Deadly Greetings (Book 2 in the Cardmaking Mysteries) by Tim Myers Page B

her approval, but Bradford
wouldn’t sit. “This isn’t a coincidence. Jennifer, Lillian told me
where you’d be. I need to talk to you.”
    “ So talk,” I said, eating
the last fry I’d had every intention of leaving on my
plate.
    “ Maybe we should do this
later,” he said.
    Sara Lynn snapped, “Bradford Shane, if you
think you’re going to hide anything from me, you’ve lost what
little you have left of your mind.”
    He sighed, and I knew that sound too well.
My brother wasn’t stupid; he knew when he was beaten. “It’s about
Wayne Davidson,” Bradford said, his words weary and tired.
    “ What about him?” I asked.
“You’re not going to say you didn’t fire him, are you?”
    Sara Lynn asked, “What about your
deputy?”
    “ Shh,” I said to her, “I’ll
tell you about it later. Bradford, I’m waiting.”
    “ I fired him all right. The
only problem is, it looks like he’s not going to give up that
easily. You need to watch your step, Jennifer.”
    I could tell Sara Lynn was dying to ask what
it was about, but she was going to have to wait. “Bradford, do you
think he’s going to do something?”
    “ When he’s sober, he’s as
good a cop as I’ve ever seen, but when that boy starts drinking, I
can’t predict his behavior. Wayne won’t leave town—he told me that
point-blank—but I put a scare into him. If you so much as see his
shadow or smell his cologne, call me. None of this ‘brave single
woman against the world’ crap, do you hear me?”
    “ I do,” I said. I didn’t
know if my brother was trying to scare me, but he was doing a
bang-up job of it anyway. “Now if you ladies will excuse me, I’m
late for lunch with my wife.”
    Sara Lynn said, “Give Cindy our love.”
    “ I will,” he said before he
left.
    My sister said, “Tell me about it.”
    “ We both need to get back to
our shops,” I said, not wanting to dredge up the past
again.
    “ Jennifer, family is above
everything else. I’m waiting.”
    So I told her, everything from Wayne’s
stalking me at my business and my apartment to the crude passes
he’d made in the past. By the time I was finished, Sara Lynn was
livid. I added, “Listen, there was nothing I could do about it. I
didn’t ask for his attention.”
    “ I’m not angry with you,”
Sara Lynn said. “Our brother is a thickheaded clod.”
    I couldn’t help myself; I started defending
Bradford. “He couldn’t fire him just on my say-so. You shouldn’t be
mad at Bradford. He was just trying to be fair.”
    Sara Lynn paid the check, barely nodding to
Jack as she led me outside. “Fair is fine, but his first job is to
watch over us. That’s what family is about.”
    At least she was off my back. “Be nice to
him, Sara Lynn. He’s doing the best he can.”
    As she stormed off in the direction of the
library to head Bradford off before he picked Cindy up, Sara Lynn
snapped, “Then his best isn’t going to be good enough for me.”
    I walked back to Custom Card Creations
alone, glad to have a little time to myself. I hated it when Sara
Lynn and Bradford fought, especially when I was in the middle of
it, but we were all grown-ups, at least in theory, and if two of us
were going to be battling, I was just glad to be on the sidelines
for once.
    I was nearly back to the shop when I heard
someone call my name. “Hey, Jen, wait up.”
    It was Gail, and she had a perplexed look on
her face as she approached me.
    “ What’s up?” I
asked.
    “ Jennifer, are we good? Is
there something going on I should know about? If I’ve done
something, you’d give me the chance to make it right, wouldn’t
you?”
    I took her arm. “What on earth are you
talking about?” I’d never seen Gail act that way.
    “ I just need to know if
we’re in trouble.”
    I hugged her and said, “We’ve never been
better. What in the world has upset you?”
    She pulled away and said, “I dropped by your
place last night, but you weren’t there. I couldn’t believe