A Pour Way to Dye (Book 2 in the Soapmaking Mysteries)

A Pour Way to Dye (Book 2 in the Soapmaking Mysteries) by Tim Myers Read Free Book Online Page B

Book: A Pour Way to Dye (Book 2 in the Soapmaking Mysteries) by Tim Myers Read Free Book Online
Authors: Tim Myers
Tags: Fiction, Mystery, cozy, Traditional, crafts, tim myers, soap, soapmaking
for it. In
for a penny, in for a pound.”
    “ Excellent,” I said. “If
you’ll excuse me, I’ve got some last-minute prep work to do. I’ll
see you inside.”
    “ I’ll be there,” she
said.
    When I walked back into the classroom, Kate
and Cindy were standing there waiting for me.
    “ We’re not sure we approve,”
Kate said.
    Cindy added, “She seems nice enough, but we
were under the impression you were dating Kelly.”
    Kate shot back, “And you know how we feel
about men who date more than one woman at a time.”
    “ Slow down,” I said. “Diana
and I aren’t dating. She runs Dying To Read, and I happened to
mention the soap shop the last time I was there.”
    Kate shook her head. “She’s not here for the
soap, big brother.”
    “ Maybe the soapmaker,” Cindy
added with a grin.
    “ Enough, you two. I’ve got a
class to prepare for.”
    Kate pointed to the front. “Everything’s
ready. We’ve got loads of time to talk more about this.”
    I glanced at the clock and saw that we were
two minutes away from beginning. “I’ve got a great idea. Why don’t
we start early today?”
    “ Chicken,” Kate
said.
    I pretended to study my class list. “Funny, I
don’t see your name here.”
    She smiled at me as she left, and Cindy said,
“We were just teasing.”
    “ I know. You do realize I’m
interested in Kelly, and just Kelly, don’t you?”
    Cindy hugged me. “Ben, everybody in the world
knows that. That’s why we’ve been teasing you. Do you honestly
think we’d be that cruel if you weren’t? Okay, don’t answer
that.”
    I ignored her as I opened the door and
announced, “For those of you registered for our soapmaking class,
it begins in two minutes.”
    Diana was the first one inside, taking a seat
by my desk. Was there any truth to my sisters’ teasing? I certainly
found her attractive enough, and we’d hit it off from the start.
Maybe if Kelly wasn’t in the picture, I conceded. But she was, so I
dismissed the speculation and watched as the others came inside.
Two people on my list, names I was well familiar with, weren’t
there yet, but I waited as long as I could, then started to close
the door.
    “ Hang on,” a voice I knew
called out.
    “ We’re coming,” the other
said.
    Herbert and Constance Wilson, two of my more
interesting students from the past, rushed to the door, both nearly
out of breath.
    “ You’re late,” I said with a
grin.
    Herbert said, “I was ready an hour ago. She
couldn’t decide on what to wear.”
    “ Herbert Wilson, that’s not
fair and you know it. My first outfit would have been fine if you
hadn’t spilled root beer all over it.”
    “ You joggled my arm, woman.
It wasn’t my fault. Besides, no one would have noticed. You were
wearing your brown pantsuit.”
    “ I would have known,”
Constance replied.
    I knew from experience that this could go on
for hours, and I had a class to teach. “If you two are ready, let’s
go in so we can get started.”
    The older couple walked inside and scanned
the room. Before they could say anything, I said, “You’ll have to
sit back here. Hope you don’t mind.”
    They took a seat at one of the back tables,
and I heard Constance say, “If you hadn’t been so clumsy, we would
have gotten our spots from before.”
    “ Be quiet, woman, the man’s
trying to teach.”
    It was a bit of a blessing that the Wilsons
were sitting in the back. Maybe I’d miss Herbert’s whispered
critiques of my lessons, but I doubted it.
    “ Welcome,” I said as I stood
at the small teacher’s table in front of the room. The five long
tables were nearly full, and I marveled yet again how many people
in our community had embraced soapmaking. The walls of the
classroom were lined with shelves containing everything from
abrasives to volatiles, and four microwave ovens were anchored in
each of the room’s corners. We used the microwaves instead of
stovetops for much of our melting, but we also had hot plates

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