Crain's Landing by Cayce Poponea Read Free Book Online

laughing along with me as I finished. "She's that and more, I can assure you," Autumn added. “You should have seen her after Rebecca took off, thought she would just slide right into Grant’s bed.” Her words were spoken at me, rather than to me. I didn’t care who this Grant or Rebecca were. Autumn was a classic beauty. Her bright, blue eyes stood out from her sun-kissed skin. Her long, wavy, blonde hair perfectly framed her face.
    "So, tell me all about you. Any boyfriend...girlfriend?"
    I laughed and dropped my head. "No, no time for men, and honestly, I don't ever see myself being with a woman that way." Autumn continued to smile and look at me in a manner that was quite alarming. It was as if she, like Peggy, was planning my future out in her head. "Listen, Autumn, I have several things I need to get done and not a lot of time to do them. Here's the form you asked me to fill out for you. The house is beautiful, by the way.”
    She took the paper and glanced over it quickly. "Natalie, I understand, and please let me know if you need anything. I'll tell my mother that you like the house."
    Her words stopped me in my tracks. "I'm sorry, did you say your mother?"
    Autumn's eyes lit up again. "Yes, my mother has taken it as her personal mission to keep this town in livable conditions. Her mother did it and her mother before her. It’s their unique way of keeping the family name in a good light. I suppose, being a descendant of the founding family, she finds it to be her duty. But I am sure it’s more of a passion for her. She did yours, my brother's, mine, and Lily's. Hell, most of this town has been touched in one way or another by our family."
    Crain’s Landing... Autumn was a member of the founding family. I felt stupid at not realizing she had married and dropped the Crain. I wanted to meet Autumn's mom, she had an amazing talent and impeccable taste, and I hoped she would lend a hand if I ever decided to buy a house. However, I had to get through my conditional employment first. "Well, please tell your mom thank you for me."
    I left the office and decided to stop by the library. I wanted to see for myself, besides the obvious stuff, what the problem was with it that was causing less and less people to use it. there were a number of empty beer boxes, broken beer bottles, and cigarette butts near the back door. Random trash was literally everywhere. I would have to speak to Sheriff Chisholm to see if he could patrol here at night. I glanced up only to discover the security lights were busted and made a note to have them replaced on Monday.
    The first thing to grab my attention when I went to open the door was that there were no identifying markers indicating this was the library. I was certain if you had lived here your entire life, you would naturally know. However, if my dad hadn't shown it to me, I would have never guessed it. There were no hours of operation posted and the glass doors looked as if they hadn't been cleaned in several months.
    Once inside, my nose was hit with what reminded me of an old wet diaper and not the sweet smell that was traditionally found with the pages of books. I covered my mouth and nose as I continued in, the smell intensified as the door closed behind me. On one wall was a vending machine that was mostly empty; only a few haphazard crackers and potato chips remained. Next to it was an ancient Coke machine. I watched in horror as a cockroach crawled between the Coke sign and the glass. There was a stain on the carpet that appeared to still be wet, most likely the true cause of the putrid smell. I glanced around to find the carpet torn in many places and wondered if the fear of a patron getting hurt ever entered their minds. The tables looked to have once housed lamps in the center, were drawn on and only a few chairs remained. Two women were working behind the desk. The first was a very pretty dark-haired girl. She was busy stacking books and removing due-back cards from the front