Mixed Messages (A Malone Mystery) Read Free Page B

face
    such beauty, such grace.
    My heart wants you so.
    I need you to know.”
     
    She’d known for some time that Olivia’s son, Lawrence, who lived in the upstairs apartment with his mother, was infatuated with her and, a few months after they’d moved into the house, she’d started getting the poems. The envelopes were never sealed and both the envelopes and the poems inside were typed on plain white paper.
    She went back into her apartment and set the mail, with the exception of Lawrence’s poem, on the kitchen counter. She heard the humming sound of David’s electric shaver coming from the bathroom. She hurried into the bedroom, opened the bottom drawer of her dresser and stashed the poem, with the other poems and notes she’d saved, under a pile of nightgowns she never wore. She knew that she should probably throw the notes away but somehow, she couldn’t bring herself to do that. David would have a fit if he ever saw these, she thought.
    The whirring stopped and she heard the shower running, which meant that David would be out soon. She went into the kitchen and began to dry and put away the dishes. A few minutes later, David stomped into the kitchen.
    “Do me a favor. Tell the old lady upstairs to have that damn lift fixed. I’m sick and tired of listening to it!” He grabbed his keys off the table and stormed out the door.
    Ann rushed to the kitchen door and locked the deadbolt, remembering the scare she’d had. She sat down at the kitchen table. David was so insistent that she get a job. Yes, they definitely had money problems but he wasted so much money.
    There was the drinking and the gambling. He didn’t think she knew about the gambling but she’d found several tickets to the gambling boat in Indiana in the pocket of one of his sports coats and, just the other day, when she was putting away his laundry, she’d discovered a stack of instant lottery tickets buried in his dresser under his socks. He really doesn’t attempt to hide it, she thought. If he didn’t want me to know, he would’ve gotten rid of them. She felt her anger fade. Maybe it’s a cry for help. If I did get a job, it might take some of the pressure off of him and he wouldn’t need to drink so much or gamble. Maybe I should try to get the job at the church.
    She went over to the counter and picked up the postcard from her sister that she’d left there earlier and stuck it under a magnet on the refrigerator with the others she’d accumulated.
    Oh, I wish I could talk to Marnie, she thought, suddenly missing her sister. She’s always been there for me. I’ve got a few minutes and I really need to hear the sound of her voice, she thought, dialing her sister’s number. I’ll tell her about the job opening at the church but I don’t expect her to make the decision for me. S he’s always been there for me whenever I’ve had a problem but I’m thirty-two years old; it’s about time I started figuring things out for myself instead of depending on my big sister to give me the answers. I’ve made up my mind that I’m going to apply for the job and, if Father Andrew offers it to me, I’m going to take it.
    The phone rang four times and Marnie’s voice came on the line, “Sorry I’m not available to take your call right now. Please leave your name and number and I’ll return your call as soon as possible.”
    “Marn, it’s me. I really need to talk to you. Please call me as soon as you can.”
    Ann sighed as she hung up the phone.
    All of a sudden, she remembered her appointment with Ms. Williams. Well, that’s it then, she decided. I’ll call Father Andrew when I get home this afternoon. I can’t wait to tell David. With any luck, I’ll get the job and things will start to change for the better around here.
    She washed her face, combed her hair and ran through the apartment and out the front door, realizing as she rushed out that she’d forgotten to tell David about her appointment with Davey’s teacher. Oh well,