Dead Giveaway

“Hey, we’ve got snow on our mountain.” Joh

Ellen didn’t dare meet his eyes. Was Joh

Joh

“That’s even colder than Mi

Joh

Ellen felt the color rush to her face and she was glad he was busy hailing the valet parker. Aunt Charlotte had written that the temperature was moderate. Joh

Joh

“There’s not much to tell.” Ellen stared up at him and wondered whether teeth that perfect could possibly be real. Her natural reticence evaporated as she began to describe her universal ma

“Sounds good to me,” Joh

Blushing, Ellen nodded. She knew she’d rattled on like an excited schoolgirl, but there was something about Joh

“I could back you. I’ve got some loose cash to invest before Uncle Sam takes his cut. Think you’d be interested in having me for a partner?”

“I . . . uh . . . that sounds wonderful.” Ellen felt her head start to whirl again. Compared to rural Mi

“We could set up right here in Vegas and name it something catchy. Universal Ma

Ellen nodded. Vegas Dolls was a fine name for a business, especially if it summoned to mind the gorgeous showgirls who worked here.

“I’ll look for a warehouse right away. Where do you want to work, in the warehouse or up on the mountain?”

Ellen took a deep breath. “Would there be room in the condo? I’m used to working at home.”

“No problem, Babe. You’ve got the whole eighth floor and all you have to do is tell Paul Lindstrom how you want it remodeled. I’ve got some contacts so I’ll set up the distribution network, but we’ll have to move fast. The fifteenth’s my deadline for reinvesting.”

Ellen was too stu

“It’s settled, then.” Joh

“Alma Jacobson might. I gave her a key before I left. I’ll call her tonight and ask.”

They were walking out of the building now, and Ellen almost stumbled as she realized what she’d said. She’d just agreed to give up her teaching contract only months before she was eligible for tenure to move over two thousand miles across the country into a condo she’d never seen. And she was going into business with a man she’d met less than five minutes ago who also happened to be the singing idol she’d sighed over for the past ten years.

“Getting cold feet?” Joh

“Not really. I only get cold feet in Mi

Joh

It was dusk and the huge neon signs blinked on and off as he drove down the strip. The people they passed looked slim in their summer clothes and Ellen felt almost weightless without her bulky parka and moon boots.

There was a smile on Ellen’s face as Joh

THREE

February on Deer Creek Road

Fifty Minutes before 10:57 AM

Ellen frowned as she rummaged through her box of ma

The morning had started off badly. Her thirty-cup pot was the old percolator type and only made good coffee if she filled it to capacity. It had been a parting gift from the Garfield Elementary faculty and Ellen was sure they’d chipped in their books of green stamps to get it. Perhaps they’d assumed opening a ma

The saleslady had shown her the newest model, promising that all she had to do was put in the coffee and water, set the automatic timer, and she would have hot coffee. Ellen had set the timer for eight and gone to bed, but when she’d come into the kitchen this morning there was no coffee to greet her. Checking the instructions, she’d found that the digital timer had a red light for PM and a green light for AM. Since the red light was glowing, her coffee would brew automatically, but not until eight in the evening.

Just as Ellen had switched the timer to manual, the phone had rung. It was the Purple Giraffe in New York, an exclusive chain of children’s clothing stores, frantic because their purchasing department had made an error and they needed two dozen more ma

Ellen stepped back to survey the boxes of limbs stacked on her workroom shelves, all coded with numbers, the work of her business manager, Walker Browning. When he’d heard that Ellen was looking for a business manager, Jack St. James had recommended his black friend from Chicago for the job, and Ellen had hired him sight unseen. Walker was extremely well organized and he was also a whiz at finding new markets for Vegas Dolls. If Walker were here now, he’d go straight to the proper box, but he was in Vegas picking up supplies.

Deciding it would be a waste of time to look for the arms herself, Ellen wandered back into her large su