miss fortune mystery (ff) - sinfully delicious by anna snow Read Free Book Online Page A

him, and if he’s good enough for the sheriff, then he’s good enough for me.”
The mention of Sheriff Carter shut her up.
Finally. Something to close her trap, I thought as I picked up the phone and dialed.

                                Chapter Two
Thirty minutes later Dr. Miller had set Fortune’s nose and was enjoying a cup of coffee and cookies at my kitchen table. He was a handsome man with blue eyes, blond hair, and a nice smile, but he was nowhere near as handsome as Fortune’s main squeeze Carter.
“We really appreciate you coming to help us out.” Ida Bell said.
“It’s my job.” He shrugged. “But, I have to ask. Does this kind of thing happen often?”
“Only where the three of us are concerned.” Fortune answered.
He laughed, then realized that she was serious and shook his head. “Well, I’m here if you need me. It’s nice to work in a small town. The city was just too much for me. Sinful is more my speed.”
I couldn’t help but think that his speed must be that of a snail because Sinful moved much slower than most places… usually. There had been some flare-ups in crime since Fortune arrived, none of which were her fault. However, things seemed to be slowing down this week.
We all nodded and sipped our coffee.
The doctor stood. “I should be going. I’m still working on getting the new clinic set up and if I’m not there I’m pretty sure nothing will get done.”
“If you hired ol’ Jep and his boys to do the construction, then you’ll end up doing most of the work yourself.” Ida Bell took the words right out of my mouth. “That boy’s been lazier than the day is long ever since the day he fell out of his mama at the Wal-Mart. Hell, I’m surprised he wasn’t too lazy to do that.”
The doc laughed. “I’ll keep that in mind. I can show myself out. You ladies have a nice evening and stay out of trouble.”
He had no idea how much he was asking of us.
He gave us all a two fingered salute as he headed toward the door.
“What do you say we all head down to Francine’s and grab an early dinner? My stomach’s growling.”
Fortune frowned at me. Her shiny silver nose brace glinted in the kitchen light, and around both of her eyes were now black and blue.
“Sure. Why the hell not. It’s not like I’m going to be able to keep this hidden from Carter. Half of the town probably already knows.”
“You’re right. Besides, you need to debut your new raccoon look to the town before the Fall Festival.” Ida Bell grinned and made a circular motion with her finger around her eyes.
Fortune glowered.
“I’ll drive.” I said.
“The hell you will. You already caused enough damage today. We can walk. It’s only a couple of blocks, and you could use the exercise. You’re out of shape.”
“There’s nothing wrong with my shape.” I defended myself but Ida Bell was on a roll. The old coot.
“Yeah, if you were a beach ball, you’re shape would be perfectly fine. Now, let’s get down to the café. We also need to check and make sure the booths are set up for tomorrow. Especially the dunk tank.”
The three of us stepped out of the house, off the porch, and headed down the sidewalk toward the center of town.
“Just imagine all of the money we’d raise if we could shove Celia in that thing!”
Celia and her little group of minions were always trying to outdo or putting down the Sinful Ladies Society, of which Ida Bell and I were the founding members. The SLS did our bests at keeping the town respectable, but sometimes that was a lot harder said than done.
“She’d be perfect, but I think the only way we could get her in the box is to kidnap her, and after everything that’s happened since I’ve moved here, I don’t want to add a kidnapping charge to my record.” Fortune laughed. “Carter probably wouldn’t be too understanding, either.”
We were about a block away from Francine’s Café when we heard the commotion. The sidewalk was clear, but