Slow Dance in Purgatory by Amy Harmon Read Free Book Online Page A

impression and “thank you very much” lip curl.
                “What you talkin’ about, Miss Margaret? “  Gus tilted his head at Maggie and furrowed his brow in question.  “I haven’t been playin’ any music.  Although I definitely could!  Bet you don’t know any old-school moves.”  Gus crossed one leg over the other and did a little spin.  The guy had to be over seventy.  Maggie laughed at his agility.
                “I think you stole that from the Temptations, Gus.  And yes, I can do old school.”  Maggie started doing the Charleston, and Gus laughed right out loud and joined her.  After a few minutes, they were both giggling and a little breathless.
                Maggie elbowed the old man as they neared the side entrance where Gus’s rusty truck and Maggie’s bike was parked.  “And what do you mean you haven’t been playing music?  The night I saw the intruder the music got turned on so loud it almost blasted me down the stairs.”
                Gus stopped walking and was suddenly very still, staring down at her.  The laughter had fled from his lined face. 
                  “You’re not playin’ are you, Miss Margaret?“  It wasn’t really a question, but a realization. “How often are you hearing music?”
                Maggie felt a little shiver in her stomach as she gazed back at Gus’s suddenly serious face.
                “Um.  Well, I’ve been hearing it off and on since I started working here.  It’s always when I’m alone, working separately from you.  And it’s always old stuff.”  Maggie smiled again, hoping to alleviate the tension that had descended upon them.  Gus didn’t smile back.
                “I thought you turned it on to keep me company,” Maggie finished in a small voice.
                Gus shook his head slowly. “Oh, Miss Margaret.  I think maybe you’ve met Johnny.” 
     
     
     
    ***
     
     
     
                  Gus wouldn’t say anymore as he lifted Maggie’s bike into the back of his truck, and they bounced their way to Aunt Irene’s.  When she pressed him to tell her who Johnny was, he simply shook his head and told her that he and Aunt Irene would explain over dinner.  Gus and Shad had dinner with them at least twice during the week and always on Sundays.   Maggie was always glad to have them, but she didn't want to wait to hear the explanation about this “Johnny.”   And what did Irene have to do with any of this?  Gus deposited her in front of her house and said he'd be back with Shad in an hour.  He drove off without further comment.
                  It wasn’t until they had pushed their chairs back from the table and sighed in contentment that Gus peered at Irene and asked her if she remembered Johnny Kinross.
                  “Oh my!  It’s been decades since I heard that name,” Irene fluttered and patted her thin chest.  “Johnny Kinross!”  She sighed a little and shook her head.  “He was something else.  So handsome and just a little bit bad!  He could make a girl blush just by looking at her.  I think he kind of liked me.  But he sure didn’t like Roger.  Not that I blame him.  I didn’t like Roger.”  Aunt Irene waved a graceful hand at the mention of her dearly departed husband.
                  “I’m sure he did like you.  You were the most beautiful girl in town,” Gus flirted sincerely.  “And the sweetest.”
                  Aunt Irene and Gus smiled at each other fondly.
                  Maggie cleared her throat loudly.  “Um, back to Johnny Kinross, please.”
                  “Johnny Kinross disappeared more than fifty years ago, and nobody has seen him since,” Aunt Irene declared matter-of-factly.  "The whole town was in quite the uproar.  The whole thing was such a tragedy.  I wonder what