Charleston with a Clever Cougar: A Dance with Danger Mystery #6 Read Online Free Page B

smiled. “You just focus on feeling better.”
    “I’ll be good in the morning. I’ll get to the
shop as soon as I can.”
    “How are you going to get there?” Carole
wondered, a gentle smile on her lips. “Don’t you remember what
happened to your van?”
    “Oh, criminy! How bad is it?”
    “Walter says it will be in the shop for a
while. Your insurance company will get you a rental, I’m sure.”
    “I have to call them,” I muttered groggily,
beginning to fade.
    “First thing in the morning, Cady. You’ll
have all day to take care of that. Now, just go to sleep.”
    Carol sent Daisy home to watch after Dylan.
She stayed in my guest room, checking on me from time to time. Even
though she was still on the thin side after the last round of
chemotherapy, her energy didn’t seem to flag. If anything, she
seemed energized by the chance to play Florence Nightingale.
    I spent much of the night tossing and
turning, trying to find a comfortable position. My muscles really
hurt. That’s the trouble with bracing yourself for a crash. I would
have been better off not seeing that mailbox coming at me.
    Just after seven, I opened my eyes and lay
there for a few minutes, watching the changing sunlight play upon
my bedroom wall. So many thoughts flooded my head, but the one
thing that stood out for me was the green-eyed gnome. He was so
different in responding to the emergency, showing genuine
compassion, but that gruffness seemed to turn on and off with the
ease of a light switch.
    After fixing me some toast, yogurt, and
coffee, Carole headed home to shower and get to the shop by eight.
Lonnie, our neighbor at Soundings, had offered to drop her off on
his way to work. Daisy ran into him on the sidewalk, roping him in
as taxi driver for her mother. She was becoming a very resourceful
young woman.
    Darlene always started her shift at seven,
opening Cady’s Cakes for the day, greeting the first customers as
they trickled through the door in search of a coffee and pastry.
She was an experienced hand, so I knew she could keep things
copacetic with Carole, her enthusiastic, but untrained volunteer.
Even if my friend only greeted people, she would be helpful. I just
didn’t want Carole overdoing it.
    Daisy stopped by on her way to school. She
poured me a second cup of coffee.
    “I’m really sorry about your van,” she
repeated for the tenth time.
    “You know what? I’m really sorry, too, Daisy.
But it’s still not your fault. You did everything right. I’m glad
you weren’t hurt.”
    “You don’t look so hot, Cady,” she announced
as she watched me make my way to the sofa. “You’re walking like my
great-grandma.”
    “Gee, is it that bad?” Gloria was going on
eighty-five and was scheduled for hip replacement.
    “It really is. Hey, Cady,” she continued,
“that guy was pretty nice last night. I mean, he seemed kind of
cranky when he came into the shop for coffee, but he was different
when he was helping us.”
    “He was,” I agreed.
    “You should go out with him.”
    “What?” That came out of left field and
caught me unaware. “What are you talking about?”
    “I think he likes you. You guys should
date.”
    “He used to be a medic, Daze. That’s like
being an EMT in the military. His job was to take care of injured
people”
    “Oh.” I saw her process the information. But
then she surprised me again. “I still think he likes you. He was
looking at you like he cared.”
    “Maybe he just likes blueberry muffins,” I
suggested.
    “Maybe he just likes you. Besides, it’s about
time you started dating. Stephen’s not coming back, is he? Thank
goodness. That guy was a loser. And stupid, too.”
    “Don’t you have to get to school?” I asked,
wagging my finger at her. She tossed her head back and laughed.
    “I’m going, I’m going. See you.” She closed
the door behind her, making sure it was locked.
    Stephen. I hadn’t thought about him in weeks.
Or was it days? I was finally at the point