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council would give her something to do with
her time other than sit around and fantasize about Rick. “Sure, why not.”
    Mark grinned.
“Great, I--“
    The sheriff’s
office door swung open and an attractive woman walked in.  “Hi.”
    Mark jerked his
head in the woman’s direction so fast Delaney imagined he nearly gave himself
whiplash.
    She was dressed
in tight jeans, leather boots with a fur cuff around the top and a hooded, navy
parka. The woman pushed back the hood and revealed, straight, red-gold chin length
hair. Her eyes were bright green, her makeup perfectly applied.
    The woman had
former beauty queen written all over her. Delaney remembered her type from high
school. Beauty queens shunned anyone who didn’t fawn over them, feed their ego
with compliments and practically beg for membership in their sacred circle of
admirers. These social empresses donned a glossy, but false pretense of
friendship only for personal gain.
     Delaney
gave friendship and loyalty to her circle of friends without reservation down
to the checker at the supermarket.
    The empress
glanced around the office with regal disdain.
    Mark popped up
from the desk and somehow got his foot caught on a leg of one of the chairs
sitting in front of Rick’s desk. He teetered on his feet and started to fall.
    Delaney jumped
up from her chair and grabbed his upper arms to steady him. The chair crashed
to the floor.
    He glanced at
the woman then back at Delaney, his face and neck turning red right down to the
tops of his ears. “Thanks, I’m okay now,” he murmured.
    Delaney let him
go. He straightened smoothing down the front of his shirt with the palms of his
hands. He turned toward the woman and looked at her as though she’d just
floated down from heaven. “Hi, Lenore.”
    The woman barely
glanced at Mark. “Oh, hi, Mark.”  She fixed her gaze on Delaney and gave
her a quick once-over.
    Slipping off her
right glove, Lenore stepped forward until she stood directly in front of her.
“You must be the stranded traveler Rick picked up last night.” 
    Her rapid
scrutiny made Delaney feel like a slug. Word got around in a small town.
    She held out her
hand. “I’m Lenore Shaw. I own the local bed and breakfast.”
    Delaney clasped
her hand with a brief glance at the woman’s nails. They were perfect of course,
just like the rest of her. No chipped polish or ragged cuticles. They looked as
though they’d been pampered in a salon all day. “Nice to meet you. I’m Delaney
Moore.”  Suddenly Delaney noticed the traces of grease still lodged under
her nails. Mortified, she dropped Lenore’s hand and held her own hands behind
her back   If only she’d had a nail brush to scrub them while she’d
been in the shower. She made a mental note to pick one up at the drugstore.
    Lenore gave her
a cool smile. “I was hoping to see Rick.” 
    Typical frosty
attitude for an empress.
    Lenore brushed a
stray tendril of hair away from her cheek. “Do you know where he is or when he
might return?”  Her voice was courteous but patronizing.
    “I’m not sure
exactly. He’s checking on some downed street signs and arranging repairs for a
broken street light.”
    She pursed her
full lips, lifted her left hand and lightly slapped the glove she’d removed
into the palm. “Hmm, that’s too bad. I can come back I suppose.”
    Mark started to
move toward Lenore and tripped on the chair still lying on its side on the
floor. He looked at Lenore, his eyes widening marginally, then stooped and
picked up the chair. He cleared his throat and threw her a sheepish smile then
looked at Delaney. “Lenore is also Avery’s only reporter for the Gazette. She
can probably help you design the brochures for the beautification project.”
    A brief
expression of discomfort swept over Lenore’s face. She glanced at Mark with a
glint of irritation in her eyes then looked Delaney. “Is that why you’re here
in Avery?  To help beautify the