The Queen of Cool (50 page)

Lo smiled at him.

“
Thank you for including
us,” Manny said. “I don’t know how you even thought to ask if we’d
like to be involved, and then helping us with the financing and
stuff, but…”

Manny nodded.

“
We’re in heaven as half
owners of the Simple Simon Pies and Pastries,” Manny
said.

“
I notice Mindy Sue is a
little…” Lo put her hand on her stomach.

“
Yeah,” Manny said. “We’re
having at least one more child. I want twenty more; she agreed to
one.”

“
Smart woman,” Lo
laughed.

“
It’s amazing what almost
dying does for you. I…” Manny nodded. “Well, you know,” he
said.

“
I know,” Lo said. “Changes
everything.”

“
I’m glad for you and Sy,”
Manny said. “The way he looks at you. You’re a woman much adored.
Especially compared to how he was with you before everything. You
think Don had a talk with him when…”

“
Excuse me,” a flustered
young woman came around the back of the house. Her hair was limp
with moisture from the warm day. “I’m sorry to bother you. I
knocked but…”

“
It’s okay,” Lo said.
“We’re having a little celebration.”

“
Maybe I should come back,”
the woman looked toward the street.

“
What can we do for you?”
Manny asked.

“
I heard you…” The woman’s
worried face took in Manny’s smile. “You’re Manrod, right? And
you’re Lo Downs, right?”

Manny and Lo nodded.

“
I heard you figured out
who killed Don and Lo’s parents and Marilyn and…” the woman shook
her head. “Really, it was stupid to come here but my sister’s been
bugging me about it for weeks, and then I was in the neighborhood
and…”

“
What can we do for you?”
Lo asked.

“
It’s my husband,” the
woman said. “He was stationed in Iraq and now… the Army can’t find
him. They say he’s AWOL but he’d never… I mean, he wanted to be in
the military when he was a kid and…”

“
We’d be happy to help,” Sy
put his arm over Lo’s shoulder. “Come on back.”

The End

ALEX THE FEY
SERIES
:

____ The Fey : Sergeant
Alexandra Hargreaves must reach past her pain, through memory, and
beyond the grave to find her self and her future. ISBN:
978-0-9822746-3-7 $14.95 + $4 s/h

____ Learning to Stand :
When a small child’s life is in danger, Alex must muster the
strength and courage to learn to stand again. ISBN:
978-0-9822746-8-2 $15.95 +$4 s/h

____ Who I am
: Is Alex the Fey? As Alex grapples with doubt, her world fills
with turmoil. ISBN:
978-0-9826417-2-9
$15.95 + $4 s/h

____ Lean on Me : With the
help of her friends, Alex outsmarts an old enemy to thwart a plan
which threatens the world. ISBN: 978-1-938057-02-1 $15.95 + $4
s/h

DENVER CEREAL
SERIES

____ The Denver Cereal :
Invited to her ex-husband Trevor’s engagement party, Jillian Roper
shows up in thigh high leather boots. ISBN: 978-0-9822746-4-4
$13.95 + $4 s/h

____ Celia’s
Puppies : The story continues as Celia’s much loved people begin to
face their demons. Life and love hang in the balance. ISBN:
978-0-9822746-5-1
$13.95 + $4 s/h

____ Cascade
: The never resolved past comes back to haunt Sandy and Delphie.
Situations escalate to a final, startling resolution. ISBN:
978-0-9826417-0-5
$14.95 + $4 s/h

____ Cimarron : The
wreckage of everyone’s lives gets worked through in simple and
effective ways. ISBN: 978-0-9826417-9-8 $14.95 + $4 s/h

____ Black
Forest: A child serial killer turns everyone’s lives upside down in
an intense mystery. ISBN: 978-1-938057-00-7 $14.95 + $4
s/h

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