Coastal Cottage Calamity (A Logan Dickerson Cozy Mystery Book 2) Read Online Free Page A

people.”
    I thought about it
and I realized that I’d never actually talked to Koryn about her life. What she
liked. What she didn’t like. What kind of person she was. I hadn’t wanted to
ask because of a past that included an abusive boyfriend.
    “Cal.”
    That was the first
time she’d ever mentioned his name. She had left Atlanta to get away from him.
But I should’ve known that there had to be other things in her past that were
safe to talk about. I should have tried. I glanced over at her. Now she was
leaving, apparently not very happy with the things that were going on around
her. Not much time to get to know more about her now.
    “When are you
leaving?”
    “In a few days. I
just got the offer yesterday.”
    “I didn’t know you
were looking for a job,” I said and turned to head back down the next section
of dirt. “I thought you were happy here. Staying at the Maypop. Working at the
Jellybean Café.”
    “I am. But I can’t
keep running all my life. I need to settle down.”
    “But just not
here?” I asked.
    “No. I’m a big
city kind of girl.”
    Now that I would
have never guessed. Koryn Razner was quiet and seemed to me a little
introverted. Her haphazardly cut hair was always falling out of her ponytail
into her face and she’d recently sliced off more hair to make bangs that were
too long. She was constantly pushing or blowing them out of her face. She never
had much to say although she did have a warm genuine smile that she didn’t mind
sharing. She had a small frame, and even with all the sunshine in Georgia she
was pale. I looked at her, the best word to describe her I thought was “meek.”
    “So. What kind of
job is it?” I asked making another turn. She was walking sideways now,
following me as I went back and forth over the area.
    “It’s in a
research and development lab.”
    “R & D?
Really?” I stopped and looked up from the hand held machine. “A science lab?
You never said anything about being into science.”
    “I know.” She
lowered her head and nodded. “I majored in chemistry in school.”
    “You did?”
    “Yep.” She nodded.
“And I used to teach. Like Gemma. But not second graders.”
    “Like high school?”
    “Yep. High school.”
    A smile appeared
across my face and I nudged her with my shoulder. “Why didn’t you tell me? What
a coincidence. I knew I liked you for some reason.” I looked at her. “We’re
just alike, huh?”
    “Yep,” she said. “We’re
both into science.”
    I heard Mac’s
voice attempt a feeble shout and turned to look at him waving at us. “Vivee
said come and eat,” he said.
    “I’m just getting
a good start,” I said turning back to look at Koryn. I took in a breath and
sighed. “You know what?” I took the trowel and brush from Koryn and stuffed it
into my knapsack. “Just tell Miss Vivee I’m not hungry and I wanted to get a
little more work in before we left for the day.”
    “Okay,” Koryn
said. “But you know she’ll be upset.”
    “I doubt it,” I
said. “It’ll be more egg salad for her. No matter how much she claims she doesn’t
like it, I think it’s the sole source of energy for the ATP reactions in her body.”
    Koryn didn’t say
anything.
    “It’s a joke,” I
said. “ATP. The body’s way of extracting energy from food.”
    “Oh yeah.” She
chuckled. She blew a breath up to clear her eyes of her bangs. “Okay,” she
said. “See you back at the tent.”
    Guess that wasn’t as
funny as I thought. Maybe I didn’t have it right. ATP to ADP . . .
    I tried to
remember how energy needed by the body was converted from food as I watched Koryn
head off toward Mac. Once there, they spoke for a moment and then Mac glanced at
me and gave a wave before they turned to leave.
    “Good,” I said
aloud to myself. “Now maybe I can get some work done.”
    I walked over to
the computer and pulled up the images that I had taken so far. Squatting down
in front of the box and examining the results, I