Tuesday Tales: From the Word ORANGE

Welcome to October. This week’s Tuesday Tales word prompt is ORANGE. I’m continuing with Pumpkin Spice.

“Where’s your aunt?” he asked, undressing me with his eyes. I looked away, feeling the burn start in my toes and move up. “I wanted to ask her a couple of questions about the jetty.”

Most people around here called it a dock or a pier.

“Maybe I can answer them for you.” I backed into the wall trying to move away from him. I responded with a fake smile of my own—I’d had years of practice. “Unfortunately, Aunt Selma had an accident last night.”

Louis’s head snapped up. No matter what his name was, he would be Louis the Lip to me. “An accident? Is she okay?”

The concern in his eyes was genuine. So maybe this creep was a little more honest than his boss, but the jury was still out on the others, especially Tom. I’d never seen an aura, but if Robin said theirs were dingy and murky, and filled with dark energy, I believed it. Goosebumps raced along my spine. It was a good thing that I wouldn’t be sleeping in the house. There weren’t enough locks in the world to secure the door.

“No, she isn’t. She’s broken her hip and is in surgery as we speak. With the help of Colby, Elvira, and Suzie, I’ll be taking over her responsibilities here. Nothing should change as far as you’re concerned.”

Unless you would all like to leave, which would be fine by me.

There was a brief flash of annoyance in Ralph’s eyes, but it was quickly masked. I hadn’t spoken aloud again, had I?

“But she’s going to survive?”

Was he relieved or annoyed? For some reason, I had a hard time reading the man in the orange t-shirt introduced as Emilio. He was pale, more Nordic looking than Spanish, although there was a small percentage of native blond Spaniards, but it had me wondering if his name was an alias, and if his was, what about the others? I knew the six times great uncle hadn’t been Checkley’s secretary if he’d even existed, so what was to say any of these men were who they claimed to be?

“She’ll be fine,” I answered with more confidence than I felt. “The doctor is—”

“Will The Taproom stay open, and the tours continue?” Ralph interrupted.

Jerk!

“They will.” I grinned, surely resembling the infamous Joker himself. Of all the men, I distrusted this one the most.

That’s it. Stay safe and don’t forget to check out the other Tuesday Tales