Elizabeth C. Main - Jane Serrano 02 - No Rest for the Wicked by Elizabeth C. Main
Authors: Elizabeth C. Main
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about Nick.
Expecting a distraught and downcast Tyler to rush me at the door of Thornton’s, I was pleasantly surprised to find him in animated conversation with three girls outfitted all in black when I walked in. I’d forgotten that students from the Juniper High School drama class would be here this week filming a re-enactment upstairs of my heroic exploits from last year. They seemed to be doing wonders for Tyler’s mood. No anxiety or ruffled feathers in evidence now. If anything, he was preening those same feathers at the feminine attention he was getting. He attempted a nonchalant, “ Hi, Jane, ” but his blush gave him away.
“ Done with the filming? ” I asked.
When I received three identical nods from girls with heavily made-up eyes, I disappeared tactfully into the office in an attempt to give Tyler the maximum scope to operate. A pparently , my presence had broken the spell though because I soon heard the front door open and close. In a couple of minutes, Tyler appeared at the office door.
I looked up from today’s invoices. “ Sorry if I cramped your style. No wonder you liked the idea of the class coming to film at the store. They were cute. ”
“ Oh, get off it. It’s good publicity. ” Tyler looked at the floor and cracked his knuckles, instantly reverting from teen heartthrob to nervous boy.
Sometimes I forgot he was only sixteen and subject to the insecurities that went with the age. Looking at the top of his blond head, I felt a sudden pang, Over the past year, he’d become like a member of my family. Would one of those cute girls break his heart? I decided against embarrassing him further.
“ So, how’d things go this afternoon? Sorry to leave you in the lurch, but I didn’t get your messages until just now. ” I gave him the opportunity to bring up this morning’s scene downtown in his own good time.
“ Fine. Minnie and Velda helped me clean up, we got four boxes of books … you know, the usual. I think maybe the screams from the filming upstairs kept some customers from browsing, even when I told ’ em about the filming, but it was a little noisy. Bianca called a couple of times later to update me about everything. She sounded steamed that you’re dropping the investigation. ”
“ Did she mention that Alix asked me to do just that? ”
“ She thought you could’ve put up more of a fight. ”
I pushed some bills around on the desk without seeing them. “ Alix couldn’t think of a plan, but I was supposed to? ”
He put up his hands in a defensive gesture. “ I’m just telling you— ”
“ I know. Not your problem. ” If that wasn’t a clear invitation to tell me what his problem actually was, I’d never given one. Nothing but silence. Fine. I could wait. “ I’d better get caught up. ” I made my way to the front of the store.
Tyler trailed me and handed over the bank deposit bag. “ It’s just that Bianca and Minnie … well, all of us really … depend on you. And Alix, of course. We’re not trying to dump problems on you, but it’s like … we always know you can help. ”
No wonder I liked this kid. “ That’s a comforting way of looking at it. Maybe you can help Bianca not to get ‘steamed’ when I don’t instantly fix everything. ”
“ Well, you know Bianca. She’s your daughter. It’s her job to give you a hard time, keep your brain from getting rusty. ”
“ Great. She’s got a talent for it. I’ll give her that. ” I smiled at him. “ Speaking of talent, did you ever consider a career in diplomacy? ”
“ I might, if my deal with the Red Sox doesn’t work out. ” He shuffled his feet and looked inquiringly at me. “ So Alix was really married to that guy? ”
“ Hard to believe, I know, but it was a long time ago. ”
“ But she’s in the clear, with the sheriff and everything. ”
“ Yes. And that’s just about all we know. ”
“ But we could investigate . . . ”
“ T hat’s what Minnie wants, and
Expecting a distraught and downcast Tyler to rush me at the door of Thornton’s, I was pleasantly surprised to find him in animated conversation with three girls outfitted all in black when I walked in. I’d forgotten that students from the Juniper High School drama class would be here this week filming a re-enactment upstairs of my heroic exploits from last year. They seemed to be doing wonders for Tyler’s mood. No anxiety or ruffled feathers in evidence now. If anything, he was preening those same feathers at the feminine attention he was getting. He attempted a nonchalant, “ Hi, Jane, ” but his blush gave him away.
“ Done with the filming? ” I asked.
When I received three identical nods from girls with heavily made-up eyes, I disappeared tactfully into the office in an attempt to give Tyler the maximum scope to operate. A pparently , my presence had broken the spell though because I soon heard the front door open and close. In a couple of minutes, Tyler appeared at the office door.
I looked up from today’s invoices. “ Sorry if I cramped your style. No wonder you liked the idea of the class coming to film at the store. They were cute. ”
“ Oh, get off it. It’s good publicity. ” Tyler looked at the floor and cracked his knuckles, instantly reverting from teen heartthrob to nervous boy.
Sometimes I forgot he was only sixteen and subject to the insecurities that went with the age. Looking at the top of his blond head, I felt a sudden pang, Over the past year, he’d become like a member of my family. Would one of those cute girls break his heart? I decided against embarrassing him further.
“ So, how’d things go this afternoon? Sorry to leave you in the lurch, but I didn’t get your messages until just now. ” I gave him the opportunity to bring up this morning’s scene downtown in his own good time.
“ Fine. Minnie and Velda helped me clean up, we got four boxes of books … you know, the usual. I think maybe the screams from the filming upstairs kept some customers from browsing, even when I told ’ em about the filming, but it was a little noisy. Bianca called a couple of times later to update me about everything. She sounded steamed that you’re dropping the investigation. ”
“ Did she mention that Alix asked me to do just that? ”
“ She thought you could’ve put up more of a fight. ”
I pushed some bills around on the desk without seeing them. “ Alix couldn’t think of a plan, but I was supposed to? ”
He put up his hands in a defensive gesture. “ I’m just telling you— ”
“ I know. Not your problem. ” If that wasn’t a clear invitation to tell me what his problem actually was, I’d never given one. Nothing but silence. Fine. I could wait. “ I’d better get caught up. ” I made my way to the front of the store.
Tyler trailed me and handed over the bank deposit bag. “ It’s just that Bianca and Minnie … well, all of us really … depend on you. And Alix, of course. We’re not trying to dump problems on you, but it’s like … we always know you can help. ”
No wonder I liked this kid. “ That’s a comforting way of looking at it. Maybe you can help Bianca not to get ‘steamed’ when I don’t instantly fix everything. ”
“ Well, you know Bianca. She’s your daughter. It’s her job to give you a hard time, keep your brain from getting rusty. ”
“ Great. She’s got a talent for it. I’ll give her that. ” I smiled at him. “ Speaking of talent, did you ever consider a career in diplomacy? ”
“ I might, if my deal with the Red Sox doesn’t work out. ” He shuffled his feet and looked inquiringly at me. “ So Alix was really married to that guy? ”
“ Hard to believe, I know, but it was a long time ago. ”
“ But she’s in the clear, with the sheriff and everything. ”
“ Yes. And that’s just about all we know. ”
“ But we could investigate . . . ”
“ T hat’s what Minnie wants, and
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