Dates And Other Nuts Read Online Free Page A

Fredericks.”
    â€œAnd you actually picked him up and threw him out the window?”
    The lively seventy-year-old grinned guilelessly. “I figured if the old fart thought he could make love to a woman at his age, he probably thought he could fly, too.”
    Temple smiled, and kept on driving. Morning traffic around the airport was unusually light. She exited the highway and drove her pickup toward the employee parking area, her gaze fixed on the rearview mirror.
    Flo finished her cigarette and doughnut about the same time. Hitting the automatic window button, she pitched the butt and stuffed the bakery tissue containing doughnut crumbs into her coat pocket. Flipping down the visor mirror, she examined her teeth for pastry residue, brushing at her chin and mouth.
    â€œWhat time’s your flight?” the older woman asked.
    â€œSeven.”
    â€œSt. Louis?”
    â€œUh-huh, and all points between.”
    Flo rummaged through her purse for a tube of lipstick. “Thanks for the ride. Guess I’ll have to break down and buy a new battery. Makes twice this week the Pinto wouldn’t start.”
    Still watching the rearview mirror intently, Temple only half listened to Flo.
    â€œWho are you flying with this morning?”
    â€œStevens and Scott.”
    Temple glanced out the side-view window. Craig’s white Lincoln should be turning off the highway any minute. Strange how much more she looked forward to a flight when she knew they would be working together.
    Flo shook her head. “You and Craig are like a couple of kids,” she declared. “Torment the life out of each other. You two play this parking-space game every morning?”
    â€œEvery morning we fly together.”
    â€œFunny you two never got together. You know, Craig’s good-looking, successful,” Flo remarked. “You’re good-looking, successful—‘Everybody good-lookin’ an’ successful,” she sang in an uplifting, spiritual rhythm with a snap of her fingers.
    â€œCraig and me?” Temple laughed. “No sky jockeys for me.”
    Pilots were off her list. Even Craig. Not even for Mr. Right. For some reason, though, he’d been looking awful good to her lately.
    â€œBesides, he was engaged to my best friend once,” she told Flo. “Things didn’t work out and she was deeply hurt. She’s still carrying a torch for him. I just wouldn’t do that to her.”
    â€œTemple, you’re too nice for your own good.”
    â€œThat’s me. Took my Girl Scout oath to heart.”
    â€œHmmph,” Flo said, stripping the cap off her lipstick. She’d just touched the color to her lips when Temple spotted Craig’s Lincoln and floored the pickup. The truck shot forward, pinning Flo’s neck to the headrest, sending a bright slash of Moroccan Sunset lipstick streaking past her nose.
    Stamping the accelerator to the floor, Temple grinned devilishly when she saw Craig’s car spurt forward.
    Flo struggled to right herself, clinging to the door handle as the two vehicles raced side by side along the outer road. Craig tried to shut Temple out at the turn, but failed.
    Whipping into her parking spot, Temple slammed on the brakes and cut the engine. Her ’87 GMC Silverado precisely straddled the line between the two spaces in top-notch line-straddling form. Weeks of practice were paying off. She rarely missed her mark these days.
    The Lincoln pulled up and squalled to a halt. Backing up, Craig made several attempts to maneuver the automobile into the tight space Temple had left. The power steering screeched as he worked to manipulate the big car into the narrow opening. The grating sound of tire rubbing against concrete shattered the silence.
    Reading Craig’s lips, Temple laughed and waited as Flo, used to their antics, slid across to the driver’s side to exit. He managed to wedge the door open, but had to maneuver sideways to squeeze