Read The Blue Coyote (The Frannie Shoemaker Campground Mysteries Book 2) for Free Online

fresh and crisp. Like Larry, she was tall and
slender, and usually kept her shoulder length blonde-to-gray hair tied or
clipped back.
    “Hey, campers! What’s going
on?”
    “Mickey proposed to me
again—twice,” Frannie said. “Of course, the first time was connected to
coffee and the second time to the breakfast menu.”
    “Oh, Lord,” Jane Ann said,
pouring her own coffee, “If I didn’t like you so much, Frannie, I’d just give
him to you.”
    Mickey feigned indignation as
his wife pulled her chair up next to him. “Good thing I’m thick-skinned,” he
told her.
    “And thick-headed,” she
grinned and kissed him on the cheek. “Good morning, dear.” She turned to
Frannie. “The kids still asleep?”
    “Yeah.”
    “They are such a kick. I
can’t wait for grandchildren. Monica and Justine better hurry up. That Joe
comes up with the funniest lines.”
    Frannie agreed. “It must be
because you have time to enjoy grandchildren more than you did your own. Or
maybe you just appreciate more how short childhood is. Whatever, they sure are
fun.”
    A raspy rumble began.
    “Oh, no!” said Mickey. “It’s
not even seven o’clock, yet.”
    Sure enough, a minute later
the little girl rattled by on her training wheels. Exactly thirty seconds after
that, Larry poked his head out the door.
    “Was that what I think?” His
voice was hoarse with sleep, his eyes barely open. They nodded. He shut the
door. The child on the bike came back up the road, went back to the corner, and
returned again before the door opened a second time and Larry came down the
steps in old gray sweatpants and a “Perfection Falls Police Department”
sweatshirt. He had retired five years earlier from the small town force. He
filled his coffee mug and firmly placed a lawn chair in the circle near the
fire just as the training wheels went by again.
    “That kid is too old to be
using those things! What’s the matter with her parents?” he grumbled.
    “I sympathize, Larry, really
I do,” Jane Ann said. “But not much we can do about it.”
    “Wanna bet?” He lurched out
of his chair and headed to the road, as the sound of the offending cyclist on
her return trip reached their ears.
    “Larry!” Frannie said, shocked.
This was so out of character. She got up and followed him but stopped when he
halted at the edge of the road.
    As the little girl rode by,
he called out, all anger gone from his voice, “Want me to take those training
wheels off for you?”
    She did not look at him but
put her head down, shook it, and kept peddling.
    Larry and Frannie returned to
their chairs, Larry looking quite pleased with himself .
Mickey regarded him in some disbelief. “Larry, has it occurred to you that
there might be some reason—physical, mental,
psychological—whatever, that she still has those training wheels?”
    Larry looked less smug. “I
suppose. But I bet you anything it’s a case of lazy parents.”
    Frannie shook her head. This
was so unlike Larry. But she also knew he found that kind of noise in a
campground really offensive, especially if it was unnecessary. Her thoughts
were interrupted by the opening of the camper door, and Joe half stumbled down
the steps, wrapped in a blanket and barefooted. He hip-hopped over to her
chair, doing a “Ooh-Ah-Ooh” kind of accompaniment to
his little dance.
    “Joe, honey, where are your shoes?” she said as she opened
her arms. He climbed up on her lap. At seven years old, early morning was the
only time he would consent to a little cuddling.
    He looked at her seriously.
“Inside.” She wondered how dumb he thought most adults must be, with the
questions they asked.
    “What I meant was, why don’t
you have them on?”
    He just shrugged and stared
at the fire.
    “Sabet still asleep?”
    He nodded. “Should I wake her
up?”
    “No, no—let her sleep.”
    Nancy appeared from the other
side of Shoemakers’ trailer, coffee mug in hand. “Good morning! How’s everyone
doing this