Peggy Dulle - Liza Wilcox 02 - Apple Pots and Funeral Plots Read Online Free

out.”
    I picked up Shelby ’s leash from the seat and handed it to Kate. “Keep this on her if you get the door open. I don’t want to lose her.”
    “No problem.” Kate took the leash and threw it over the car to Ted.
    Ted had to yank several times on the door, but it finally opened. He hooked Shelby on the leash and took her out. She went directly to a tree and peed.
    “Can you call someone to get me out of here?” I asked Kate.
    “Already done, Liza . My dad runs the local tow truck service. He’s on his way. Do you need an ambulance?”
    “I don’t think so.” I felt my arms and legs again. “Everything seems to be okay. I have a cut on my forehead, but it’s not bleeding anymore, so it’s fine. I’m just stuck.”
    Then my phone rang. Kate and I glanced at it. It kept ringing.
    “Aren’t you going to answer that?” she asked, raising her eyebrows.
    “It’s got to be my boyfriend, Tom.” I shook my head and smiled weakly, “He has an uncanny way of knowing when I’m in trouble.”
    Kate laughed. “Just tell him you’re fine.”
    “Good idea.” I opened the phone. “Hello.”
    “Hi, honey. How’s it going?”
    “Fine.”
    “Have you gotten to Clainsworth, yet?”
    “No, not quite. But I’m almost there.” Well, it was the truth, right?
    “How was the drive?”
    “Uneventful.”
    “That’s your favorite word these days.”
    “Yes and it’s so true.” I laughed lightly. “My life is pretty uneventful.”
    I saw the lights from the tow truck. “I’ve got to go. I’m almost into the town. How about I call you when I get settled in my hotel?”
    “Sounds great, honey. I look forward to your call.”
    “Talk to you soon.” I closed the phone.
    Kate smiled. “Sometimes it’s just better if they don’t know, isn’t it?”
    “Yes.” I sighed deeply.
    A large man wearing brown overalls with, “Bill’s Towing Service” embroidered across the front, came up to the car. He was probably ten years older than me with dark black hair tucked under a baseball cap. His face was round and accented with bright green eyes that glistened in the moonlight.
    “Are you okay, Ma’am?”
    “I’m fine and not old enough to be called Ma’am. My name is Liza and I appreciate you coming out and getting me out of my car.” I stuck my hand out the window toward him.
    He shook my hand. “I’m Bill, and I’ll be glad to get you out.” He stood back and looked at my car. “But I think your car is totaled.”
    “It was time to buy a new one anyway.”
    “Good attitude.” He winked at me.
    “Stop flirting, Dad, and get her out,” Kate said, obviously the boss around here.
    Bill blushed and left. Ted came back with Shelby, who jumped back into the car and licked my face. I patted her on the head and she lay down, taking her shotgun position again.
    Kate pointed to the harness. “It’s a good thing you keep her hooked up. She probably would have gone flying through the windshield without it. Most people don’t follow the safety rules about dogs in cars.”
    “I’m a big rule follower.”
    “Teacher?” she asked.
    “Yeah, how’d you know?”
    “Well, they tend to be big rule followers but it was your bumper sticker.” She pointed toward the back of the car.
    “Oh yeah, ‘If you can read this, thank a teacher.’ Guess I’ll have to get a new one.”
    “Go with something sexier. I’ve seen ones that say ‘If you can read this, kiss a teacher.’” She laughed.
    I laughed with her. A few minutes later her dad was back with some kind of huge metal tool. He stuck it under my dash and pumped it up. In another minute or so, Bill pulled me out of my car.
    I stumbled when I tried to stand up and Bill grabbed me. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
    “Yes.” I stood up straight and leaned against my car. The sides were crushed and the hood was smashed. In fact, there was only about a foot left to the front of my car. Bill was right; my car was a distant memory.
    “Here’s what