Free Buzzkill (Pecan Bayou Series) by Teresa Trent

is
here.”
    Maggie was
closing up Mr. Andre’s binder when Nancy Olin came over to her. “I see you’re
using Mr. Andre. We’ve already hired and fired that man.”
    “Why?” Maggie
asked.
    “Why?” Prissy
repeated, inviting herself into the conversation. “He was simply unreasonable.
You would think he was the one hiring us. Not acceptable. He also said we were
difficult to work with.”
    “That’s hard to
believe,” Maggie said under her breath.
    “We decided we
can do a better job ourselves,” said Nancy with a strained smile.
    “Mama? Do these
pants make me look fat?”
    “Well, you could
use a bigger size,” Lavonne started to say. Nancy clamped a hand down on
Lavonne’s shoulder and squeezed hard enough to stop Lavonne in mid-sentence.
    “You’re
beautiful, baby,” she said between clenched teeth. She pulled Lavonne over to
the side. “Prissy has these little outbursts, and with the wedding coming up
she is having some pretty heavy panic attacks. We will do anything, I mean
anything not trigger one. Get me?”
    Lavonne’s raised
eyebrows and look of shock were enough to answer Nancy Olin, mother of the
monster bride.
    Somehow this
little exchange gave me confidence in Mr. Andre. Now I knew he was strong
enough to handle anything, even wriggling out of the clutches of the satin
nightmare of Prissy Olin.

     
     
     
     
     

CHAPTER TEN
     
    That night I
dropped my newly found mother off at Wilhelm’s Bed and Breakfast. She had been
staying there for several days, and for that I was relieved. Having her as a
houseguest would be a lot for me to take on right now.
    I knew I needed
to try to make sure that everything was all right with Aunt Maggie. We had
spent the day together, but every time I tried to get her alone to see how she
was feeling about Charlotte being in the picture, Charlotte intervened. With
Charlotte gone all those years, Aunt Maggie had acted as my surrogate mother.
With the wedding, I worried she was thinking I had replaced her. I had always
dreamed of meeting my mother, and somehow it didn’t involve her stirring up and
upsetting every person in my life.
    It was like a
fantasy for me. We would see each other across the room. She’d be in one of
those filmy-looking shawl things, and upon seeing me, she’d have a tear in her
eye. She was so sorry she’d given me up. Her life had been nothing but misery
since she last left me. We would meet, and because we were so genetically
connected, we would be able to talk about anything instantly, as if the years
had never passed between us. We would talk as if we were old friends and laugh
before the other person even finished her joke. What a wonderful dream.
    As I pulled into
Maggie’s driveway, Zach, who had joined us after school, now sat up in his
seat. “Mom, why are we here? We need to get home in time for me to see how
those filled donuts are made on TV. I’ve been waiting for this show all week.”
    “I know, Zach.
But I need to talk to Aunt Maggie.”
    “Tonight? Danny
will be watching High School Hijinks again. That’s all he ever watches,” Zach
whined. “I thought you spent the day with her, anyway.”
    “I just need to
talk to Aunt Maggie for ten minutes.”
    “You never talk
for ten minutes. Ten hours, maybe, but not ten minutes.”
    “I’ll try, okay,
bud?”
    He snorted his
reply.
    I got out of the
car and walked up the stairs to my aunt’s red brick house. I could smell beef
stew on the stove inside. I opened the front door.
    “Anybody home?”
I called out.
    “In here.”
    My Aunt Maggie
was carefully placing silverware on a blue linen tablecloth. She was a
diminutive person, barely reaching five feet. Danny was now about the same
height with fifty more pounds on his frame. After many years of caring for
Danny with my Uncle Jeeter, she now took care of their son on her own. Some
days could be difficult as she dealt with Danny’s stubborn streak or the
confusion that would strike him whenever he was in