Free The Misadventures of the Laundry Hag: All Washed Up: (Book 3 in the Misadventures of the Laundry Hag series) by Jennifer L. Hart

remarked as I cut into my fluffy stack of pancakes. I refused to feel guilty about the mass quantities of carbs I intended to devour. The maple syrup provided by the diner was fresh and light and absolutely delicious. Proof that small towns’ lack of diversity didn’t mean lack of quality.
    “Time is money,” Leo snapped in a believable imitation of Laura’s upper crust Bostonian accent.
    I laughed and looked to Neil, surprised to find that he stared back at me. A small smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. The second our eyes met he glanced away and my heart sank.
    Not now, he’d said. I’d wanted to ask when but like a true chicken, had kept quiet. Was it fair of me to demand a conversation, or anything else, of him? I still didn’t know why I’d lied about the dog. Atlas lay under the table, his drool forming a little puddle on my sneaker, so it wasn’t as though it had gotten me anywhere. Had I done it just to put some distance between myself and Neil?
    Okay, so I was completely neurotic and the baby conversation had freaked me out. It was well within the realm of irrational possibility that my brain had decided fibbing in such an obvious way would help me reclaim the much needed control I sought.
    But at what cost? I longed to have Neil touch me, pull me against him and call me Uncle Scrooge. I missed him even though he was right there across the table. It felt as if he were further away than the times he’d been deployed.
    “What do you think, Maggie?” Sylvia asked.
    With a start, I realized the conversation about the property had continued without me.
    “Sounds like a plan.” I had no idea what I’d just agreed to. As long as it didn’t involve snakes, I’d manage.
    A car door slammed and Neil rose to peer out the window. “I think that’s your exterminator.”
    “Fabulous.” Leo scurried off to greet him.
    “Should we take my car?” Sylvia asked.
    “You know where we’re going, right?” I figured one of us should.
    “I may need the truck anyway,” Neil added, and the decision was made.
    Joy, rapture. More deep breathing lessons by a guy who may or may not make obscene phone calls in his spare time.
    “Let me just run and grab my purse.” Sylvia darted for the stairs, leaving me alone with two hundred pounds of irritated husband.
    “What did I agree to?” I asked him bluntly.
    He shook his head. “I knew you were zoning out.”
    I took a step closer and reached a hand for his. “That’s because you know me better than I know myself. And you love me anyway.”
    His expression softened. “I do. And you’re tearing my heart out.”
    I flinched, but didn’t look away. Instead, I forced myself to witness the truth of his pain. I wanted to beg him to be patient with me, but did I even have the right to ask it of him?
    His hand squeezed mine. “Talk to me, Uncle Scrooge.”
    I swallowed hard. “I have no idea what I’m doing.”
    “Here? Or life in general?”
    “Take your pick.”
    We sat in silence for a time, just being together, listening to the steady churning of the river.
    Finally, after an endless moment, he pulled me into his arms and sighed into my hair. “It’s not required. To know what you’re doing all the time.”
    I made a very unfeminine snort. “You do.”
    “Do not,” he shot back
    “Well, you fake it like a pro.”
    He laughed at that, a real laugh, the kind that made me believe in forever. Such undiluted joy was meant to be, wasn’t it?
    “If you really believe that, Uncle Scrooge, I’ve got you completely fooled.”
     
     
     
     

 
    Chapter Seven
     
    The mystery errand I’d agreed to was a trip to the town library to learn more about our property and the surrounding town. Leo had already collected a good bit of info about the house itself and a few rumors on the ghost, but my partner in crime decided to dig deeper. An hour later I was up to my ears in dusty old books and moldering pages.
    I sneezed for the bazillionth time and glared at