Page 46 of The Moment They Can't Forget

He didn’t let the shock show.

“I know my friend, you see, and the look she threw you made me wonder if there was something going on. Especially when you returned it.”

Lil entered the goats’ stall and clipped on a lead rope to Parsnip’s collar. He did the same to Pumpkin, and they tugged the goats out.

“Nothing going on,” he said calmly. Which was the truth, because there wasn’t… now. He didn’t have to tell her that there had been a whole lot of something going on.

She studied him, and he had a feeling she didn’t believe a word he’d just said.

“I have a question now,” JD said.

“Shoot.”

“What happened in Chicago?”

“I don’t know,” she said, not meeting his eyes this time.

It seemed he wasn’t the only one not telling the truth.

Chapter14

After yet another phone call from Mrs. C last night, Zoe had finally relented and said she’d come in for a few hours this morning to help her out before the fair. It felt good to pull on one of her work dresses and wedged heels. She’d added some makeup and then driven to Petticoat.

Last night she’d made out with JD and could have been seen by one of her brothers. That had to stop. She had to avoid that man going forward. He was dangerous because he made her forget… well, pretty much everything. But first, she had to apologize for what she’d said about Lil, which was way out of line, and then she’d avoid him.

Happy with her plan, she parked outside Petticoat. Grabbing her bag, Zoe headed inside.

“Zoe, well now, look at you, dear. You are a picture,” Mrs. C said, smiling. “Thank you so much for helping me out.”

Seated in the chair behind the counter, she looked tired and pale.

“I promised Ally I’d go to the school fair, but I can do a few hours for you.”

The woman didn’t exactly leap to her feet, but it was close. “I’m grateful for any hours you can give me. How about we start with four days a week?”

“I can do that, but I will leave when I get another job.”

“I know you will, and as I’ve said, I’m grateful for your help.” Mrs. C pulled the pen out from behind her ear. “Right, we better get you up to speed.”

She then spent the next two hours learning what she needed to, and the surprise to Zoe was she enjoyed it. Enjoyed learning all the things connected to Petticoat and the business Mrs. C had built.

“How would you feel if I moved things around a bit?” Zoe said, studying the space.

It was a big, long shop full of stock, which made it look smaller. Out back was storage, which was full of boxes.

Mrs. C sighed. “You’d be doing me a favor if you did. I just don’t have the energy anymore.”

“Well then,” Zoe said, wandering around her. “I’ll see what I can do. What time do you want me on Monday?”

“If you could start at nine, that would be great. Here is the key.”

“You won’t be here?”

“I’ll have my first sleep in in a while and come in around lunchtime, if that suits. You can call if you need anything.”

Zoe looked around her. She could do this. “All right, that sounds good.”

Mrs. C hugged her when she returned to her side. “Thank you, Zoe. This means I can spend some time off my feet and get that useless son of mine out of bed.”

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