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Lexianne is a young real estate agent who is finding dead bodies in her showings. |
Chapter Three âHey sugar plum!â Her dad greeted her this way for years. âHey Daddy.â She replied pulling her laundry hamper out of the back seat of her small car. He walked over and took the hamper from her, always a gentleman. Her Daddy was the best. âSo I see youâre getting stuff ready for the tournament?â She nodded toward his work table that was covered in an assortment of strings and lures, tackle boxes and small tools. âYeah, guess you could equate it to my needing to go shoe shopping. Gotta get some new lures and maybe string. I donât know how any of these old reels are going to hold up so I might even get me one of those.â He bought new equipment every year but rarely discarded the old pieces. Lexianne laughed at her Dad. âYeah I guess that are last yearsâ style, wouldnât hurt to have some new ones. You know I could order you something online if you want?â She offered, knowing already what his response would be. âNow you know as well as I do that these things need to be tried on for size.â He smiled at his only daughter knowing her love for shoes made her understand. âI remember when you were little how much you loved to go fishing with the old man. You sure you donât want to be my partner for this yearsâ tournament?â He grinned at her showing all of his teeth. Cheeky thing was trying to get his way. âDad you know I am too busy with trying to get this real estate business off the ground. I really have to make some sales or the broker Iâm working under is going to think Iâm not worth having around.â âYeah I heard about what happened earlier. You doing okay? I didnât want to bring it up unless you wanted to talk about it.â He watched her face, but continued pulling string from his old reel. âYeah, it was pretty awful. I donât think thereâs really much to talk about though. Mr. Mizell got me out of there before I really had time to freak out. Thank you again by the way for sending him to me.â She tinkered with a few of the items on the work bench, not wanting o get emotional in front of her father. âNo problem sweetie, hey, hand me those channel locks would ya?â He pointed with a nod of his head. She passed them over to him, watching as he was tightening the fishing string down with his teeth. âIâm going to run and get this laundry started, you need anything else?â He shook his head no and she left for the laundry room. âHurry back.â She heard him yell as the door closed. She started her laundry using her favorite soap with Lavender scent. The same brand her mother had used for years. It made her feel clean and safe all at the same time. After the wash was going, it was a quick stop by the fridge for a bottled water then back out to help her dad get things ready for his trip. Handing him a bottle, âSo who is your partner for the upcoming Liars Festival?â She watched as her father smiled at her fishing joke. âMayor Thompson. He claims it would do his campaign some good if he were to get out and mingle.â âThat man ever even been on a bass boat?â She shook her head at the choice of partners. âWellâŚâ He shrugged as if it didnât matter. âI didnât pick him. He asked me. He said he really would like to go to this thing but didnât want it to seem like a political move. So since Iâm about the most uninvolved person there could be in the politics department he wanted to team up with me.â He reached out as she handed him another tackle box, without being asked. âYou are too involved in political circles. You have a lot of say in this county.â âYeah I have say, but I donât let âem know I do.â He winked at her. âThatâs the key to it all you see. So I told the feller yes.â She smiled at her father and picked up a pole to start helping with the rigging. Her mother pulled up from the grocery store. âYâall come grab some stuff. Lexianne I thought weâd make that key lime pie since you love it so much. But then I got to thinking it was already so late so I bought one already made. I hope you donât mind.â Her mother disliked buying anything premade. Lexianne actually preferred it. âMama you know I am trying not to eat that kind of stuff now.â She grabbed bags as they spoke. âYouâre withering away to nothing honey. One little ole pie wonât hurt a thing.â Her mom was right she did love key lime pie and could probably devour one by herself, but she was wrong about Lexianne withering away. She still weighed 145 lbs. She was happy with it; at 5â8â she carried the weight well. She was comfortable but sure didnât want to put on anymore. She had been on a strict diet since buying her home. The âI have no money dietâ. It seemed to work in her favor. Sometimes she would opt for Starbucks instead of a meal. She knew it was bad budgeting but a girl has to live. And a Venti Chai Tea Frappacinno with no whip is living in this heat. Lexianne and her Dad helped carry all the bags inside and placed them on the counter. âHelp your mama,â he dad told her as he went back out to the garage to play. It was nearly dark he said but they had plenty of lighting. They could light the entire property up as if it were daylight. But her Dad had his ways. âSoâŚâ her mother began; placing cold items in the refrigerator. âI heard you had a rough day. I thought youâd want to talk about it so I hurried back. Do you want to talk about it?â Her mom acted as nonchalant about it but Lexianne knew her mother. She wanted details. Lexianne was thankful to have someone she could talk to about it. She wasnât quite sure she was allowed to. The police had not told her specifically that she couldnât say anything but she was cautious due to the gossip line in this county. What if she told one other soul what she had seen? Then five minutes later itâd be plastered all over Facebook or Twitter. Nope she couldnât talk to her friends about this. Her mother didnât use social media and she had always been a faithful secret keeper for Lexianne. She knew that most moms were harder to talk to than hers and she was grateful for that blessing. âMom it was awful.â Lexianne had begun putting away random items. She placed the boxes in the pantry in rotation just the way her mom did. She placed the paper products on their shelf. Keeping her hands busy seemed to allow her to talk more freely. âI went in there with Mr. Mizell and his new wife. She isnât so much younger than him like I wouldâve thought. I really liked her.â âGood,â her mom said, wiping off the counter for invisible specs of dust. âThen I smelled something awful. I thought something had gotten in there and died but I had no idea it would have been a person. Somebody had flipped the breaker and it was hot as blazes in there and the smell was coming down the hall. I could not even breathe when I opened that door. He was all gross and nasty and I donât even know who he was. He was dressed like a construction worker but I donât know. I was about to freak out when Mr. Mizell came in and got me out of there. It was insane. I hope I never see another thing like that in my life.â âI hope not either sweetheart. Would you like some tea?â Her mother had let her speak without interruption. She didnât ask questions or offer advice, just listened; another thing to be grateful for because she didnât know how to start over if she had stopped. The words just erupted from her and she thought she could smell the dead man again. âHoney if you decide you need to talk to somebody about this I can give you a number, somebody besides me I meanâ Her mother pulled her to her in a hug. Lexianne wiped away the tears that had started to fall and smiled at her mom. âLetâs get into the pie.â âWhat about that diet you like to watch?â Mom smiled. âIâll let it watch me enjoy the pie tonight.â Thatâs my girl, her plump but beautiful mother said. Dinner was wonderful as it usually is at her mothersâ table. The pie was even better. Lexianne left about ten thirty with intentions of going to meet her friend for a drink but made a call on the way home to tell Becky that she was just too exhausted and beg to do it the next night. âOf course, anything for you. Tomorrow is actually better for me anyway. Todd wanted to do a movie tonight. Iâll let him come over and enjoy my company.â LA laughed at her friendsâ comment because she knew Todd was just one of several guys Becky had been stringing along. Becky was her nickname, Rebecca Strickland was a beauty and there were lots of men after her. She enjoyed the game too much to settle down anytime soon. She was exotic looking and well educated. She had a great income and her own life. She didnât need another soul to make her feel complete. Lexianne was a little jealous, secretly. Plans changed. |