Wife for Hire by Janet Evanovich Read Free Book Online Page A

would never eat her green beans,” Aunt Marvina said. “Shealways had a mind of her own. It’s from her Grandfather Toone. The only Irishman in Riverside, and I tell you he was a rascal.”
    Hank sat back in his seat and watched Maggie squirm. This wasn’t doing his cause any good, but he was enjoying it anyway. And he had a thirst to know more.
    â€œMaggie didn’t tell me she was a problem child,” Hank said. “In fact, Maggie hasn’t told me much about her childhood at all.”
    Mabel rolled her eyes. “She was the terror of Riverside. Ever since she was a little girl, the boys loved her red hair. They just flocked to our doorstep, and Maggie wouldn’t have anything to do with them.” She shook her head. “She wasn’t one to pussyfoot around. If they didn’t take no for an answer, she’d punch them in the nose, or hit them over the head with her lunch box. When she got older, it was just as bad.”
    â€œWe thought she’d never get married,” Aunt Marvina said.
    â€œAnd then, remember that time when she was nine,” Mabel said, “and she wrote that awful word on the front door of Campbell School?”
    Aunt Marvina clapped her hand to her mouthto keep from laughing out loud. “That was terrible.” She looked at Hank, her eyes crinkled at the memory. “We were surprised she even knew a word like that, but then Maggie was always surprising us.”
    â€œI wrote that word on a dare,” Maggie said. “And I went back later to wash it off.”
    Mabel buttered a biscuit. “It wouldn’t wash off,” she told Hank. “They had to paint the door. And we had to pay for the paint.”
    Maggie’s aunt was right. Maggie was full of surprises, Hank thought. It was easy to imagine her as the neighborhood tomboy. And she didn’t seem to be so different now. She probably still punched men in the nose. Something he should keep in mind.
    â€œSo what else did Maggie do?”
    Maggie glared a warning to Hank and her mother. “I’m sure everyone is finding this very boring.”
    â€œNot me,” Linda Sue said.
    Holly Brown sipped her water. “I want to know more.”
    â€œThis is good pot roast,” Mabel said. “And no lumps in the mashed potatoes. You see,” she said to Aunt Marvina, “all she needed was to get married. Now she can even cook.”
    â€œWrong,” Maggie said. “I still can’t cook. We have a house keeper. She made the meal.”
    â€œA house keeper.” Mabel was clearly impressed. “That’s very nice, but what will you do all day if you don’t have to cook and clean?”
    â€œI told you. I’m writing a book about Aunt Kitty.”
    Mabel sucked in some air. “A book about Aunt Kitty. That’s craziness. Aunt Kitty was a…you know what. Why do you have to write a book that’s filled with S-E-X ? How will I ever be able to show my face at Wednesday night bingo?”
    Linda Sue’s eyebrows shot up under her bangs. “You’re writing a dirty book?”
    â€œMy Great-aunt Kitty was a madam,” Maggie explained to Linda Sue and Holly. “She left me her diary, and I’m using it as the basis for a book.”
    â€œWow, hot stuff,” Holly said. “This should put Skogen on the map.”
    Harry Mallone had turned a deep shade of vermilion. He had his hand wrapped around his fork and his knuckles were white. “Over my dead body,” he said.
    Helen Mallone patted her husband’s hand. “Watch your blood pressure, Harry.”
    Maggie thought her mother-in-law didn’t look especially concerned about Aunt Kitty’s diary. Helen Mallone was amazingly calm. In fact, there was an unnerving peacefulness about her.
    Helen caught Maggie staring. “I’ve survived Hank’s adolesence,” Helen explained. “The rest of my life will be child’s