Free Maddie Cochere - Two Sisters and a Journalist 01 - Murder Under Construction by Maddie Cochere Page A

was about him that turned me off, but I definitely didn’t sense any chemistry between us. On the other hand, maybe I wasn’t being fair. He wasn’t unattractive, and he was likable at times.
    He tried to seal the deal. “I brought the donuts for you today.”
    Mystery solved. After watching me eat so many desserts yesterday, he knew playing to my sweet tooth was a good move on his part. “Brian would fire you if he knew you brought donuts in here.”
    He laughed. “I’m not worried, and you have until next Monday to eat them all.”
    I couldn’t help but smile. “Thank you. They’re really good.”
    We lapsed into small talk. I finally said, “Dinner on Saturday sounds nice.”
    When I returned to my desk, I was desperate to find something to occupy my time. I organized my middle desk drawer. I made labels for folders. I shopped online for a new bra, but I didn’t buy one. If Pepper and I were going to lose weight, my boobs would get smaller, and I would probably need new bras soon. I switched from bras to books. I surfed free books to download. To date, I had over two thousand books downloaded onto the company computer, but I hadn’t read any of them. I had plenty of time to read at work, but the few times I tried, I had fallen asleep with my hand under my chin. It was pointless to continue to download books, but I enjoyed reading blurbs and looking at covers.
    “Jo, I have to run down to the courthouse. Do you have time to enter an application?”
    Only four employees staffed our small office. Barb, a sweet woman in her late fifties, took applications and pulled credit reports. Stewie handled paperwork from appraisers, insurers, and the title company. Brian, our manager, was the primary contact between approved applicants, agents, and lenders in getting to a smooth closing.
    It was Barb who was asking for help.
    “I’d be happy to,” I told her. “Anything to stay awake.”
    Her smile was sympathetic as she left the office. She knew how much I hated the boredom of the front desk job.
    I opened the template for the application and began slotting in the information from the handwritten worksheet. This was a young couple buying their first home. They were both twenty-four with steady employment since high school. The husband was a highway maintenance worker making forty-seven thousand dollars a year. The wife was a hairdresser making sixty thousand a year in salary and tips.
    Her wages flabbergasted me. I instantly regretted not finding a way to go to college. Pepper had gone on a partial scholarship, but Mama said I should just get a job and work my way up from the bottom somewhere. I had taken a few continuing education classes at our local branch of Kent State University, but the classes were basic office classes for working with documents and spreadsheets. Fourteen years later, here I was stuck in yet another boring, dead-end job. I had no idea going to beauty school could have enabled me to make so much money while styling hair and designing art on fingernails.
    Thinking of fingernails brought Ruby to mind again. I needed to check salons in the area to see if anyone recognized the pattern on her nails.
    I quickly finished the application and started an online search. There were five hair salons in Buxley. Four more were located near the mall between Buxley and Patterson. I counted seventeen within the Patterson city limits. 
    I walked back to Stewie’s office and stuck my head through the doorway. “I’m taking an early lunch. Would you mind answering the telephone until Barb gets back? It’s been quiet, so it probably won’t even ring.”
    He barely looked up from his paperwork while throwing a “sure” in my direction. I raced out of the office before he could change his mind.
    Heat and humidity blasted me when I stepped out onto the sidewalk, but I didn’t mind. It felt good to be out of the office, and the hot sun felt wonderful on my face. Tammy’s Hair, Nails, and Tanning was only three