Good Girls Do by Cathie Linz Read Free Book Online

kitchen, Adele’s domain. While there, he sampled a piece of fresh bread still warm from the oven. “What do you know about a handyman named Tyler?” he mumbled with his mouth full.
    “He does odd jobs around town, and he’s a Rollerblading insomniac sometimes in the middle of the night, but he’s not a bad guy.”
    “I never said he was.” An insomniac Rollerblader? That must drive the mayor nuts. Luke’s opinion of Tyler rose even higher. “Maybe he could help out here.”
    “The place could use a new coat of paint. I’ve been saying so for years. But we can’t do anything to the exterior without the town council’s permission.”
    “Since when?” Maguire’s wasn’t old enough to be designated a historic site.
    “Since Walt has been trying to get us on the list of the Best Small Towns in America. He’s really been clamping down on folks,” Adele added.
    “Let him clamp all he wants,” Luke retorted. “No one is telling me what to do.”
     
     
    Angel watched the koi gliding around Serenity Falls municipal pond and wondered where she’d gone so wrong as a mother. What had driven Julia to come to a place so controlled and restrictive?
    The signs were all over. No swimming. No fishing. No jaywalking. No standing. No trespassing.
    Angel kicked off her hemp sandals and dug her toes in the grass. It was chilly, but she really felt the need to touch base with nature. So she sat down on the grass and studied her surroundings. The trees still had some of their brilliant leaves, but it appeared that someone had gathered all the ones that had already fallen. There were no piles of leaves to jump into. That was a shame.
    This was her first trip this far east, and she’d been looking forward to a colorful fall display. She hadn’t expected to see her daughter in a Bo Peep costume. That had cheered her up. The town hadn’t.
    Sure, it looked like something out of a Currier and Ives print, but Angel preferred Picasso herself. She’d never been one to color between the lines. Julia had.
    Angel had not been surprised when Julia had become a librarian, because her first-born had always loved hanging out in libraries wherever they went. Julia had home-schooled both her girls for much of their school years. And she’d always thought she’d done a pretty good job of it, instilling in them the basic values of treating others with respect, honoring the environment, and exploring all the world’s many possibilities.
    So where had she gone wrong with Julia that she’d come to Anal City?
    There wasn’t a blade of grass out of place here. Not even a single autumnal leaf to crunch beneath her feet. The place was immaculate. It wasn’t natural.
    Angel didn’t realize she’d actually spoken the words aloud until she got a response from someone standing behind her.
    “It isn’t natural,” a male voice said. “It’s a man-made pond.”
    She turned to look at him. Now this was someone Angel felt more comfortable with. His long gray hair was held back in a braid that went down his back past the collar of his flannel shirt. He looked to be around her age, in his late forties or early fifties. He had sad eyes. Brown but sorrowful.
    “So the town is named for a man-made pond?”
    The man shook his head. “Serenity Falls are natural. They’re just south of town. The area is protected for now, but there’s some talk of bottling the spring water and selling it.”
    “Big business trying to ruin yet another natural site.” That issue was something Angel could sink her teeth into with all the force of her granddaughter Toni.
    “You don’t like the idea?”
    “It’s horrible!”
    “You’re not from around here.”
    “No. I just arrived in town last night. I’m Angel. Julia Wright is my daughter.”
    He just nodded as if he already knew that before suddenly turning around as if to walk away.
    “Wait! You haven’t told me your name. Who are you?”
    “Nobody you need to know.” And then he was