Teresa Watson Read Free Page B

who stayed home and took care of their family. Lizzie has been spending all her time at the newspaper since Dale left, and she doesn’t have any time for T.J. Even Babe has become depressed because Lizzie is neglecting her. Besides, she’s never been good at picking boyfriends. They’ve all been losers.”
    I got up and walked over to Gladys’ table. “Let me tell you something, you nosy old busybody. T.J. hasn’t broken up with me, and whatever is wrong with Babe is none of your business. Dale left me in charge of his newspaper, and I intend to do the best job I can do so I don’t disappoint him. T.J. understands this, and has been very supportive. Just because you have turned into a dried up old prune does not give you the right to speculate about someone’s life and spread rumors just to make yourself look important. One of these days, it will come back and bite you on the butt, and I hope I’m standing right there watching when it does. Keep your nose out of my business and my name off your lips.”
    I walked back to my table, paid Maddie and headed for the door, only to find my path blocked by Jake. “Nice to know you can be passionate about something,” he said, holding the door open for me.
    “Shut up, Jake,” I said as I left, knowing I had just given Gladys more gossip to spread around. By the time I got home, she will have told everyone I was a two-timing hussy who should be run out of town.
    I wondered if my friend had another job opening on her family’s avocado ranch.
     

 
    Chapter Five
    How had this day gone so wrong so fast? It wasn’t even noon yet!
    I knew I was going to get an earful from my mother as soon as she found out what I had said to Gladys, so going to her house was out of the question. I couldn’t go back to the office, because Ellen would corner me and want an explanation, which I wasn’t prepared to give right now.
    Wait a minute…I knew where to go and no one would expect me to be there.
    Five minutes later, I parked near the side entrance to the Gentleman’s Club. Trixie Greene’s black Porsche was already there. I had only been there two times, but just to pick her up. This time, I was actually going in.
    No one, except for the men who went there all the time, knew what it looked like inside. There was plenty of speculation, of course, but nothing concrete. I’m sure you can guess how Gladys described it. Her opinion didn’t count.
    I opened the door and walked inside, waiting a minute for my eyes to adjust to the dim lighting. To my right was a long mahogany bar with leather bar stools. There were tables and chairs on the main part of the floor, with a few leather covered booths lining the walls to the left. Music softly played over the speaker system.
    “What are you doing here?” Trixie said as she came around the end of the bar. “I’m not open for business, and I’m not looking to hire any new girls. What did T.J. do this time?”
    “Who says he did anything?” I said defensively.
    “Because you have that look on your face that says a guy has totally ticked you off. So if it isn’t T.J., it must have been my brother.”
    “We did have a heated exchange this morning, but nothing I can’t handle.”
    “Ok, I give up. Why are you here?”
    “Jake.”
    “Oh boy,” Trixie said. She went behind the bar, pulled down a couple of glasses, filled them with ice, and poured a couple of Cokes. She slid one across the bar as I sat down on a stool. “Why are we talking about him after all these years?”
    I took a drink. “Because he is the guy Dale hired to help me at the newspaper.”
    “You’ve got to be kidding me.”
    “Nope. He walked in about an hour ago.”
    “How does he look?”
    A mental picture of Jake popped into my head: blond hair, those deep blue eyes, Oxford shirt, slacks, and loafers. The sleeves of his shirt couldn’t hide his muscles and…I shook my head to make the image go away. “About the same.”
    “Apparently so. Your eyes glazed