Still Life in Shadows by Alice J. Wisler Read Free Book Online Page A

Ormond had taken him fishing a few times in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and at Fontana Lake. He never caught anything, but Ormond’s fetch of trout was always numerous.
     
    Henry and his wife had invited Gideon over for meals, and when the trucker Bruce was in town for any length of time, Gideon enjoyed conversing with him. He wasn’t a recluse. Even so, he wondered why he felt so lonely.
     
    G ideon stood at the open garage door as a flock of geese soared into the shimmering autumn sky. He inhaled the fresh air and let it expand into his lungs. He loved living in North Carolina. What could be finer than the serenity and beauty of the Smokies?
     
    A blue Toyota with a maroon bicycle strapped on the trunk turned into the lot. The bike looked familiar and so did the two inside. The passenger door swung open, and Kiki jumped out. Mari parked the car and emerged from the driver’s seat.
     
    Then it dawned on Gideon. Kiki must be Mari’s daughter.
     
    “I came home from school and had to go to the doctor, Dr. Conner.” Kiki took her bike from the trunk rack and wheeled it inside the garage. “Dr. Conner made me late getting here.”
     
    Mari smiled at Gideon. “She says you are going to let her work here?”
     
    “She says she wants to.”
     
    “I’m sure she does. She likes tools.”
     
    Gideon nodded. “She impressed us all.”
     
    “I have to get back to the tearoom. Tell Kiki to ride her bike straight home when she is done with her work here.”
     
    “I will.” Gideon waved to Mari, then turned to where Kiki had put her bike in his bay. He told her to bring it into the shop, out of the way of cars he and Luke—and perhaps Amos—would be repairing.
     
    “But where will I get tools?” she said. “For the sakes of Pete, Mr. Miller, I need tools so I can work.”
     
    “Gideon,” he said. “If you are going to work here, you need to call me Gideon.”
     
    “Gideon.” She said the name as though it was a foreign word.
     
    “None of this
Mr. Miller
stuff, okay?” When she nodded, he pulled out an Allen wrench, a Phillips screwdriver, and a flat screwdriver from his work chest. He motioned to the inside of the shop—away from the bays—and she pushed her bike along.
     
    Gideon found a spot for her to work near the storage room, out of the way of the others. He had no idea what she was going to do, but assumed she wanted to tinker with her bike. If that occupied her and kept her out of his hair, it suited him fine.
     
    “I got home and had to go to Conner’s.” Kiki sat on the floor in front of her bike. “I wanted to come here right away, but I had to go to Conner’s.”
     
    “That’s okay.” Gideon reassured her it was all right that she had not been able to come immediately after school.
     
    “I need a towel,” she said as he placed the tools beside her.
     
    He entered the storage room and brought out a few shop towels. “Use only one or two of these each day. They cost a lot.”
     
    Kiki cleaned her bike’s spokes with one of the towels. She seemed different, now that he knew she was connected to Mari. It didn’t take arocket scientist to realize the two could be related, since they both looked Asian. Mari must be Kiki’s mother.
Mother.
The word wasn’t one he wanted to associate with this woman he found so intriguing. He let his thoughts focus on the child, and why she was so intent on being here.
     
    After a while, he shook his head.
If she wants a place to hang out and it makes her happy, okay,
he thought.
But I’m not paying her to tinker with her own bike. Plus, in a month, Amos goes on our payroll. Speaking of Amos, where is that kid?
“Where’s Amos?” Gideon asked Ormond and Luke.
     
    “Went home.” Luke checked the pressure in the front tire of the car at his bay. Ormond stood beside him, telling some joke about a banjo and a piano.
     
    “Home?” Gideon looked at the round white clock on the wall behind Luke’s head. “It’s