Edward Unconditionally Common Powers 3 by Lynn Lorenz Read Free Book Online Page A

trouble, and then be gone the next week.” She laughed.
    Edward sat up. “Me too, Meemaw. Bad boys.” He rolled his eyes. “Guess it runs in the family.” He loved finding that there was more in common between them than blood.
    She chuckled, picked up a cookie, and took a bite. “These are good. Now, don't you worry, child, you stay here as long as you need to. I've got the guest room all ready.” She reached into the pocket of her jeans and pulled out a key. “Here's the key to the house. You come and go as you please. No curfew.” She winked.
    “Meemaw!” Edward put his hand to his mouth in mock shock. “You're joking, right? I'm gay; you do realize that?” He took the key and slipped it onto his key ring.
    “So?”
    “There are no gays in Hooterville.”
    “Sure there are. Rush Weston and his partner, I think you call it? They live here.”
    “That must be the cop I met, Brian Russell.”
    “That's him. Such a nice man. I was so glad to see Rush finally find someone who makes him happy. Besides them, there's no telling who's hiding what around here. I have a few ideas of my own about that list, but they'd scandalize the town.” She laughed and slapped her leg.
    Edward sat back and observed his grandmother. His family had only visited occasionally. He'd been a teen the last time he'd seen her, and not very interested in spending time with her, so wrapped up in his own set of worries, his fights with his dad, and with the dreaded realization that he liked boys, not girls.
    She hadn't attended the funeral, either.
    She'd certainly surprised him. He'd never expected to be able to sit with his grandmother and talk to her about being gay. Even his mother never spoke so openly, only with vague references to his “friends” and “dates.” And his father? When pigs fly.
    “Wow. You blow me away, Meemaw.” He threw his arms around her, they hugged, and he was glad that her grip on him was just as strong as his on her. “Thank you.” Tears burned his eyes. Right now, he needed someone to understand him, not to judge or condemn him or to call him a gullible fool.
    She gave him a final pat on the shoulder. “Now. Tell me all about your run-in with the local law.”
    Edward sat back, picked up another cookie, and told her all about meeting Jack.

    * * * *

    Jack looked at the dog and faced his next problem. If he left the dog in the car, it would be just his luck that someone would report it.
    DOG LEFT IN POLICE CHIEF'S CAR TO DIE
    PETA ASKS FOR CHIEF'S RESIGNATION
    Headlines like those he couldn't afford, not if he wanted to keep his job, and he'd worked too damn hard to blow it now over some rich guy's mutt.
    He grabbed the leash. “Come on, Winston. You're with me.” He got out and Winston followed. As he walked up the sidewalk to the main doors, Winston stopped, lifted a stubby back leg, and generously watered the flowers that lined the paved brick walk. A passing woman glared at Jack and the dog, telling him with narrowed eyes and a frown that she didn't approve of their pit stop.
    Winston finished, then grinned up at her as he happily scraped his back legs on the grass, sending clods flying. She turned the full force of her glare on Jack, and he could feel the heat rise in his cheeks. Shit . Damn dog.
    “Come, Winston.” Jack yanked on the lead, and Winston waddled after him. At the double door to the building, Jack hesitated.
    DOG BITES MAYOR
    CHIEF OF POLICE FIRED
    Could the headline be worse? Either way, he was screwed. If he ever got his hands on Edward P. Beauregard the Third, for putting him in this mess, he'd gladly do life.
    Jack would just make sure the dog didn't get too close to His Honor, that's all.
    “I have a meeting with the mayor,” Jack informed the secretary. She looked over her glasses, down her long, narrow nose at the dog, and he watched as her eyebrows rose.
    “I have you down, but your friend isn't listed.” Her pursed lips twisted in a smile. “I'll tell the mayor you're