Page 39 of The Party Line

“You wouldn’t dare,” Richie said.

“One . . . ,” Jasper said.

“Old man, I could tackle you and take that away from you before you can count to five,” Derrick declared.

“Two. Try it and we’ll see how you look with eyeballs that match your red hair,” Jasper growled.

“I’m leaving.” Connor cleared the yard and jumped the fence in only a few seconds.

“Three . . . four . . . ,” Jasper said.

Richie started across the yard at a slow pace. Derrick threw the flowers on the ground.

“Five,” Jasper said and sprayed.

I could hear Richie coughing and sputtering as he picked up speed and jogged away between the garage and house. The sound that came out of Derrick’s mouth sounded like something between a piglet caught in a barbed wire fence and an ambulance siren. He held his nose with one hand and ran toward the fence. He burst out of the gate and left it hanging open as he made his way to his truck.

“Now”—Jasper sat back down—“we’ll let that stuff blow on out of the yard while Lila brings out a kitchen chair for Gina Lou to sit in. Don’t let Sassy out. She’ll be real mad at me if she gets into what’s still floatin’ around in the air. In a few minutes, the wind will carry what’s left of the pepper spray away from us, and we’ll all enjoy that pizza and beer over there on Lila’s porch.”

“I meant it when I said I could fight my own battles,” I told Jasper.

“You didn’t have any pepper spray in your pocket, did you?” he snapped as he sat down in his chair.

“No, but—”

“Don’t fuss at me,” he interrupted. His eyes twinkled, and the corners of his mouth turned up in a smile. “That was more fun than I’ve had since Gracie left me.”

I went inside his small house and wasn’t surprised to see that the place hadn’t changed much at all since the last time I was in it. The same wooden table with three mismatched chairs around it filled up one end of the room. The sofa was different but well worn, as was the recliner at the end of it. I picked up a chair and carried it out to the porch. “Didn’t see Sassy. She must be hiding in one of the bedrooms.”

“Most likely.” Jasper motioned toward the chair. “She’s smart, and I told her to stay put or else she would be sorry.”

Gina Lou sat down. “Why did you let me stay?”

“You didn’t come here to hoodwink Lila out of her property, did you?” Jasper asked.

“No, sir!” Gina Lou declared.

“That’s your answer.”

I eased down into the rocking chair. “Why didn’t you let Connor stay? Do you think he’s out to sweet-talk me out of my house?”

“Don’t know,” Jasper said, “but until I do, he can get his butt off my yard with the rest of ’em. Me and his grandpa have been friends for years, but I ain’t got a good solid read on Connor just yet.”

“From what I’ve heard, he’s a good person,” Gina Lou said.

“Did you think Derrick was a good person at one time?” Jasper asked.

“Good point,” Gina Lou said with a nod. “I guess now that the drama is over, I should tell you why I’m really here. Annie’s is closing on Friday night of this next week and reopening on Monday under the new management, but ...” She paused.

“The new owner isn’t keeping the staff?” I asked.

Gina Lou shook her head. “She’s bringing in her own people. I came to ask you if you might have some work for me. I used to clean houses and do odd jobs like yard work before Annie hired me when I was sixteen. She overheard you telling Sarah that you might need help cleaning that big house.”

“Didn’t college interest you?” I asked.

Gina Lou blushed. “Yes, but kids that come from my background don’t have the money for that. There are seven of us, and I’m the oldest. I moved out so my folks would have one less mouth to feed, and pretty often I help them out with my tip money.”

“What did you want to be?” Jasper asked.

---