Read Angels Fall for Free Online Page A

and jumped on you just because you left together."
    "He walked me back to the hotel, suggested a drink, which I didn't want, and shifted to showing me the area, which I can see for myself, then maybe a trail ride. I don't ride, buI i may give that part a try. He gets a ten on the cute-factor scale, and another ten on behavior and manners. I didn't realize you two had a thing."
    "A thing? Me and Lo?" Linda-gail made a dismissive blowing sound. "We don't. I'm probably the only single female under fifty in a hundred miles who hasn't slept with him. A slut's a slut in my book, whether they're a man or a woman."
    She shrugged, then once again studied Recce's face. "Anyway, you really do look worn out."
    "Didn't sleep well, that's all. First night in a new place, new job. Nerves."
    "Put them away," Linda-gail ordered as she opened the door, and the warmth was back in her eyes. "We're not scary around here."
    "Wondered if you two were going to stand out there and gab all day. I'm not paying you to gossip."
    "It's five after six, for God's sake, Joanie. Dock me. Oh, speaking of pay, here's your share of last night's tips, Reece."
    "My share? I didn't wait any tables."
    Linda-gail pushed the envelope into Recce's hands. "Shop policy, the cook gets ten percent of the tips. We get tipped for service, but it the food's crap, we're not going to make as much."
    "Thanks." Not completely broke. Recce thought as she stuffed the envelope in her pocket.
    "Don't spend it all in one place."
    "If you're finished passing the time now?"Joanie folded her arms at the counter. "Get those breakfast setups going. Linda-gail. Recce, you think you're ready to get your skinny ass back here and work?"
    "Yes, ma'am. Oh, and just to clear the air," she added as she rounded the counter for an apron, "your son's very charming, but I slept alone last night."
    "Boy must be slipping."
    "I couldn't say. I intend to continue to sleep alone while I'm in Angel's Fist."
    Joanie set aside a bowl of pancake batter. "Don't like sex?"
    "I like it fine." Recce moved to the sink to wash her hands. "It's just not on my to-do list at the moment."
    "Must be a pretty sad, short list then. Can you make huevos rancheros?"
    "I can."
    "They're popular on Sundays. So are flapjacks. You go on, start trying up bacon and sausage. Early crowd'll be right along."
    Shortly before noon, Joanie pushed a plate holding a short stack, a scoop of scrambled eggs and a side of bacon into Reece's hand. "Go on, take this into the back room. Sit down and eat."
    "There's enough for two people here."
    "Yeah, if both of them are anorexic."
    "I'm not." She forked up a bite of the eggs as it to prove it.
    "Go take it back in my office and sit. You got twenty"
    She'd seen the office, and room was a very generous term. "Listen, I've got a problem with small spaces."
    "Afraid of the dark, and claustrophobic. You're a bundle of phobias. Sit out at the counter, then. You've still got twenty."'
    She did what she was told, sitting at the end of the counter. A moment later, Linda-gail put a cup of tea beside her, gave her a wink.
    "Hey, Doc." Linda-gail gave the counter a swipe, sent a good-morning smile to the man who slid onto the stool beside Recce. "Usual?"
    "Sunday cholesterol special, Linda-gail. My day to walk on the wild side.
    "You got it. Joanie."she called back without bothering with a ticket. "Doc's here. Doc, this is Reece, our new cook. Recce, meet Doc Wallace. He'll treat anything that ails you. But don't let him pull you into a poker game. He's a slick one."
    "Now, now, how am I going to fleece the newcomers it you talk like that?" He shifted on his stool, gave Reece a nod. "Heard Joanie got herself somebody knew what they were doing in the kitchen. How's it going for you?"
    "So far, so good." She had to make an effort and remind herself it wasn't as if he was wearing a lab coat and coming at her with needles. "I like the work."
    "Best Sunday breakfast in Wyoming at Joanie's. Now the hotel, they put