Pumpkin Roll Read Online Free Page B

scrunched up her face. “Huh, it’s funny that nowhere in any of your wisdom is there anything about taking cookies to a lonely woman.”
     
    Pete narrowed his eyes at her and finished chewing before he swallowed. “As I said, I believe that Advice Three covers that.”
     
    Sadie put a hand to her chest and widened her eyes with exaggerated horror at the suggestion that she had some kind of ulterior motive. “Quite frankly, Peter Cunningham, I’m offended.”
     
    He smirked at her, and Sadie smiled back, glad he found her so entertaining. She was totally taking these cookies across the street and he knew it. “Just to show you how pure my motives are, I’ve decided to take a plate to the houses next door as well. All the neighbors are getting cookies.”
     
    “Nice save,” Pete said with a nod. “But I can still see right through it. This is all about Mrs. Wapple and satisfying your curiosity.”
     
    “He says as though he has no curiosity about the woman at all,” Sadie muttered.
     
    “I’m on vacation,” Pete said. “I left my badge at home.”
     
    “No you didn’t,” Sadie said with a laugh. “It’s in your suitcase.”
     
    “I was speaking metaphorically.”
     
    “I believe Advice Number One would fit this situation nicely,” Sadie said. “And for your insubordination you get to do the dishes.”
     
    “No fair,” Pete said, straightening in his chair and looking at the sink full of dishes. “You made the mess.”
     
    “Oooh,” Sadie said, brandishing her spatula again. “You might want to take that back.”
     
    He looked from her to the spatula to the cookies. “Can I have another cookie?”
     
    “You can have two,” Sadie said. “ After you do the dishes.” She turned to the cupboard and took out a plate. She’d used paper plates for the other neighbors, but if Sadie used a real plate for Mrs. Wapple’s cookies, she’d have an excuse to go back tomorrow in order to collect it—increasing her opportunity for observation 100 percent. She glanced out the window to check on the boys and then turned back to the table just as Pete stopped chewing another pilfered cookie, as though she wouldn’t notice. “You’re incorrigible,” she said.
     
    Caught, Pete shrugged and finished chewing. Sadie set down the plate and he helped her fill it with the soft brown cookies. She’d rolled the dough in sugar before baking, so they had the slightest shimmer when a melted sugar crystal caught the light just so. Once the plate was filled, Sadie covered it with plastic wrap, gave Pete a quick kiss, and headed out the door, curious to find out a little more information about the witch across the street.
     
    When she pressed Mrs. Wapple’s doorbell, she didn’t hear anything inside. She pushed again. Nothing. Transferring the plate to one hand, she pulled open the screen door, cringing at the high-pitched squeak. You’d think the door hadn’t been opened for years with the racket it made. Looking down, she startled to see a huge spiderweb she’d pulled free between the front door and the screen door—complete with a nickel-sized spider in the corner. She jumped away with a little scream, and the screen door slowly closed, creaking as it did so and giving her chills. She took a deep breath to calm herself and looked around to see if anyone was watching. Pete grinned at her from the picture window and gave her a thumbs-up sign that she pointedly ignored.
     
    When she turned back, the screen door had closed. Did she dare open it again? If the spider came for her, she could easily smoosh it, right? When she’d been a little girl, her brother Jack had said he’d pay her a quarter if she’d kill one in his room. She’d taken the job, and then almost thrown up when she felt the exoskeleton crush beneath her shoe. Even thinking about it now made her shiver. Jack still owed her that quarter.
     
    She reached out to grab the handle, but couldn’t do it and quickly pulled back, wiping