A Fatal Slip by Melissa Glazer Read Free Book Online

petite woman, but her small stature belied a biting wit that could draw blood. Fortunately, I rarely saw her fangs, since we’d been friends close to forever.
    “Hey,” I greeted her, then suspecting she might comment on Bill’s absence, I quickly added, “Before you say a word about me being here alone, I’m meeting Hannah Atkins.”
    Shelly ignored my comment and motioned for me to come closer, then asked, “Rose Nygren is a friend of yours, isn’t she?”
    “I guess you could say that,” I admitted. “Why?”
    Shelly gestured to the back of the café, and I saw Rose sitting in a booth by herself. From the redness in her eyes, it looked as though she’d been crying.
    Shelly asked, “Could you talk to her? I tried, but she blew me off.”
    “Sure,” I said. “Any idea what’s going on?”
    “Not a clue.”
    As I approached Rose, she looked startled to see me. I asked gently, “Can I join you? It’ll just be for a second. I’m meeting somebody.”
    “I don’t know,” Rose said as she dabbed at her eyes with a napkin. “I was just leaving.”
    “Hang around a second, okay?” I slid into the booth, then put my hand on hers. “Rose, are you all right?”
    “Why? What have you heard?”
    “It doesn’t take a detective to see that you’re upset. If you want to talk about it, I’m here for you.”
    Rose took a deep breath, then said, “He dumped me. Can you believe it? He got what he wanted, then he threw me away like yesterday’s trash. I’m such a fool. I believed him.”
    “It’s not your fault,” I said. “We can’t always control what our hearts do, or the people we choose to trust with them.”
    “He used me,” she said softly.
    “Who are we talking about?” I didn’t mean to pry, but it might help if I knew who we were talking about.
    Rose was about to tell me—I could see the answer in her eyes—when Hannah approached. “Hey, you two. Can I join you?”
    “I was just leaving,” Rose said as she slid out of the booth.
    “You don’t have to go on my account,” Hannah said.
    “Yes, please, stay,” I added.
    Rose wasn’t interested, though. “No, thanks.” She threw a ten at Shelly, then bolted from the café.
    “What was that all about?” Hannah asked. “Did I interrupt something?”
    I couldn’t very well tell her that she had, though I wished her timing had been a little better. “Apparently Rose just got dumped.”
    “I’m so sorry,” Hannah said. “I didn’t even realize she was dating anyone. Did you happen to catch his name?”
    “I was just about to.”
    “What happened?”
    I shrugged. “You showed up. She’s pretty torn up about it.”
    “Love can do that to you. Or even like sometimes. Sorry I blew it.”
    “She might not have told me anyway. Enough about Rose. Thanks for meeting me. Sorry about the short notice, but Bill’s in the shop blowing off some steam.”
    Hannah nodded. “I heard about the argument he had with Charlie Cobb this evening.”
    “How did you hear about it so soon?”
    “Are you kidding me? It’s the talk of the town. I was at the grocery store, and I had three people tell me what happened before I could check out. From the sound of it, they had quite a battle in front of your shop.”
    “They were both acting like children.”
    “Men can be good at that sometimes, can’t they?”
    I nodded. “Bill knows better, but sometimes his temper gets the best of him.”
    Shelly approached us with an order pad. “What can I get you two gals this evening?”
    “Wow, I feel honored being waited on by the owner herself. I must really rate.”
    “Don’t flatter yourself,” Shelly said with a smile. “Kelly went home sick an hour ago, and Janie never bothered showing up for her shift tonight. That means you’re stuck with me. If you’re going to order, I’d suggest doing it soon.”
    “Two specials,” Hannah said quickly. “Is that okay with you, Carolyn?”
    I glanced over at the chalkboard where Shelly wrote her