Free The Coldwater Warm Hearts Club by Lexi Eddings Page A

arts emphasis while the rest of the world was going tech-happy, Bates offered degrees in a handful of obscure disciplines. Its graduates were pretty much guaranteed not to land a job in their field of study.
    Her sister, Crystal, had stayed in Coldwater to earn her degree in medieval poetry before going on to become the dean of admissions for the college. What an exhaustive knowledge of Chaucer had to do with sorting through admission applications was a mystery, but Crystal made it work, as she did everything, perfectly.
    Tiffany Braden might not be using her bachelor of arts in sock puppetry or whatever it was she’d studied, but she must have learned something.
    â€œTiff’s our rainmaker here at the Gazette, ” Wanda told Lacy with undisguised pleasure. The young Ms. Braden sold advertising space to unsuspecting merchants in town and did it well. Lacy guessed that her Braden family connections had more to do with her sales than her degree from Bates.
    â€œAnd here’s you.” Wanda steered Lacy into the cubicle in the corner, which had a decent window looking out on the Square and another with a view across the side street. Unfortunately, the Secondhand Junk-shun occupied most of that view. The shop full of dubious treasures was her mom’s delight and the bane of her dad’s existence.
    Lacy checked her watch. “I really didn’t expect a job offer today. The cable guy is coming by my place at three,” she told her new boss.
    The Internet that came with the TV package was her main interest. She intended to stay off social sites, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t keep up with things in Boston by lurking. However, if a strange person was going to enter her apartment at three o’clock, she needed to get there a little earlier to make sure her attack cat was securely shut up in the laundry.
    Her Highness, Effie the Snarling, had been presented with a can of tuna last night after Jake left, but the cat didn’t strain herself by showing any gratitude. Being the feline queen meant she wasn’t required to acknowledge Lacy’s existence other than as a food delivery system.
    Evidently, primo albacore served on a Melmac plate was no more than her due.
    â€œGet yourself squared away in your new place, then,” Wanda said. “Stay as long as you can today to get acquainted with how we do things. We’ll talk about deadlines tomorrow.”
    Lacy didn’t feel guilty about leaving early. Sometime soon, she’d have to stay late. The previous occupant of her cube had left enough rubbish and files in the drawers and cubbies to fill a couple of big trash bags. After waiting a full five minutes for the tired desktop to boot, she decided to bring in her own laptop to sign in to the Gazette ’s system tomorrow. Then with a bit of reluctant help from Deek, which he’d undoubtedly make sure involved no physical contact whatsoever, she’d set up her passwords and poke around the network.
    The place smelled of ink and newsprint. Lacy inhaled the scent clear to her toes. She had expected to feel as if she were going backward by working at the Gazette, but surprisingly enough, there was a freshness about it instead.
    Of course, that might have been because Wanda limited her smoking to her office. She kept the door closed so as to capture and enjoy the full benefit of her cigs for herself.
    The office hummed, a low clatter of clicking keys as the people around her pounded out their work or at least mimicked the appearance of industry. Lacy started to feel as if she was where she should be. For now, at least.
    Then she heard the whispers.
    â€œI’m telling you, he’s moving out of the house today.”
    Lacy leaned toward the voices, then stopped herself. Dang! Shades of the cemetery. She was getting to be a world-class snoop.
    â€œWhy? It’s not like he has to share it with her.”
    Lacy suspected Georgina and Tiffany were the whisperers.