Something of a Storm (All in Good Time Book 1) Read Free Page A

to mention it, but I was still really excited, and the statement just came out of my mouth before I could stop it.
    "Really? From work? How much?" Lexi asked. She continued speaking before I could answer, "I forgot today was your last day. How'd it go?"
    "It was good. They had a little party with cake and snacks and stuff. I brought some home. They're in the kitchen."
    "Did they give you money?" she asked.
    I regretted having said anything about it in the first place, but she seemed content with me saying, "A little. They gave me a pocket knife too," I added for a distraction.
    "A pocket knife?" Tara asked. She made a weird facial expression and said it as if that were the stupidest gift she could ever imagine.
    "I like pocket knives," I said, defending them.
    "Mom says its because she never had a dad," Lexi said, "says it makes her feel safe since there's no man of the house. She keeps two of them in her purse at all times—some pepper spray too."
    "You do?" Tara asked with wide eyes. "Nobody better be messin' with you!"
    "It's not because I don't have a dad," I said. "I just like how they look. We sell them at the store and I look at them all the time. Plus, they're handy to carry around if you ever need to cut anything."
    "What about the pepper spray?" Tara asked.
    "What about it?"
    "That's not just for cutting things."
    "We sell that at the store too," I said with a shrug. "Mr. Callahan gave me a bottle of it and insisted I carry it around with me."
    "Let's see it," Lexi said holding her hand out.
    "The pepper spray?" I asked.
    "The knife."
    I dug it out of my purse and placed it, box and all, in her hand. She opened it carefully and she and Tara peered in. Tara let out an expletive, which made Lexi laugh. I wasn't quite sure why, but I assumed it was because it was bigger or nicer than she imagined.
    "This is cool," Lexi said taking it out of the box and unfolding it. Tara cussed again when the blade was exposed. "You could hurt somebody with that," she said.
    "It's not for hurting anyone," I said. "It's just handy to have a pocket knife with you—you know like for opening packages and stuff."
    "Yeah, besides you couldn't hurt someone even if you tried," she said.
    "You just said she could ," Lexi said, staring at her with a confused expression.
    " Somebody could hurt someone with this knife," Tara said, "but not you or Laney. You're not strong enough."
    "What's that supposed to mean?" Lexi asked, looking offended.
    "My cousin's a butcher and he said cutting and stabbing people ain't nothin' like you see in the movies—he said it takes man muscles to make a knife go into someone, no matter how sharp the blade is."
    "Bull crap," Lexi said, carefully touching the razor-sharp tip to her finger.
    "It's true," Tara said. "He told me skin's tougher than you think and you'd really have to jam it in there to make it go in. It's nothing like the movies."
    "That's bull," Lexi repeated.
    "No it ain't," Tara said. "He said human skin is just like pig skin and it takes all his might to make a cut on a pig."
    "Look how sharp this thing is," Lexi said, holding the knife up for Tara's inspection.
    "I'm not saying it's not sharp," Tara said. "All I'm sayin' is that skin's tougher than you think."
    "Care to find out?" Lexi said. She'd always had a wild streak, and when she said it, she looked at Tara with that dreaded gleam in her eye. God only knew what she was thinking about doing.
    "No thanks, girls," I said, quickly but carefully taking the knife out of Lexi's hand. I closed it and put it in my purse.
    "Aren't you gonna put it back in the box?" Lexi asked, holding it out for me to take.
    I took it from her but tossed it into the small trashcan near my dresser. "Boxes just take up room," I said.
    "I wasn't gonna do anything stupid with it," Lexi said.
    I didn't reply to that. "What time do you have to be at the civic center?" I asked instead.
    "Six," Tara said. "Lexi's coming to my house to get dressed. Can you give us a ride over