Jeanne Glidewell - Lexie Starr 05 - Just Ducky Read Free Page B

change into something other than the well-worn sweatpants and Miller Lite tee shirt I was wearing. I wanted to make a good first impression and this outfit hardly screamed, “Hire Me!” It more likely made the statement, “If you give me the job, I promise I won’t chug beer until I’m off the clock.”
    * * *
    Half an hour later I was in my blue convertible heading to the library, dressed in a knee-length pastel yellow dress, trimmed with black piping, and my brand new terribly uncomfortable, black leather heels. I knew there would be a critical reason I’d need to wear them when I bought them last week.
    I’m not sure why, but I’d even chosen to put on a pair of pantyhose, which I detested and normally only stooped to wearing to funerals and weddings of people with whom I was very close. I also slipped on some dangly earrings and a matching emerald necklace Stone had given me for my birthday. It had been years since I’d applied for a job, and I didn’t know the current dress code for such an occasion. Plus, it was important to me to make a good first impression on Ms. Duckworthy, and I didn’t want to look like I’d just come from the gym, or a weeklong camping trip.
    As I introduced myself to the head librarian a few minutes later, I knew I had over-dressed for the occasion. Ms. Duckworthy was wearing an old pair of baggy, faded jeans that ended several inches above the top of her beat-up hiking boots. She also donned a stained, light blue sweatshirt that had a Kansas City Royals 1985 World Series Champions emblem on the front and was frayed around the collar. To complete the ensemble, she wore an Isle of Capri Casino ball cap.
    The head librarian had short salt and pepper hair, more salty than peppery, and wore thick horn-rimmed glasses. She was several inches shorter than me, probably an inch or two shy of five foot, and couldn’t have weighed more than ninety pounds. Yet, for some odd reason, I instantly felt very intimidated by her, as if I were introducing myself to a drill-sergeant on the first day of boot camp.
    “I’m Lexie Starr, Ms. Duckworthy. I believe Detective Wyatt Johnston spoke to you about my experience as an assistant librarian in Shawnee. I volunteered there for several days a week for a period of almost four years. He told me you were retiring and looking for someone to fill in as acting head librarian while applicants were being interviewed for the permanent position. The detective thought it might be right up my alley, and actually I was looking for something to do in my spare time while business at our bed and breakfast was in a seasonal slump,” I said. As I babbled on, she stared at me like I had “ village idiot” tattooed across my forehead. “So, um, anyway, I guess I’ve come to speak to you about the position and apply for the job.”
    “Really?” she asked. “I thought maybe you were on your way to a cocktail party, dressed in that fancy get-up, and all.”
    I laughed nervously at what I thought was meant as a joke. She didn’t laugh, smile, or show any emotion at all. I turned slightly to my left, on the verge of walking right out of the library, and back to my car, knowing my face was flushing in embarrassment. I took a step toward the door when Ms. Duckworthy’s next words stopped me in my tracks.
    “Okay, lady, you’ve got the job,” she stated. “When can you start?”
    “But, don’t you want me to fill out an application, or, perhaps, be interviewed first?”
    “Naaa, the cop’s word is good enough for me. It’s just temporary after all, so you don’t have to be the sharpest knife in the drawer.”
    “Well, then, Ms. Duckworthy, I guess I can start whenever you’d like me to.” I wasn’t sure if I should be insulted by her “sharpest knife” comment, so I chose not to be, since I really did want the job, and Wyatt had suggested I didn’t take anything Ducky said personally. “Tomorrow’s Tuesday. Will that work for you?”
    “Yeah, that