A Pour Way to Dye (Book 2 in the Soapmaking Mysteries) by Tim Myers Page B

it.”
    Herbert touched her arm. “Let’s go, Connie,
I’m hungry.”
    “ I told you not to call me
Connie,” she said.
    “ And I told you not to let
me go hungry. I figure we’re even.”
    As they headed for the door—still arguing—I
answered the rest of the questions. Cindy came up front with the
extra soap handouts after everyone else was gone. “That was dirty,
big brother.”
    “ If I’d answered her
question, she’d never have left,” I said.
    “ You know perfectly well I’m
talking about dragging me into your class. I wasn’t supposed to do
anything, remember?”
    I couldn’t believe it. “Cindy, I just asked
you to help hand a few things out. You’ve got to get over this fear
of teaching. This isn’t junior high school. These people are here
because they want to learn. With the possible exception of Herbert,
nobody’s here who doesn’t want to be. Okay?”
    “ I guess so,” she said
reluctantly. “Do you need help cleaning up?”
    “ No, I’ve got it,” I said.
In all honesty, straightening up after one of my classes was a
nice, quiet time for me.
    I was just starting to rinse the graters when
Mom hurried into the classroom.
    “ Let one of the girls handle
that,” she said. “You’ve got a job to do.”
    “ This will just take a
second,” I said, resentful that she’d intruded on my
time.
    “ Well, I don’t think Andrew
Joy’s going to wait for you much longer. He wants to talk about the
fence.”

Chapter 4

    Andrew Joy was studying a
display Cindy had created for the shop showing which essential oils
and fragrances achieved a particular result. Andrew was a squat
little man with a head of thinning blonde hair, though I knew he
was just in his late twenties. To overcompensate, Andrew had grown
a thick, luxurious mustache that edged down his chin.
    Before I could even say hello, he turned
toward me and said, “Do you people actually believe this bunk? How
can a bar of soap alter your mood?”
    “ I don’t know, how can
jewelry make you feel better?” I countered.
    “ We never claimed it did,”
he said. I’d been hoping Andrew was there on a peacekeeping
mission, but it was pretty obvious from his tone of voice and
demeanor that he was asking for a fight.
    “ What can I do for you,
Andrew?” I asked curtly.
    He actually smiled. “Good, we can dispense
with the niceties. I want you to leave my family alone.” He tried
to poke me in the chest with his right index finger, but I easily
stepped out of his reach.
    I laughed, which only made him angrier.
    “ What’s so funny,
Perkins?”
    “ You put a fence up blocking
access to our shop and you expect me to back off? You’re kidding,
right? I’ve got a team of lawyers digging into it right now.” Well,
maybe not a real team, but I knew Kelly was better than anybody the
Joy clan could throw against her.
    “ Dad was well within our
rights. That land belongs to us,” he said petulantly.
    I was tired of dancing around these people.
“According to what fairy tale?” I asked as I stepped up to him. I
was a good four inches taller than Andrew, and I wanted to use
every bit of it to back him down.
    He took a slight step back. “We’ve got proof,
don’t worry about that.”
    “ If you’re so certain, why
don’t you show us? If you want us to leave you all alone, give us a
reason to.”
    Andrew snorted. “You’d love that, wouldn’t
you? There’s no way we’re going to give you a chance to steal our
proof. An IOU from a poker game is legal, and you know it.”
    “ What are you babbling
about?”
    Andrew’s smile cracked his face again. “You
mean he hasn’t told you? I thought you’d have talked to Paulus by
now. Honestly, Ben, I’m beginning to believe you’re not nearly as
smart as everyone in Harper’s Landing thinks you are.”
    He started to leave, but I wasn’t finished
with him yet. I grabbed his arm, and he jerked it away
violently.
    “ So now you’re going to try
to beat me up, is that it?