Chapters (62)
- Cover
- A PENNY
- Dedication
- Acknowledgments
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Five
- Six
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Eleven
- Twelve
- Thirteen
- Fourteen
- Fifteen
- Sixteen
- Seventeen
- Eighteen
- Nineteen
- Twenty
- Twenty-One
- Twenty-Two
- Twenty-Three
- Twenty-Four
- Twenty-Five
- Twenty-Six
- Twenty-Seven
- Twenty-Eight
- Twenty-Nine
- Thirty
- Thirty-One
- Thirty-Two
- Thirty-Three
- Thirty-Four
- Thirty-Five
- Thirty-Six
- Thirty-Seven
- Thirty-Eight
- Thirty-Nine
- Forty
- Forty-One
- Forty-Two
- Forty-Three
- Forty-Four
- Forty-Five
- Forty-Six
- Forty-Seven
- Forty-Eight
- Forty-Nine
- Fifty
- Fifty-One
- Fifty-Two
- Fifty-Three
- Fifty-Four
- A Sample Chapter of Don’t Take Any Wooden Nickels
- About the Author
- Other Books by Mindy Starns Clark
- About the Publisher
After about an hour, the conversation began to die down and the small crowd dwindled somewhat. I carried the cold coffeepot back into the kitchen, then headed for the pantry to put away the sugar. I just had my hand on the doorknob when I heard a noise from inside, and I hesitated, listening. I heard it again—a distinctive whisper coming from behind the pantry door. Carefully, I pushed it open without a sound, just far enough to peek inside. The room was small and narrow, the size of a walk-in closet, with shelves lining each of the walls, floor to ceiling, which were stacked with cans and dry goods. Down at the other end, I could still hear whispering, and I strained to listen.
“Nick will kill me,” the voice said, and I recognized it immediately as Angelina’s. “You know that he will.”
A man responded but I couldn’t hear what he was saying. Heart pounding, I pushed the door a little farther and dared to stick my head far enough in so that I could see.
What I saw nearly made me gasp. There, in the back corner of the pantry, was Angelina in a fervent embrace with Alan Bennet—the very same man I had seen about to make love to Judith the night before!
“He does not want us to be together,” Angelina moaned, eyes closed, as Alan slowly ran a trail of kisses down her neck.
“But I want us to be together,” he whispered urgently. “I need us to be together.”
“I know,” she cried. “I know. But Nick will kill us if he finds us!”
She offered Alan only slight resistance, and soon his hands were working the buttons down the back of her blouse. Watching, I thought of the photo in her bedroom, of the scribbled hearts and the notation “our special place.” The other half of “our,” I realized, must be Alan Bennet. I pulled the door closed and then stood for a long moment in the hall, heart pounding. Surely it was only a figure of speech; the girl didn’t really fear for her life, did she? Nevertheless, this new development was shocking. I wondered if Judith had any idea about Alan and Angelina.
On the other hand, I wondered if Angelina knew anything about Alan and Judith.
Twenty-Six
Twenty-Six
I awoke with a start, and it took me a minute to figure out where I was. The lights were off, but the faint glow of the moon spilled in through the window, and slowly I could make out the four walls of the guest bedroom in the Smythes’ home. The clock said 12:35 A.M. I must have fallen asleep.
I sat up, rubbing my eyes. I remembered coming up here and sitting on the bed, thinking I would rest my eyes for just a moment. Now I had a stiff neck and two bobby pins stabbing me in the back of the head.