Read Nobody Can Say It’s You: A Hadley Pell Cozy Mystery for Free Online Page B

somethin’ heavy-footed walkin’ ’round out there. I was prayin’ it was just a deer. Lord knows, I was not in the mood to meet Big Foot.
    “But it didn’t bound off in the woods like one, you know?
    “That got me thinkin’ and worried, more than a little bit, I mean to tell you. Them foot steps kept getting’ louder ’n’ louder. I didn’t know whether to scream ’n’ try to scare whatever it was off, say I had a gun pointed its way, or what. The gun thing would have been a lie, but if it was man and not beast out there in them woods, I thought the gun lie was my best bet. You know my little purse is silver and in that dim light, I thought I just might pull it off.
    “By that time, my heart was in my throat, and wouldn’t you know it!”
    ‘What!” said Hadley.
    “I dropped my car keys!” said Lou Edna. “Can you believe that! Of all the dumb luck, not to mention what a time to get the clumsy fingers. I just wanted to sit in that dirt lot ’n’ start bawlin’, but I was so afraid, I could hardly catch my breath.
    “Anyway, I fumbled with them keys.
    Dropped them darn things right there in the dark! I was fit to be tied! I was cussin’ ’n’ crawlin’ around, mad as all get out ’cause I dirtied up the knees of my best jeans, ’n’ I just knew I was gonna meet my Maker if I didn’t find them things quick!
    “It felt like I hunted around for them for years, but I fin’ly found ’em. Broke two nails in the process. Lord knows what my hair looked like by then. I don’t even want to think about it. I was really in a state!
    “Like I said, I finally brushed up against the darn things, and I snatched onto them for all I was worth. I grunted and fin’ly got up from my knees.
    “When I stood up, who do you think I was lookin’ at, right square in the eyes?”
    “Who?”
    “I liked to jumped clean outta my skin. It was Dara Elanor!” said Lou Edna “Of all people! I’da never thought I’da run into her out there in that dark back parking lot. But there she was. Dara Elanor in the flesh.”
    “What in the world was she doing off the mountain at Sadie’s at that time of the night?” Hadley asked. “And how do you know it was Dara, Lou Edna, and not Chandra Elanor? I swear I couldn’t tell Dara from Chandra if my life depended on it? Those are two twins look exactly alike to me.”
    “Well, it ain’t that hard, Hadley,” said Lou Edna. “I asked her which one she was.”
    “I wouldn’t think Dara Elanor could escape Granny Dilcie’s eagle eye. But kids are like raccoons. They can get out whenever they want to, I guess. What was she doing out at that time of the evening?” Hadley asked. “It was really late.
    “You said it, girlfriend. I asked her that, too,” said Lou Edna. “She said she was lookin’ for her boyfriend. Seems like they had had some kind of knock-down, drag out fight over some girl that’s been hangin’ ’round the cabin makin’ moon eyes toward him. You know how kids are at that age. Between the jealous hormones and the high level of pent-up energy kids have, I guess it’s a miracle any survive into adulthood.
    “Dara thought he might have took the girl to Sadie’s for a night on the town. I guess when you live that far back in the sticks, Sadie’s seems like some kinda’ right swank digs.
    “Anyway, I told Dara that me ’n’ Ora Lavelle had been there since about six-thirty ’n’ I ain’t seen hide ner hair of no young mountain boy nor no moon-eyed girl inside that joint. Only ones in that bar were the over-40 crowd like you ’n’ me. Sadie’s ain’t attracted the younger ones since the Nineties!”
    “You got that right,” said Hadley. “And I think it’s been about that long since I darkened Sadie’s door.”
    “Well,” said Lou Edna, “you ain’t never been much of a one for night life. Your talents lay in lots more refined activities like hittin’ the hay early ’n’ sawin’ logs in your sleep.”
    “Oh, hush up, Lou