Read Online Football is Murder (Bee's Bakehouse Cozy Mysteries Book 4) (Bee's Bakehouse Mysteries) by Kathy Cranston - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Kathy Cranston
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her.
Melanie shrugged. “I know. It’s really a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. The funny thing is, if they’d made me a partner before then I would have been safe. I should have pushed harder.”
“Why would they cut you when you did such a great job?”
“Costs.” She laughed but there was no humor in it. “Jessie it’s funny. I spend my days—well, I used to—going around to different clients and advising them on how to restructure their businesses. Because of that, I can see the sense in what they did. I was effectively a middle manager—a lead consultant sandwiched between the cheaper associates and the equity partners. They could cut me and hire two people to do my work. And it’d still be cheaper.”
Jessie shook her head. “I don’t see how. You’re a workhorse. Two people couldn’t do your job.”
The corners of Melanie’s mouth turned down but Jessie could see her fighting her emotions back. “That’s obviously not how my bosses saw it.”
Jessie shook her head. “I really can’t believe it. When did this happen?” She reached over and squeezed her cousin’s arm. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Probably the same reason as you didn’t tell me initially.” Melanie smiled. “Pride. I was walked out last week. It’s all still very new.”
“Walked out? Sounds like prison, not work.”
Melanie took another forkful of carrot cake. “That’s truer than you know.”
“So what’s your plan? Are you going to stay in your apartment?”
Jessie was surprised when Melanie seemed genuinely confused. She had always thought her cousin thrived in the city—it was one of the few areas in life where they weren’t alike. She said as much.
Melanie sighed. “It’s started to grate,” she said at last. “I don’t know if that’s because I was working most of the time and spending most of my life traveling, but I’d get back and think ‘I wish I was somewhere tranquil and beautiful.”
“Wow. Are you thinking of…”
To her surprise, Melanie didn’t shoot down her unspoken question as Jessie might have expected. She just shook her head.
“I have no idea. But that’s… well, once I get over the shock of no longer having a job, it might be nice not to have my time planned out months in advance. You know?”
Jessie knew it all too well. But she didn’t push. Melanie needed time to adjust, she knew. And Jessie herself was under pressure with the murder case. Sure, she wasn’t going to lose her job if they didn’t find the suspect soon. But it was more than that now. She needed to figure this thing out for her own peace of mind.
Chapter 9
Jessie’s eyes flickered open at the sound of a loud scraping noise. In his doggy bed by her door, Toby was growling. That was all the confirmation Jessie needed that something was up.
She leaped out of bed, heading straight for the living room. She closed the door behind her as quietly as she could and crept to the window. She saw it before she even got there: bright light flooded through the cheap drapes, just like it had several days before.
She pulled back the drapes. Sure enough, there was her neighbor. From the noise and the way he was now standing in the beam of the truck’s headlights, she guessed he had hit the pillars at the top of his driveway.
“Now why would he do a thing like that?” she wondered aloud.
She might have understood it if he’d just moved in, but he’d been there as long as she’d lived in her new house. And the driveway had been plenty wide for the moving trucks. His SUV should have been able to get in and out no problem.
She shook her head. The only other explanation she could think of was that he was drunk. She watched him move back around the vehicle. That makes sense , she thought.
“What are you doing?”
Melanie’s loud voice in the darkness made her start with fright. Jessie clutched her chest. Her heart pounded so hard that she was convinced she could hear
Melanie shrugged. “I know. It’s really a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. The funny thing is, if they’d made me a partner before then I would have been safe. I should have pushed harder.”
“Why would they cut you when you did such a great job?”
“Costs.” She laughed but there was no humor in it. “Jessie it’s funny. I spend my days—well, I used to—going around to different clients and advising them on how to restructure their businesses. Because of that, I can see the sense in what they did. I was effectively a middle manager—a lead consultant sandwiched between the cheaper associates and the equity partners. They could cut me and hire two people to do my work. And it’d still be cheaper.”
Jessie shook her head. “I don’t see how. You’re a workhorse. Two people couldn’t do your job.”
The corners of Melanie’s mouth turned down but Jessie could see her fighting her emotions back. “That’s obviously not how my bosses saw it.”
Jessie shook her head. “I really can’t believe it. When did this happen?” She reached over and squeezed her cousin’s arm. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Probably the same reason as you didn’t tell me initially.” Melanie smiled. “Pride. I was walked out last week. It’s all still very new.”
“Walked out? Sounds like prison, not work.”
Melanie took another forkful of carrot cake. “That’s truer than you know.”
“So what’s your plan? Are you going to stay in your apartment?”
Jessie was surprised when Melanie seemed genuinely confused. She had always thought her cousin thrived in the city—it was one of the few areas in life where they weren’t alike. She said as much.
Melanie sighed. “It’s started to grate,” she said at last. “I don’t know if that’s because I was working most of the time and spending most of my life traveling, but I’d get back and think ‘I wish I was somewhere tranquil and beautiful.”
“Wow. Are you thinking of…”
To her surprise, Melanie didn’t shoot down her unspoken question as Jessie might have expected. She just shook her head.
“I have no idea. But that’s… well, once I get over the shock of no longer having a job, it might be nice not to have my time planned out months in advance. You know?”
Jessie knew it all too well. But she didn’t push. Melanie needed time to adjust, she knew. And Jessie herself was under pressure with the murder case. Sure, she wasn’t going to lose her job if they didn’t find the suspect soon. But it was more than that now. She needed to figure this thing out for her own peace of mind.
Chapter 9
Jessie’s eyes flickered open at the sound of a loud scraping noise. In his doggy bed by her door, Toby was growling. That was all the confirmation Jessie needed that something was up.
She leaped out of bed, heading straight for the living room. She closed the door behind her as quietly as she could and crept to the window. She saw it before she even got there: bright light flooded through the cheap drapes, just like it had several days before.
She pulled back the drapes. Sure enough, there was her neighbor. From the noise and the way he was now standing in the beam of the truck’s headlights, she guessed he had hit the pillars at the top of his driveway.
“Now why would he do a thing like that?” she wondered aloud.
She might have understood it if he’d just moved in, but he’d been there as long as she’d lived in her new house. And the driveway had been plenty wide for the moving trucks. His SUV should have been able to get in and out no problem.
She shook her head. The only other explanation she could think of was that he was drunk. She watched him move back around the vehicle. That makes sense , she thought.
“What are you doing?”
Melanie’s loud voice in the darkness made her start with fright. Jessie clutched her chest. Her heart pounded so hard that she was convinced she could hear
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