The Tessa Randolph Collection, Books 1-3 by Paula Lester (good short books .TXT) 📕

Fantastic. As though this morning hadn’t gone badly enough, now she was going to have to deal with her mother’s attitude.

Officer Stewart returned. “You’re free to go. But we may call you in for questioning as the investigation continues.” He handed Tessa her purse. “I heard this is basically your first day. Seems like maybe the job’s not going to work out for you so well, eh?”

Tessa rolled her eyes. “It hasn’t been the smoothest first day in the world. I’ll give you that.”

“A bad case of wrong place, wrong time.” He snorted like it was a hilarious joke. “I guess Mr. Sanborn’s day was worse. Getting strangled and thrown in a pool like that—it’ll ruin your day fast.”

“He was strangled?” Tessa’s mind raced.

“Yep. Somebody wanted him dead real bad. A lot of somebodies, actually, from what I understand.”

She raised her eyebrows. “Chet Sanborn had a lot of enemies?”

The officer glanced at the other cop talking to Cheryl. “Forget I said that, okay? Just stay out of trouble, Miss Randolph. And answer your phone if our department calls.” He spun around and stalked away.

Taking a deep breath, Tessa gathered her courage. Chet Sanborn was the police’s problem now. She had her own, more scary, thing to deal with. Her boss.

Sure enough, when Cheryl turned around, she shot a Level Four glare at Tessa, pressing her lips together tightly. She wore a lovely shade of light brown lipstick, and for a second, Tessa wondered if she’d let her daughter borrow it. But she quickly shrugged off that thought. Tessa had a feeling her mom wasn’t in the sharing mood, unless she counted sharing her frustrations. Cheryl surely had many of those.

Tessa’s mother marched out the door without saying a word. Tessa shuffled reluctantly behind her.

“Mom.” Tessa felt like a kid trying to get her mother’s attention.

“You’re fired,” Cheryl shot back, her arms crossed as she stood next to the Audi. “Just as soon as I can find a replacement, you’re out.”

Panic flooded Tessa’s system. She pictured Silas kicking her out when she didn’t have the rent on Friday. Her next thought was Pepper. The poor cat would be homeless. And she was a horrible mouser. She’d starve to death quickly on the streets. So would Tessa. She didn’t have what it takes to sleep one night outdoors.

Actually, now that she thought on it, Pepper would probably just target some unsuspecting passerby with her sweet, furry feline sad-eyed expression. She’d find herself a new home by the end of the first day. Tessa wasn’t likely to be so lucky.

She imagined herself pleading with Frank to get her waitressing job back. The panic the thought induced came through in her tone. “Please don’t do this! Mom, I’m sorry I was late this morning. It was my stupid car. The clock in it is wrong. Then it wouldn’t start.”

Tessa held up a hand when Cheryl opened her mouth. “I know, I know. I was supposed to forward the assignments to my email, and I didn’t. But I will. I will now. I’ll do whatever I have to do. This will never, ever happen again.”

With that, her speech stumbled to a halt. She tried to channel the look Pepper gave her when the cat wanted some canned food. It was pretty irresistible, at least when it came to getting some salmon pate.

Cheryl’s jaw cocked as she studied her daughter.

The silence stretched out.

Tessa shifted her weight under the uncomfortable gaze. One of them was going to have to give. It couldn’t be her.

She had a flashback to the time she’d snuck out to go joy riding with her girlfriends and found her mom up waiting for her when she got home. Cheryl had given Tessa the exact same silent glare while considering what punishment to dole out.

Tessa winced at the memory. Not only had she been grounded, but she’d also had her newly earned driving privileges revoked for a full sixty days. It had really set her back socially. In fact, it was probably why she hadn’t been crowned homecoming queen.

Okay, that last bit wasn’t quite true. Tessa was never part of the in-crowd. And she couldn’t blame her mother’s harsh punishment for the lack of votes. But being grounded for sure cost her the debate team presidency. She’d had to miss a bunch of meets. Then Christy Morgan had gotten all cozy with Brett Smith, Tessa’s big crush. The two of them had joined forces, won the state debate championship, earned college scholarships, and eventually gotten married. Last Tessa heard, they were both lawyers in LA, living the high life.

Suffice to say, just the thought of a punishment as severe as that being doled sent Tessa spiraling down a dark path.

But what was the new job’s equivalent to being grounded for a month? Anything was better than being fired.

“Mom, please,” she finally squeaked.

“Fine,” Cheryl snapped. “I’ll give you one more chance. But just one.” She opened the car door. “I suppose you need a ride.”

With a sigh of relief, Tessa darted around the car and hopped into the passenger seat before Cheryl could change her mind. When her mother climbed in, Tessa said, “Thank you. I won’t be late again. I promise.”

“I certainly hope not.” Cheryl didn’t sound convinced and Tessa tried not to take offense at the sub-par confidence level. “We’ll talk about what’s next for Chet Sanborn first thing in the morning.” Cheryl glanced over her shoulder to back out of the parking spot. “And I mean first thing. Don’t you dare be late. You know, I think you may need a new car.”

Tessa knew that was true. “I won’t be late,” she promised.

But something wasn’t sitting right. Every time Tessa thought about her apartment, a sinking feeling whooshed down to the pit of her stomach.

“Um, Mom? I have a favor to ask you.”

“I thought I just did you a favor.”

Tessa winced. She didn’t want to say the next words but couldn’t think of an alternative. “Can I stay at