The Big Bang by Linda Joffe Hull Read Free Book Online Page A

to a happy thought, thanks to the Trautman closing and an unexpectedly robust Avon reorder month, were two out of six credit cards with zero balances.
    “If the sinus symptoms persist, we’ll give you a referral to an allergist.” He handed her the antibiotic prescription. “In the meantime, saline nasal baths and a good steam or two will help clear the mucus.”

CHAPTER SIX
    Covenant Section 2.48. Recreation Function:
“Recreation Functions” shall mean providing for active and
passive recreational activities.
    W ill Pierce-Cohn leaned against the cul-de-sac mailboxes, took a deep whiff of spring, and did a few lunges. With his back to the overturned pile of soggy dirt behind him, he upped the volume on his iPod and started down the parkway. Eyes on the tulips sprouting along the north side of the west-facing homes and the green buds on the wire-supported saplings, he vowed to
let it go
, just like his wife said. Shift his attention from the will of the Melody Mountain Ranch community to the things he, Will, loved about living here—like running down clean, wide streets filled with attractive, uniform homes.
    And Saturday fitness class. The combination boot camp, mat Pilates, and step aerobics had returned definition to his chest and quads. Better, his total initial inability to dance, much less step up and down on a bench to music, was corrected on the first day by Hope Jordan.
    With a legitimate reason to stare, he noted her careful, lithe movements. Following her footwork, he lifted his arms and clapped over his head in time with the music. Before he knew it, he had a flawless hamstring-pivot-adductor routine.
    Hope rarely missed the Saturday class.
    Other than the occasional ski day, he hadn’t either.
    He sprinted the remaining seven-tenths of a mile to the rec center. His lungs burned and perspiration dripped down his back, but the endorphin rush left him feeling better than he had in months. If he kept it up, his abs would be at three-pack status in time for their summer vacation.
    The endorphin high dropped off with his first step into the building.
    The diorama, now decorated with iridescent balloons, was stationed in the center of the lobby. Griffin, recovered and Saturday casual in an untucked shirt, jeans, and sneakers, was parked beside his plastic fantasy, an elbow resting jauntily on the edge of the Plexiglas corner.
    Will eyed the white board propped between the diorama and Maryellen Griffin, who, with glazed grin, looked like a wilting, anorexic flower despite the word Juicy emblazoned across her daffodil-yellow sweats.
    COUPON CLIPPERS!
    TWELVE STEPS TO A NEW LIFE!
    SAVE AND BE SAVED TODAY AND EVERY SATURDAY!
    If only the Griffins would find a new life somewhere else.
    “Joining us for our class today?” Griffin smiled.
    A jolt of indigestion, at least he hoped it was indigestion, radiated across his chest. “Sorry. My weights class is starting.”
    Frank eyed Will’s already damp T-shirt. “Looks like you’ve already worked up a sweat.”
    Nothing like the sweat he could work up with a few well-placed questions about the suspicious lack of time between the HOB vote and the playground groundbreaking. He avoided eye contact with an unfocused glance at the diorama swing set. “Just getting started.”
    Griffin patted his belly, which despite his illness, seemed to have risen like a mini-bread loaf. “I planned to hit the weights, but I’m so behind after being down with that flu, the workout is going to have to wait until after Easter.”
    “Sounds like a plan,” Will managed. “Got to run.”
    As if in confirmation, a bicycle-shorts-and-cycling-shoes-clad group click-clacked downstairs toward the spinning studio for their class.
    “I want you to know,” Griffin’s face morphed from his usual good-humor-from-the-abundance-of-blessings expression into an almost convincing attempt at humility, “I really do respect your commitment to this community.”
    “Thanks.”
    Frank put a pinkie