Apples, Appaloosa and Alibis Maria Swan (best affordable ebook reader .TXT) 📖

part is my assumption. On paper it looks brilliant. And as long as I don’t have to go work in the fishbowl that our new partner calls an office, I’ll be fine. Hell, I get to meet his flock. I hear they are mostly men.” She kept talking while I sat there staring straight in front of me, as if I looked away the walls would crumble and the roof would cave in.

“Are you okay? You’re doing that thing with your mouth,” she said.

I closed my mouth, still searching for something intelligent to say, but she went on. “Monica, it’s not a done deal yet. They are working out the details, and if you don’t like changes you can always take your license somewhere else.”

“That’s stupid,” I mumbled. “If I don’t like changes, I should change companies?”

Kassandra slapped my arm. “Exactly. Let’s go grab a glass of wine after work. I need to shuffle some cards.”

“A card player. Good. Let me guess.” Dale Wolf stood in the doorway and seemed to assess Kassandra, not in a sexual way, more like—person-to-person. “Poker. You play poker. Am I right?”

“I’ve been known to do that at times.” I knew she was lying.

“Kassandra reads tarot cards, and she’s good at it,” I blurted out, garnering one of her looks.

“She does?” He glanced at me, and I nodded. It was like I gave him a signal or something. He walked right into the kitchen making it seem suddenly smaller, pulled out a chair next to mine, and made himself at home. “How are you Monica?” He smiled. We were on first-name terms since we had that unfortunate car accident back in December, the one that ended my Fiat 500’s life.

I smiled back and nodded.

“We should do a Las Vegas Night,” he said to Kassandra, “so our staff from the two offices could meet. Yes. Monica, your Aunt Brenda could do the catering, and we could rent some game tables, and Kassandra would read cards then share the secrets she uncovers with me and Sunny. What say you?” He turned to Kassandra. “We would donate the money to a charity.” He stood, adjusted his expensive tailored shirt. “I like it. You young ladies were a great help. Let me run the idea by Kay and Sunny. Oh, yes, it will be fun...” He was still loudly congratulating himself when he left and headed to the back of the office where all the action seemed to be today.

Kassandra had not moved from where she stood when Dale showed up. If looks could kill, as they say in America, I would have died five minutes earlier. Just to confirm my suspicions, she said, “I’m going to kill you, blabbermouth.”

I took off running on Dale Wolf’s trail.

TWO

WITH MY HEAD still wrapped around what I was now thinking of as The Merger, I had a hard time concentrating on my driving.

How did that happen? And apparently everyone knew about it except me. ME! For months I had slaved as Sunny’s personal assistant. Okay, slaving may be a bit of an overstatement, but even now I occasionally processed some of her paperwork when needed. Not complaining mind you, sort of liked it—well, until now. And Kay, she mentored me through my first big home sale and—and nothing. Brenda had to know, being Sunny’s best friend and all that.

By the time I turned into the driveway I shared with dear Aunt Brenda I wanted to scream, except there wasn’t anyone there to hear me. So why waste my breath? Damn. This was like a big conspiracy. What if sending me to collect the mail at the Dumonts’ had just been an excuse to get me away from the office while they worked out the merger details? Nah, that didn’t make sense. Dale Wolf didn’t strike me as the kind of person who hides behind schemes. Then again, with my stellar record on reading people’s character... Oh, forget about it.

I would call Brenda and ask her. There. My stomach growled. Mind association?

Normally, I would be heading over to Brenda’s back door to see what was on the menu. Except she was down at the ranch probably busy feeding a half-dozen or so live-in retired ranch workers and horse lovers who took care of the stables and the rescued animals in exchange for free rent.

Why didn’t I run through the In-N-Out Burger place? Nah, too late now, might as well park in the garage and call it a day.

The stillness of the place exuded a weird sense of abandonment. Not the extreme kind like the forsaken mansions in horror movies, no, more like a vacation home during off-season. I missed Dior’s welcoming bark. Heck, I even missed seeing Brenda’s just friend Officer Clarke and his sedan parked at the curb. He often killed time over at the widow’s across the street while waiting to join us for dinner. Or so he said, even as I noticed his “killing time” over there growing longer and longer. Perhaps the widow was learning how to cook?

The garage door had barely hit the ground when my cell chimed. Tristan. Yes. I hurried to unlock my front door, wanting to sit comfortably while talking to him. The best part of my day.

I dropped my purse and folder, kicked off my shoes, and plopped myself on the soft couch pillows as he said my name in the special way that melted my heart. “Fiat, how are you?”

My lips said, “Terrific, listening to your voice tends to make me feel that way.” I love you; I love you. Could he hear the thumping of my heart? “Are you still in France?” I need you here.

Long pause. “Yes. South, way south of Paris. Had to rent a car. It’s raining all the time, and the roads are narrow, and... let’s not talk about it...”

“Tristan, I like to know about your days. You sound preoccupied. Problems?”

He chuckled softly. “Oh, Fiat, same old stuff—greedy relatives, Dad’s relatives, some I’m now meeting for the first