A Rip Roaring Good Time by Jeanne Glidewell Read Free Book Online Page A

expression turn to one of horror. I had put my arm around her in case I needed to catch her if she fainted. "What's wrong?"
    "Oh, no!"
    "What? What's wrong, girl?" The guests were beginning to arrive and I'd have wondered if she'd just thought of something critical she'd forgotten to do in preparation for the party if not for the extreme panic on her face. Even a forgotten birthday cake wouldn't be that alarming.
    "Look over there by the fireplace, Rapella."
    "Okay," I scrutinized the young couple across the parlor from where we stood. All I saw was a beautiful woman and an extremely handsome man. If not for the fact that I was married and four decades older than the dapper dude, I might have wanted a piece of him for myself. "What am I looking for? A testosterone overdose victim?"
    Before Lexie could respond, Wendy's best friend, Mattie Hill, came up behind us and gasped, "Oh, my God! I can't believe he'd show up at this party."
    "You surely didn't invite him, did you?" Lexie asked. I was still staring at the cause of their apparent concern, looking him up and down several times to try to determine what the two women were so up in arms about. Then I looked the fellow up and down a few more times just for the pure pleasure of it.
    "Of course not!" Mattie said. "Apparently he came as a guest of Joy White's. I didn't even know Joy was dating that piece of—"
    "Crap! What are we going to do?" Lexie asked, cutting Maggie off. "Wendy will be uncomfortable around him, as will I, but we can hardly ask him to leave, can we?"
    "I don't know. Joy was one of our closest high school friends, and since he's her date, she'd have to leave the party too. And I know Wendy would want Joy to be present to see her get engaged and all. Maybe she won't be too uncomfortable with Andy here, because you know he'll be right next to her most of the evening. If Trotter says anything lewd, crude, or threatening to Wendy, Andy will lay him out like nobody's business."
    I could tell Mattie was trying to convince herself as much as Lexie that whatever was upsetting them would turn out to be a non-issue. "I need to pull Joy aside tonight and warn her about that jerk before he does something similar to her. If she doesn't have something like pepper spray or a stun gun with her, it could get ugly. He's athletic and Joy is too, but she's kind of a girly girl, so to speak."
    I couldn't stand it any longer. I had to know what was wrong with the hunk who was now leaning against the grand piano in a pose that could have graced the cover of GQ Magazine. I read old issues of that magazine every time I was in the waiting room at Rip's audiologist's office. The photos in that magazine were definitely candy for the eye, even to an old bird like me. I may be a senior citizen but I wasn't blind. Not yet at least.
    "What in heaven's name are you two squawking about? Why wouldn't Wendy want that feller here?" I finally asked.
    "Trotter Hayes is the stepson of our chief of police. Right before Andy moved back here from South Carolina, Trotter stopped in at the coroner's office to pick up an autopsy report for Chief Smith. If you hadn't noticed, he's not hard to look at." Lexie was almost whispering as she spoke to me.
    "Trust me, I noticed."
    "He asked Wendy if she'd go out to supper with him. She thought no harm could come of going out for a meal with an old schoolmate she'd known for years. She had her eye on Andy already, but they weren't officially a couple at the time. Andy still lived in South Carolina while Wendy had an apartment in St. Joseph. So Wendy agreed to the date. No strings attached, Trotter had told her."
    "Aha! I'm guessing there was a 'string' he didn't tell her about," I said.
    "Exactly!" Lexie replied with a nod. "When he took her home he tried to press himself on her to the point of ripping her brand new dress and yanking her undies half-way down her thighs. Trotter refused to take 'no' for an answer, saying he'd paid handsomely for her seafood supper,