, Darius.” Kevin elbowed the young man with the buzzcut. “Make a move.”

Darius rolled his eyes, but grinned and headed for the table.

“Are you all considering careers in forestry?” Shanice asked.

“I’m an engineering major,” Kevin said. “I jumped on an opportunity to make money over the summer at something other than working in my uncle’s barbeque hut.”

Another student hopped into the conversation. He wore a durag over his short black curls. Fabric trailed down his back, giving him the look of a pirate.

“I’m majoring in business,” he said. “I was interested in retail stores or the music industry, but I’m seeing the potential in sustainable forestry projects.”

“I’m surprised they had intern openings for all of you,” Shanice said.

“They were short-handed ’cause of them.” The pirate guy waved a hand in the direction of the two tables where the amphitheater actors sat. “Local dudes took jobs building sets. But that’s stupid. When the play is done, so is the job.”

“I wanted to be on the university windmill project,” a third student said. He wore a backwards baseball cap, perhaps hoping to appear less of a nerd. The glasses with oversized lenses weren’t helping. “There were limited slots, and they went to engineering students. I’m a literature major.” He flexed a thin bicep. “Working outdoors has improved my strength.”

“Excuse me, ma’am,” durag said. “I can’t let Darius take all the ladies.”

Kevin and his remaining buddies studied the table’s lessening occupants.

“I need to get back to my friends,” Shanice said.

The young men seemed relieved for her to go.

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