If the Shoe Kills Read Online Free Page B

the road and the short walk back into town. “I’m making chili and corn bread tomorrow night for my son. He’s visiting from Washington.”
    â€œHow many kids do you have?”
    Mindy smiled. “Just the one. His father, well, he wanted a namesake more than he wanted to raise kids. We divorced last year.”
    â€œYou sound like you would have liked more.” I hadn’t made up my mind yet on if I wanted kids, not to mention how many.
    â€œSometimes, what you want isn’t what you get.” Mindy’s words echoed Marie’s statement earlier in the day.
    When we arrived back at The Glass Slipper, the door was still locked. Several people milled around the door, checking their watches. I knocked hard on the door.
    â€œDon’t bother,” a short woman said to my left. She held up her phone. “I just got a text from Marie. She’s ill and cancelling tonight’s class. She says we’ll get another week added to the end of the session.”
    Mindy seemed deflated. I put my hand on her arm. “Why don’t you come over and help me in the shop today? I’ll sign your time card.”
    The look she gave me was so filled with gratitude, I almost teared up. “We get a stipend for each night we work. I needed the extra money to buy the groceries for tomorrow.”
    We walked across the street, and the students from the cancelled class followed us. The woman with the cell phone laughed. “I’ve wanted to check out the coffee shop for weeks. I guess Marie’s cancelling class is the right excuse.”
    I held the door to the shop open as people filed in, and my eyes caught a movement in the darkened window of The Glass Slipper. A face peered out at us. Marie’s face.

CHAPTER 3
    W aving at the last few customers, I locked the door and turned the sign from open to closed. I’d needed the extra hands tonight. Sasha handled preparing the coffee, and Mindy dished up desserts and cleaned tables. Tuesdays were typically slow, but with the holiday season approaching and Marie’s cancelled class, we had more impulse shoppers tonight.
    Turning off the lights, I peered at The Glass Slipper across the street. I knew I’d seen Marie watching us earlier. Had the woman been that nervous about working with Mindy that she’d cancelled her class? Or was the near miss with Ted’s Mustang to blame? Either way, I needed to talk to her tomorrow. Mindy deserved a real work experience, with hopefully, a real recommendation when she applied for jobs at the end of the program.
    I slipped through my darkened shop and into the back office. Then I grabbed my purse and went through the back door. Greg’s truck was parked in Aunt Jackie’s regular spot. I locked the door, jiggling the knob to make sure it was secure.
    Climbing into the truck, I leaned over, gave Greg a kiss, and held up the box filled with cheesecake pumpkin squares. “You got time for some dessert and coffee?”
    Greg pulled the truck out into the road. “My time is yours. I turned everything over to Tim, unless something big happens, of course.”
    â€œIt must be hell to be so indispensable,” I teased.
    He didn’t even look at me. “If something happened at the shop, you would show up. Nothing different than with my job.”
    â€œExcept with my job, people don’t break laws, get hurt, or die.” We passed by Esmeralda’s house. Lights blazed out of every window, and a few cars were parked in her driveway. “Is Esmeralda having a séance?”
    â€œI don’t think she calls it that, but yes, she’s doing a group reading.” Greg glanced at the cars in front of his dispatcher’s home. “You know she came in to talk to me before dinner.”
    â€œI thought she was relaying the mayor’s message.” I tore my glaze from the window and toward Greg.
    He pulled into my driveway and turned off the engine.