Free Without Any Warning (A Samantha Jamison Mystery Volume 2) by Peggy A. Edelheit Page B

my friend, Mona, and now me, involved in?

 
     
     
    Chapter 27
    Now What? Well, I’ll be! Are You Sure?
     
     
    Compared to the rest of my life lately and Martha still being tight-lipped about Roland, shopping for groceries was tame stuff. My two guests were eating me out of house and home. Since the alternatives were eating out or going hungry, I eventually found myself scanning row after row of goods, making a visual effort at all the nutritional choices. Barely paying attention to my surroundings, I accidentally bumped into someone else’s cart. The woman turned to me, and then smiled.
    “Hi,” I said, recognizing Pat, the leasing agent. “I’m so sorry I bumped you.”
    “That’s okay,” she said, smiling back. “I hate shopping, but I’m in between appointments to throw some things in my trunk until I’m finished for the day. It’s so hard to find the time anymore to get anything done.”
    “Tell me about it!” I replied. “I certainly don’t miss the nine to five at all. I must admit, writing does have its fringe benefits.”
    “I’ve been meaning to ask you about that, Samantha. I know you’re a writer, but I can’t find your books anywhere in the bookstores or library.”
    “I write under a pen name. It’s Peggy A. Edelheit.”
    “Oh! Well, that explains it. Why did you decide to go and take the anonymous route?”
    “It’s a long story, but I’ll make it brief. I started out not wanting anyone to know what I was really doing on the side. Someone I was very close to would have taken offense. Once my books gained a following, and I was going at it full-time, I figured I might lose my loyal fan base that I had worked so hard building up if I changed it at that late date.”
    “Sometimes though, you have to rock the boat,” advised Pat. “I did. I left my job, switched careers, got a realtor’s license, and haven’t looked back since moving here.”
    “Really? I never would have guessed. I thought you were an Ocean City native.”
    “No. I was out in California at a brokerage house for a while. Then I moved to New York, vacationing here on weekends during the summers. Eventually, I found what I wanted, and made a career switch to where I wouldn’t get lost in the crowd or be worried about dodging cars and people. As far as I was concerned, the rat race was finally history.”
    “Well, I’ve had some dodging experiences myself since I’ve arrived here,” I admitted.
    Pat laughed. “So I’ve heard. I thought most writers kept a low profile when working on a book. If I’m not mistaken, wasn’t that why you came here at the tail end of the off-season, to write in peace and quiet? I understand from Bill you now have a houseful of company on your hands.”
    “Initially, I had good intentions, but unexpectedly ended up having to take in first one friend, and then another. Because of their circumstances, I couldn’t refuse.”
    “I know how it is with family and friends, can’t live with them and can’t live without them.”
    In my peripheral vision, and off to the right, but at the other end from where Pat and I were talking, I noticed a familiar figure reaching down to grab something from the pharmaceutical aisle we were standing in. Before I could holler to Mona and let her know I was standing there, Pat looked over, too. She gave an exclamation of surprise.
    “Oh!”
    I turned back to her. “What?”
    “Well, I’ll be! If it isn’t Tina! Tina Davis! If you’ll excuse me, I need to catch up with her.” She was definitely talking about Mona – there was no one else in the aisle. “It’s been years. I can’t imagine what she’d be doing here on the island. We worked together in a brokerage house in California a few years ago. I didn’t expect her here.”
    I turned to look at Mona, who still had not seen us, and then back to Pat. “Are you sure about that?”
      “Absolutely! Why, I still can’t believe it! I gotta go. Catch you later,