The Tessa Randolph Collection, Books 1-3 by Paula Lester (best ereader for comics .txt) 📗

Maybe Silas wasn’t as much of a pushover as she’d thought.

Ugh. Pepper knew better than to hang out in the window during the day. Tessa was going to have to have a firm discussion with the black cat. Maybe if she withheld those soft salmon-flavored treats for a few days, the naughty kitty would learn Tessa meant business.

Lie. Lie. Lie. Tessa’s brain caught up to the conversation. “She’s actually Frank’s cat. I’m just watching her for a few days.”

Silas’s eyebrows rose. “I thought you and Frank broke up.”

Tessa winced. How did he know that?

Oh, right. Mist River was the world’s smallest town—with the biggest grapevine made up of a network of elderly folk who treated gossiping like a job. In fact, Tessa would bet money that Mrs. Cross had been telling Silas about the breakup in the lobby just a few minutes earlier.

“Um.” Brilliant, Tessa.

Silas waved a hand. “Whatever. Just get me the check by Friday. And do something about the cat.”

As she let herself into the apartment at last, Tessa’s chest felt heavy. She dropped her purse on the ratty blue couch that was a hand-me-down from her mother.

“Pepper.” She made high-pitched kitty calls. “We need to have a talk, missy! Get your furry behind out here.”

But the place was silent. The cat had probably heard the discussion in the hallway and knew making herself scarce was the best idea. Cats are smart that way.

The apartment was tiny but clean. And thanks to Silas, everything was in good working order. The kitchen had cream-colored linoleum flooring and a matching counter, barely enough to hold a cutting board at only two-feet long. There was no dishwasher, but Tessa mainly used paper plates anyway. When she cooked.

She opened the refrigerator, surveyed the contents, and sighed. There were three half-used cans of cat food with plastic lids, half a jar of mayonnaise, and some sliced cheese. She pulled out the cheese and opened a cupboard, fist-pumping when she found a sleeve of crackers. It was her lucky night.

Ten minutes later, she settled onto the couch with her favorite purple crocheted blanket, a plate of cheese and crackers, and a glass of wine. Thank goodness for Two Buck Chuck.

She used the remote to turn on the TV and navigated to the streaming service, holding her breath like she always did, waiting to see if the WiFi would work. She shared it with her friend, Abigail, who lived in the apartment next door, and sometimes, it couldn’t keep up with both of them needing to watch rom-coms at the same time.

The service fired right up. Abi must be sleeping already. Or maybe she had a date. Unlike Tessa. Who was single, broke, and not at all in control of her life.

Loud footfalls overhead made Tessa glare at the ceiling. How could someone as icky as Sanborn have guests as often as he did?

Tessa kicked out a leg toward the coffee table when Pepper’s head popped up beside it. The cat balanced on her hind legs, looking wary, as though expecting her owner to shoo her away. But Tessa shook her head and patted the cushion next to her. “Come on up, you little brat.”

Pepper accepted the invitation, curling into a tight ball next to Tessa’s hip. She smiled for probably the first time that day.

“You’re going to have to get a job, you know,” she told Pepper as she stroked her soft fur. “You can’t expect my new gig to cover an extra hundred bucks a month for you to look out a window. What is there to look at anyway? An empty pool?”

Pepper seemed unconcerned, tiny snuffles emitting from her nose as she snore-purred.

Tessa chuckled. If only her life was as easy as the cat’s. She snuggled down into the comfortable couch. As the movie’s opening credits popped up on the screen, she thought about her first assignment and hoped Dale was settling into his afterlife. And she hoped she could settle into the routine of sending people there.

Chapter 3

THE NEXT DAY, WITH the sunshine pouring through the windows, Tessa got ready a lot faster than usual. She was almost looking forward to the grim tasks of the day. She realized that it was all a matter of perspective. Everyone and everything had an expiration date, and that was something out of her control.

As she crossed the courtyard, she glanced at the complex’s swimming pool. It glittered in the sun’s rays. An optical illusion. If only it was warm enough to consider a dip after work. She knew Silas worked hard to remove the leaves every afternoon, keeping the pool in tip-top shape for its eventual opening later in the spring.

Tessa wore a thick sweater against the chill. She was happy to be able to wear her cute purple sunglasses against the glare.

Linda’s engine turned over immediately and purred all the way to the Last Journey office. Tessa glanced at the clock in the dash. Ha! She was a full five minutes early.

She strode carefully over the dilapidated sidewalk, allowing herself to feel a moment of smugness. Her mother had clearly thought Tessa couldn’t handle the job—especially the being on time part. It felt good to prove Cheryl wrong.

The lot was missing Cheryl’s fancy silver Audi. For once, Tessa had managed to arrive before her mom.

The lobby was deserted. Tessa made her way to the closet-sized office her mother had said was hers and booted up the laptop. It took her a couple minutes to remember how to get into the system to check her assignments.

Tessa remembered something as she watched the rolling ball on the screen do its thing while the computer slowly came to life. It was something Cheryl had said about forwarding messages to her email because the assignments went out at midnight each night. In fact, her mother had insisted she do it right then and there. But Tessa had convinced her not to worry, insisting she was competent