Just a Little (5-8) by Tracie Puckett Read Free Book Online Page B

wishing that I would’ve given him a chance to explain himself. But the moment the words fell off his lips, the moment he finally told me the truth, I left.
    I swept my coat off the back of the chair and headed for the door, not listening to him as he pleaded for me to come back.
    “I had to do something . He had to go. After everything his father had done, everything his mother and sister had done. Derek wasn’t stable. He was a danger to you, Julie. I know you wanted him here, but you are just too young to understand. Sometimes what you want isn’t always the best thing for you, Jules. He was a ticking time bomb; he had to be taken care of.”
    Even after circling the block for the ninth, tenth, and eleventh times, I still couldn’t get those words out of my head. Why did I act so rashly? Why hadn’t I stuck around and listened to his explanation? What had he said to Derek? What had he done?
    Did he run him out of town?
    Pay him to leave?
    Kill him?
    Okay, murder didn’t seem as likely as the other options. But why phrase it that way?
    He had to be taken care of.
    I pulled my coat tighter and rounded the corner to enter the Old Historic District once again. But as I walked down the street, I watched as Matt pushed through the doors to Lonnie and Grace’s flower shop.
    There he was again, up to no good. I knew that whatever he was doing, Luke was in on it, too.
    I was tired of guessing, tired of suspecting, tired of everyone keeping me from the truth.
    “That’s it,” I mumbled, dodging the few cars in the street as I jaywalked to the other side. Rules had to be broken sometimes; forgive me, Dad.
    I reached the shop and pushed through the door, ready to hound Matt with a million questions. When I got inside, Lonnie and Grace were the only ones there.
    “Julie!” Grace maneuvered around the counter to give me a hug. “We haven’t seen you in a while, sweetheart. How’ve you been?”
    “Fine,” I half-heartedly returned her hug. “Did I just see Matt come in?”
    She pulled back and nodded. “He’s in back.”
    “Julie,” Lonnie gave me an appreciative nod as he arranged a floral bouquet. “What can we do for you?”
    “I’m just here to talk to Matt.”
    “ Julie ,” my cousin stopped in his tracks as he returned from the back room. His expression grew cold as he stared between me, Lonnie, and Grace. “What are you doing here?”
    “Funny,” I said, “I was just about to ask you the same thing.” I looked down at the apron he was tying in place. “Why are you wearing that?”
    “Oh, honey,” Grace said, “it’s a messy job. If we didn’t wear aprons, we’d ruin everything we own.”
    “You work here?” I asked Matt. “Here? With Lonnie and Grace?”
    “And Rebecca,” Lonnie said, looking up from the roses.
    “We hired Rebecca in January,” Grace turned to the register. “It was such a relief to have some extra help around here, we couldn’t refuse Matt’s offer to help when Luke suggested—”
    “Luke suggested?” I asked. “So, Luke helped you get a job? That’s it?” That’s all they’d been keeping from me? I suddenly felt like an idiot. Matt just wanted a new place to work, and he was too embarrassed to tell me and Charlie that he was working with flowers. “Matt?”
    He took a step forward and leaned over the counter. “Can we talk about this later?”
    “Yeah,” I felt like a complete jerk.
    It made perfect sense. When Matt said he was off to work—and then didn’t turn up at the bistro—it was because he was coming here. When he told me he was with Kara, I assumed he lied because he knew he could only get away with using work as an excuse so often.
    “When do you get off?”
    “Come by around seven; I’ll have a break,” he looked over his shoulder to make sure Lonnie and Grace couldn’t hear him. “You should probably know the whole truth.”
     
    Friday, March 01| 7:00 p.m.
    I paced outside the flower shop door for ten minutes. I didn’t want to