SMALL TOWN SATURDAY

Welcome to Gossip Central, aka the Stargazer Boarding House

News travels fast in a small town. In Halo, Miss Ettie Jensen feels it's part of her duties as owner of the Stargazer Boarding House to keep folks up to date on the happenings around town.

In this excerpt from PICTURE PERFECT LEGACY, Miss Ettie and her sister, Zora, inform Marly of the latest news, unwittingly setting in motion the circumstances that result in the accidental marriage between Marly and Dawson.

Marly sat at the supper table of the Stargazer Boarding House and appeared to listen politely as Ettie Jensen filled her in on the lives of Halo's citizens. In truth, Marly's mind was too busy going over facets of the Midassen case to really hear much of what Ettie said... 

"Did you hear Charlie and Bigsy Dalton stole a gorilla costume from the Assayer's Office?" Ettie's sister said. 

"The last business in the building was a costume shop," Ettie explained to Marly before turning back to her sister, Zora. "I suppose Dawson took them to jail and fed them before going to Audrey's meeting." 

"Well, Bigsy has been looking a little thin lately. I'm glad Dawson is watching out for them both." Zora helped herself to a second piece of pie. The eighty-something-year-old woman had eaten as much supper as Marly's six-foot plus brothers did, yet resembled a tiny bird pecking at morsels of food... 

"Do you know how long the deputy's meeting will last?" Marly asked. Maybe she could get him to go with her first thing in the morning. She could go without him, of course, but Marly had grown up in a rural area not far from here. Folks guarded their privacy zealously, sometimes with a hair-trigger shotgun. If Claudia deGras had indeed sold her baby, she would not be pleased to see Marly. The deputy would provide a much-needed presence of authority if the woman wasn't cooperative. 

"Depends on whether Beth can sweet talk Dawson into walking her home." Zora chased down a bite of pie with a giggle. 

"He will, you know," Ettie stated. "He's such a nice boy." 

"The deputy is on a date? I thought you said he was in a meeting." Marly wadded her napkin in her fist. 

Ettie and her sister glanced at each other again. "Well, after the meeting he'll walk Beth home--" 

"Where is this meeting?" Marly pushed back her chair. What was Dawson Browning's game? Had he warned Claudia deGras away while Marly wasted her time chatting with two old ladies? 

"The barber shop," Ettie said. "But I don't think--" 

"Thank you." Marly grabbed her coat on the way out the door...


**Excerpt from PICTURE PERFECT LEGACY, copyright Genie Gabriel