Taming Tess (The St. John Sibling Series) by Barbara Raffin Read Free Book Online Page A

she stormed back into the house. A yellow sticky note on the kitchen table fluttered with her passing. She backed up and read it. It stated simply, "Taxi," followed by a phone number.
    Okay. He hadn't stranded her.
    She drew a deep breath in through her nose then blew it slowly out her mouth, a calming technique she'd learned in some long ago yoga class. She'd overreacted. Couple yesterday's emotional roller-coaster ride with not having had her eye-opening cup of coffee yet, it was no wonder. She'd feel better after she got her caffeine fix and some food.
    She found a coffee mug, filled it from the cold pot, and stuck it in the microwave. The yellow sticky note with the cab number beckoned her from the table. It would take some time for a taxi to drive out here. She should call and set a time for them to pick her up.
    She dialed the number. One ring. Two rings. The microwave timer went off. The long cord on the wall mounted phone let her reach the mug. Gratefully, she wrapped her fingers around the steamy cup.
    Three rings.
    She popped a couple slices of bread in the toaster.
    Four rings.
    The toaster lever jammed and she wiggled it.
    Five rings.
    What kind of cab company took this long to answer its phone? The toaster lever jerked loose and the bread popped up. She hammered the lever back down and the bread with it.
    She was about to give up on the cab when a woman answered on the sixth ring, a baby squalling in the background. "I'm sorry," Tess said, "I must have called the wrong--"
    The woman shouted over the caterwauling infant.
    Tess pulled the receiver away from her ear, reiterating, "You are Penetti's Cab Company?" Small towns and their casual business practices . "I need a cab at--"
    "I have to talk to your husband? " Tess asked with more than a little confusion. "Is he the dispatcher?"
    Another shouted response, this time with the added backup of another child intoning, "Mommy. Mommy. Mommy."
    "Your husband is the cabby . Okay." Tess rolled her eyes.
    She sipped at her coffee as she waited for the husband to respond to the wife's shouts and come to the phone. These people would never make it in Chicago.
    And what was that singed smell?
    She zeroed in on the smoking toaster and tried to raise the burning bread, but the damned lever stuck again. She jerked the toaster cord from the outlet, accidentally hitting the toaster with her hand and sending it flying across the counter top. It crashed to the floor just as the cabby came on line.
    "I need a cab," she said, flinging her coffee on the flaming toast now ski dding across the inlaid. Just as the cabby spoke, the smoke detector in the hall squealed to life.
    "Just a minute," she shouted into the mouthpiece, dragging a chair under the smoke detector. "Let me shut this thing up."
    She tucked the phone receiver under her chin, climbed onto the chair, and dislodged the battery. But the alarm kept squealing at ear splitting decibels.
    "It's hard wired," she muttered and cursed Roman's attention to code even though she would have been every bit as safety-conscious and connected the alarm directly to the house current.
    She ripped the detector off the ceiling and the squeal gave way to an annoying blip. "Internal back up battery," she explained into the phone receiver. Roman had covered every base. "I'll just be another second."
    She dropped from the chair, set the phone down, went to the front door, and flung the alarm outside. Silence once more reigning, she picked up the phone. "Now, about that cab."
    "What do you mean, the cab is in the shop? You can't possibly have just one--"
    "You have only one cab and it's getting a new transmission today." She managed a tight, "Thank you," and hung up.
    "You did this on purpose, Roman St. John. You left me the phone number of the lamest cab company in town."
    She found a phone book in the nearest kitchen drawer and opened it to the yellow pages. Just as she thought. There were two other listings. She phoned both companies only to be