Hissy Fit: A Novel

Title Page......Page 3
Contents......Page 9
1 If it had not been for my fiance’s alcoholic cousin…......Page 14
2 Paige darted around to the far side of the table,…......Page 20
3 I’d never seen this guy before. He certainly wasn’t from…......Page 27
4 Gloria had a key to my apartment, and she never…......Page 33
5 Eventually I stopped crying and went back upstairs and tried…......Page 38
6 “Keeley!” Gloria exclaimed, sweeping past me.......Page 44
7 In a perfect world, on what would have been my…......Page 50
8 I clutched the door frame for support. “He took Nick?…......Page 55
9 On Sunday I slept.......Page 56
10 Daddy called at noon on Wednesday. “You’re coming tonight, aren’t…......Page 64
11 I yanked the kitchen door closed behind me and then…......Page 70
12 Will sipped his coffee slowly while Daddy lit into the…......Page 76
13 Red clover carpeted the meadow, and fat fuzzy bumblebees hovered…......Page 82
14 “Let’s get one thing straight,” I said, once we were…......Page 91
15 I took a long sip of beer and considered this…......Page 97
16 He calls himself Austin LeFleur, and he owns Fleur, the…......Page 103
17 Thursday morning I got downstairs early, but my aunt was…......Page 110
18 I heard the barking ten yards from her front door.…......Page 118
19 Erwin’s nose quivered with anticipation. Stephanie’s eyelids fluttered.......Page 124
20 It was getting late. I needed to get back to…......Page 128
21 I stepped inside the shop and flicked on the lights,…......Page 133
22 “Jeez-o Pete!” I cried, letting my weapon drop to the floor…......Page 138
23 I was in a funny mood after Austin went home…......Page 144
24 It was only ten o’clock in the morning, but by…......Page 148
25 Will made a big show of locking the bathroom door.…......Page 155
26 Gloria wrinkled her nose as I slathered lotion on my…......Page 163
27 Austin jumped out of the Volvo before I’d even turned…......Page 170
28 A faint breeze ruffled the leaves on the limb of…......Page 177
29 “Next time I need help with an installation, I’ll hire…......Page 183
30 I jounced the car back onto the tarmac and turned…......Page 191
31 Wednesday morning I got up and brewed a pot of…......Page 197
32 Supper at Daddy’s looked like it would be what it…......Page 204
33 We sat in the dark at the picnic table, looking…......Page 211
34 On Friday afternoon I had a pounding headache. This should…......Page 216
35 Will’s face blushed so deeply it was hard to tell…......Page 224
36 On Saturday morning I watched as a steady stream of…......Page 232
37 Kathleen’s wasn’t one of those snooty antiques shops where you…......Page 236
38 Austin waved at me from a booth tucked into the…......Page 243
39 I stopped at the Minit Mart on the way out…......Page 249
40 I took a deep breath of air and sank to…......Page 257
41 Gloria glanced over at me from her drawing board and…......Page 263
42 When I got back to the studio, I went directly…......Page 269
43 It had been nearly a month since I’d seen my…......Page 272
44 “Will! Stephanie!” My voice was registering just the eensiest bit…......Page 279
45 In August Daddy had a surprise for me. Two surprises,…......Page 285
46 Thursday morning Austin and I picked up an eighteen-foot panel…......Page 291
47 At six A.M. I heard the click of the key…......Page 300
48 Austin helped me wrap the console table in a mover’s…......Page 305
49 “I’ll drive,” I told Austin. I needed to be in…......Page 312
50 We found a motel just off the Interstate in Mobile,…......Page 316
51 “A flea market in Metairie, when I could be wandering…......Page 322
52 Austin and I were still arguing as we drove back…......Page 331
53 Will had decided that the first big official event at…......Page 340
54 I was upstairs in my apartment, finishing up the covered…......Page 343
55 The kitchen was full of people. The caterers were bustling…......Page 349
56 “Let me get you some aspirin,” A.J. said, looking concerned.…......Page 358
57 I dreaded returning to Loving Cup on Tuesday, but there…......Page 365
58 A week later, when I went back to Loving Cup…......Page 370
59 Austin and I sat in my car outside Vince Bascomb’s…......Page 376
60 “Your mother’s dead,” Vince Bascomb said. “So you can tell…......Page 382
61 It was Wednesday night. Salmon loaf night. After I dropped…......Page 387
62 I threw myself into my work. All the structural and…......Page 390
63 “So far, so good,” I told myself as I drove…......Page 397
64 A cold front moved in overnight. Saturday morning I woke…......Page 405
65 Saturday night I threw a pity party for myself. The…......Page 412
66 “All of this?” Will asked, peering into the open cargo…......Page 419
67 On Wednesday Gloria came back from the post office with…......Page 421
68 We held Mama’s memorial service on the Saturday after Thanksgiving.…......Page 424
Grits n’ Greens Casserole......Page 433
Acknowledgments......Page 434
About the Author......Page 435
Also by Mary Kay Andrews......Page 436
Credits......Page 437
Cover......Page 1
Copyright......Page 438
About the Publisher......Page 439