both barrels at that moment, but I caught myself. I was still
on unfamiliar ground, in a difficult situation. Better for now to
go with the flow and let her think she had nothing to worry
about.
"I can handle it." My weak smile
probably wasn't very reassuring, but it was better than the full-on
scowl trying to force its way through. "When do we
start?"
Peg grinned and clapped her
hands together. "Now's as good a time as any. Where to begin...?"
Chewing her lower lip, she drifted through the office space,
running her eyes over the mountains of paper. "How about organizing
last year's merchandising receipts?"
"Glynne and I are almost
done with that," said Eddie.
"Let's see then." Peg
circled the desks again, tapping some of the piles with a
forefinger...then finally resting her hand on an overstuffed file
wrapped crossways with thick rubber bands. " I know. The crank file. "
"Really?" Eddie grimaced. "How's that
a priority?"
"It's clutter. It's in the
way." Peg picked up the folder and walked toward me. "Now that
Lou's gone, we don't need most of it anymore."
"Okay." I extended a hand.
"What do you want me to do?"
Peg gave me the folder.
"Sort these letters and throw out all the ones made out to Lou.
Keep the rest and log them in a spreadsheet on the new
computer."
"What new computer?" said
Eddie.
"The one we're buying at
Mall-Mart while Lottie holds down the fort." Peg faced him squarely
and planted her hands on her hips. "Got a problem with that,
Kubiak?"
Eddie grinned and smacked the ancient
desktop computer's huge monitor. "I just can't believe we're
putting The Paperweight out to pasture!"
As the two of them talked, I
pulled the rubber bands off the folder and skimmed some of the
pages inside. It didn't take long to get the gist of the sheaf of
typed and handwritten letters. "These are death threats!" I flipped
through a few more, and the theme remained the same. "Death threats
against my father!"
"He was a celebrity," said
Peg. "It's par for the course these days. Some of the threats were
against me, too, or both of us together. People are crazy,
huh?"
I was amazed at how many letters were
in the file...more amazed at how many people had wanted to kill my
father. "Dad never said anything about this to me."
"I'm sure he didn't want to
worry you." Peg walked over and put her hand on my arm, stopping me
from flipping through the letters. "Are you all right with this,
Lottie? You don't have to do it if you don't want to."
"No, no, I'm fine." I nodded briskly.
"It's just kind of a shock, that's all."
Peg's eyes, enlarged to
giant size by her powerful polka dot glasses, locked on mine. She
tipped her head to one side, and then her expression
changed.
For a moment, all the
aggressive goofiness seemed to dissipate from her gaze like clouds
burning away before the summer sun. A keener focus seemed to pierce
the fog of her clownish persona. I swear, I felt an unexpectedly
sharp intelligence trying to bore its way through my
defenses.
For the first time, I found
myself wondering if Peg was smarter than she let on.
"Well, sweetie, if you
change your mind, let me know." Peg patted my arm gently, then
pulled away her hand. "There's plenty of other work to do, believe
you me."
"I'll be fine, thanks." With that, I
closed the folder and looked around for the best place to sit and
review the letters.
"Then Ed and I have some
computer shopping to do." Peg swung an arm through the air,
gesturing for Eddie to join her. "C'mon Ed. Let's go find Glynne
and catch up to the 21 st century."
Eddie pretended to wipe away
a tear. "I never thought I'd hear those words spoken around here."
Then, he put his hand on the old computer's tower and gave it a
shove. The tower toppled off the edge of the desk and crashed to
the wooden floorboards below. " Whoops! Now what have I done?"
I gaped at him, stunned.
"Eddie?"
Peg just chuckled. "There's
a reason we call it The Paperweight, Lottie."
"Because in the whole time we've had
it,"
on unfamiliar ground, in a difficult situation. Better for now to
go with the flow and let her think she had nothing to worry
about.
"I can handle it." My weak smile
probably wasn't very reassuring, but it was better than the full-on
scowl trying to force its way through. "When do we
start?"
Peg grinned and clapped her
hands together. "Now's as good a time as any. Where to begin...?"
Chewing her lower lip, she drifted through the office space,
running her eyes over the mountains of paper. "How about organizing
last year's merchandising receipts?"
"Glynne and I are almost
done with that," said Eddie.
"Let's see then." Peg
circled the desks again, tapping some of the piles with a
forefinger...then finally resting her hand on an overstuffed file
wrapped crossways with thick rubber bands. " I know. The crank file. "
"Really?" Eddie grimaced. "How's that
a priority?"
"It's clutter. It's in the
way." Peg picked up the folder and walked toward me. "Now that
Lou's gone, we don't need most of it anymore."
"Okay." I extended a hand.
"What do you want me to do?"
Peg gave me the folder.
"Sort these letters and throw out all the ones made out to Lou.
Keep the rest and log them in a spreadsheet on the new
computer."
"What new computer?" said
Eddie.
"The one we're buying at
Mall-Mart while Lottie holds down the fort." Peg faced him squarely
and planted her hands on her hips. "Got a problem with that,
Kubiak?"
Eddie grinned and smacked the ancient
desktop computer's huge monitor. "I just can't believe we're
putting The Paperweight out to pasture!"
As the two of them talked, I
pulled the rubber bands off the folder and skimmed some of the
pages inside. It didn't take long to get the gist of the sheaf of
typed and handwritten letters. "These are death threats!" I flipped
through a few more, and the theme remained the same. "Death threats
against my father!"
"He was a celebrity," said
Peg. "It's par for the course these days. Some of the threats were
against me, too, or both of us together. People are crazy,
huh?"
I was amazed at how many letters were
in the file...more amazed at how many people had wanted to kill my
father. "Dad never said anything about this to me."
"I'm sure he didn't want to
worry you." Peg walked over and put her hand on my arm, stopping me
from flipping through the letters. "Are you all right with this,
Lottie? You don't have to do it if you don't want to."
"No, no, I'm fine." I nodded briskly.
"It's just kind of a shock, that's all."
Peg's eyes, enlarged to
giant size by her powerful polka dot glasses, locked on mine. She
tipped her head to one side, and then her expression
changed.
For a moment, all the
aggressive goofiness seemed to dissipate from her gaze like clouds
burning away before the summer sun. A keener focus seemed to pierce
the fog of her clownish persona. I swear, I felt an unexpectedly
sharp intelligence trying to bore its way through my
defenses.
For the first time, I found
myself wondering if Peg was smarter than she let on.
"Well, sweetie, if you
change your mind, let me know." Peg patted my arm gently, then
pulled away her hand. "There's plenty of other work to do, believe
you me."
"I'll be fine, thanks." With that, I
closed the folder and looked around for the best place to sit and
review the letters.
"Then Ed and I have some
computer shopping to do." Peg swung an arm through the air,
gesturing for Eddie to join her. "C'mon Ed. Let's go find Glynne
and catch up to the 21 st century."
Eddie pretended to wipe away
a tear. "I never thought I'd hear those words spoken around here."
Then, he put his hand on the old computer's tower and gave it a
shove. The tower toppled off the edge of the desk and crashed to
the wooden floorboards below. " Whoops! Now what have I done?"
I gaped at him, stunned.
"Eddie?"
Peg just chuckled. "There's
a reason we call it The Paperweight, Lottie."
"Because in the whole time we've had
it,"
Similar Books
