Chapter Six

 

Chapter Six

 

            “Ah, hello neighbor!”  Lance flashed Linda a bright hello as she walked into the small brick building. He had been sitting at a desk furiously scribbling in a note book, but when he heard the door open, he looked up.

            Lance stood up and walked around the desk to greet her. He looked genuinely happy to see her. She hoped it wasn’t just her own imagination.

            “I’ve been expecting you to come by.” He said as he finished crossing the small room. The room was not very large but even though the room obviously lacked a lot of storage space Linda couldn’t help but notice now organized the space was. One wall was lined with old but dust free storage cabinets. Across from the door was the solid maple desk that Lance had been working at. The top was covered in stacks of papers neatly held in place by paper weights. A mug of what Linda could only guess to be coffee sat on its own corner away from the arrangement. The wall to the left of her held nothing more then framed newspaper clippings and photographs.

            “Have any trouble finding the place?” He asked in a friendly tone. His hands disappeared into his back pockets and he swayed on his heels of the boots he was wearing.

            “Not at all,” Linda admitted. “You were right this place is a historic building in town.” She had no trouble finding the Printing office. The main strip of town was lined with mom and pop shops and the assortment of barber shops and hardware stores. The old ivy covered brick building which was neatly tucked on the end of the newer building would have been very hard to miss.

            Linda’s eyes lingered over lance as they stood in momentary silence. He sported another fresh plaid long sleeve button down, well worn jeans, and the same pair of sleek boots.

            God, I love the south. Linda smiled to herself. Lance caught her eye as she scanned the length of him. She felt a blush creep its way across her face.

            “So,” Lance shuffled from one foot to the other. “I assume you stopped by to work out some kind of work agreement.” She noticed his cheeks were also a slight shade of pink.

            “Yes, I wanted to see if your offer to work in the office was still up for grabs.” She replied hastily; glad to have gotten rid of the awkward silence between the two.

            “Of course it is. Lance Ramage does not go back on any offer he makes.” He flashed another easy going smile and walked around to his desk to pull out a calendar.

            “Let’s see here.” He said after a moment of shuffling papers. Linda couldn’t help but notice the way he rubbed his tongue over his thumb as he flipped the pages.

            “Are you free in the morning?” He asked as he looked up from his desk. “I have to deliver the paper in the morning to the shops and some locals. Its back breaking work but I’ll throw in a cup of coffee to sweeten the deal.”

            Becoming a paper boy wasn’t quiet what Linda had been expecting but she assumed she had to start at the bottom to climb to the top. She also didn’t mind the thought of spending some early morning one on one time with Mr. Ramage the least bit.

            “Sure,” She answered almost immediately. She defiantly wasn’t going to pass up an opportunity like this. She figured that Mrs. G wouldn’t mind watching Emmy again as long as she hadn’t been that bad today. If not Linda remembered seeing a sign for an at home day care posted up on a window the other day when she was in town. “Where and when do you need me?” She said smiling even bigger now.

            “How about, I just pick you up on the way here tomorrow morning.” He replied as he rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “How does five sound?”

            “Perfect.” Linda said, and she really meant it. It had been years since Linda had worked up a sweat from anything beside Pilates. The last real job she had was during her stint in college. Soon after she married James and he hadn’t seen a need for her to find a job.

            “Great, I’ll see you then.” Lance said. Still smiling Linda turned towards the door to leave. She was happy that things had worked out so easily.

            “Oh, one more thing.” Lance said as if he had remembered something. “I’m going to need your license and social security card here within the next few days.” He stated. Linda’s heart dropped into the pit of her stomach as she turned around to face him. Images of her I.D flashed into her vision. The picture Lance would recognize but the signature on the bottom of the card would jeopardize her stay in Abbott County. Trisha Spilling was written in a gentle sweeping handwriting underneath the picture of who was now called Linda Stewart. The very Linda Stewart who was probably wanted for the murder of her faith loving husband.

            She couldn’t give him her identification. In an instant she saw herself being forced into a police cruiser. A crowd of onlookers surrounded the scene, some held picket signs and some screamed profanities in her direction. Lance stood out in perfect clarity from the center of the jeering group, his face as clear as crystal while every other face was nothing more then a smudge of pastel inks.

            She cursed herself for not thinking about this to begin with. With one giant gulp Linda looked up into Lance’s face. She felt like crying out. Pleading for him to understand. Instead she forced her face to be as neutral as possible.

            “Of course,” She said as her lips spread into a convincing smile of ease and confidence.

            What am I going to do? She thought as she hastily retreated from the office.

Reviews

[T. Logan]

Lots of description! I really like how the chapter ends.

[Craig2591]

Your talent for description is showing here. I can't help thinking that you're describing a Hallmark Channel movie here, which is what you're trying to do, at least for the moment.

[Tabitha t]

Thank you! any thing that you think is wrong or just doesnt feel right let me know

[gombeggar]

hmm...gets more interesting as it goes

[Tabitha t]

do you find this professional and/or publishable?

[gombeggar]

i think it all needs to be fleshed out more to be publishable...as my dad used to say 'put some meat on them bones!' ;)

[Marie]

You ended on a note of suspense, and that's good. It keeps the action flowing. But you have to shap it up a little bit. For example: "“I’ve been expecting you to come by.” He said as he finished crossing the small room. The room was not very large but even though the room obviously lacked a lot of storage space Linda couldn’t help but notice now organized the space was." "I've been expecting you to come by," he said, as he finished crossing the small room." Don't say "The room was not very large" when you just got through establishing that it was small. Leave that out. "Thoough it obviously lacked a lot of storage space, Linda couldn't help but notice how organized the space was."

[Tabitha t]

Okay I'll do that. Thank you. Do you still feel that the story is moving where it should etc

[Marie]

Yes. You get the impression that no matter how much Linda wants to move on with her new life, she's going to be held back by her crime. Itwill be interesting to see what lies ahead for her.

[Tabitha t]

okay good! The next chapter lays the big issues for the rest of the book. Fro here on out its going to just get more and more intense and I dont think anyone will be able to guess. Its going to shock a lot of people...thats the hope anyway.