Needle and Dread Read Online Free Page A

distinctive voice. “You tell her, Rose Winters! Tell her good!”
    â€œI’ll have your job!” Opal shouted at Rose.
    Rose’s lips twitched with the faintest hint of a smile. “Considering the fact that I’m co-owner of this shop, I doubt you’ll have much success.”
    â€œThen I want to talk to your partner!”
    Leona eased Rose away from the table and then took her place front and center. “Yes? How can I help you?”
    Opal’s eyes narrowed to near slits. “
You’re
her business partner?”
    â€œThat’s right.” Leona inhaled sharply and then took a moment to give a pleasant nod to each of the guests before turning her attention back to Opal. “My business partner and I have worked hard to make this event nice for everyone. And, from what I can see, the other members of your group are enjoying their project, the food, and the company of my friends. The only blight I can see is
you
, Ms. Goodwin—you and your refusal to be satisfied with anyone or anything. In fact, I suspect that’s why you look as if you’re frowning all the time.”
    â€œOh, most definitely. The position of one’s wrinkles can tell
a lot
,” Charles interjected. “Happy people age happily. Unhappy people age unhappily.”
    Leona took her gaze off of Opal long enough to engage Charles. “The right makeup artist can always work wonders, though . . .”
    â€œSo-very-true,” Charles snapped out. “You should see my neighbor—Arianna.” He looked from side toside and lowered his voice. “Hmmm . . . how should I describe Arianna? She’s . . . um . . . well . . .”
    â€œUgly?” Leona prompted.
    Charles paused for a split second and then nodded. “But I have to tell you, Leona, when Bruce, my other neighbor, gets her in the chair and works his magic, she looks positively bea-u-ti-ful.”
    â€œBruce is your friend who gave you that magical under-eye concealer?”
    â€œNo. That was my old roommate, Michael Anthony,” Charles corrected. “Bruce is a true artist. He is to the human face, what Michelangelo was to the Sistine Chapel.”
    â€œWe must meet.” Leona air-kissed Charles’s cheek and then turned back to a gaped-mouth Opal. “Anyway, you will not be getting a refund, nor will we be paying for your hotel, your meals, or any of the other ridiculous demands you made. We promised a project and food, and we delivered in both areas. So, unless you want to go back home tomorrow evening with nothing to show for your efforts, I suggest you get back to your sewing, Ms. Goodwin.”
    *   *   *
    â€œIs the diva almost done?”
    Tori looked up from the logbook Leona had created for the shop’s special events and shrugged. “I’m not sure, Charles, but you could certainly check . . .”
    â€œI don’t want to know
that
bad, Victoria.” Charles pranced his way to the front window and peered out onto Main Street. “I just know I’ve watched everyone else gointo that room to retrieve their project at some point over the last thirty minutes, yet still no sign of . . .
her
.”
    â€œThat’s because my twin shamed that woman into shuttin’ her trap and finishin’ what she started.” Margaret Louise transferred the remaining cupcakes from the leaf-etched plate into a domed plastic container Debbie had found in her car. “And she had it comin’, you know.”
    Dixie finished returning the unused inventory to its correct locations around the shop and then straightened, her hands firmly planted on her hips. “If
I
was running the show around here, Opal would have been shown the door. She didn’t deserve the courtesy of being able to finish
a yawn
let alone a project she had nothing good to say about.”
    â€œAnd if you did, she’d