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"All for a Good Cause is a great book to enjoy after a hectic day at work. It's a lighthearted romantic comedy that will leave women swooning at the end. I highly recommend it!" - A Girl and Her Kindle
Chapter One
JANET JEMSEG hauled out a thick row of Cinderella styled
gowns from the back seat of her car. They sparkled in the bright summer sun,
jewels encased in dry cleaners’ plastic.
"I have a bad feeling about all of this," she announced to
the hot tarmac of her sister's driveway.
Her sister, Maggie-Ann, snatched the gowns just a bit too
quickly. "Relax, you act as if you don’t trust me," she said.
Janet flicked the hems up and draped them over Maggie-Ann’s
free arm. She’d had her suspicions, while traveling all the way down here, but
her sister had asked her to come home for the summer and frankly, she needed to
get away from Ottawa. Besides, there was no place like Eastern Canada if a
person wanted to escape the heat of Ontario. "So what Shakespearean play did you
say you were doing?"
"Twelfth Night,"
Maggie-Ann called over her shoulder as she whisked the gowns into her
house.
Janet narrowed her eyes. "On the phone you said it was ‘The Taming Of The Shrew’."
Maggie-Ann flicked the side screen door open with her foot.
"So what? They’re both comedies."
Janet remained on the hot driveway, suspicion gnawing at her
again as she watched her sister disappear into the house. Sure Maggie-Ann’s
third husband, Tom, was Assistant Professor of Classical Literature at the
university here in Sackville, New Brunswick, but that didn’t include tackling
Shakespearean plays in the summer, did it?
Against her better judgment, she pulled her small suitcase
out of the trunk of her car. Since she couldn’t afford a real vacation, either
here or in Ottawa, where she’d made her home for the last ten years, she may as
well stay. It was just that she couldn’t shake this wary feeling she wouldn’t
have the quiet little holiday she deserved.
"Hi, Auntie Janet!" A duo of squeaky voices called out. She
turned, grinning. Her fraternal twin nephews, the only good thing Maggie-Ann’s
second marriage had produced, as her first marriage had produced nothing but ill
will, rode up the driveway on battered mountain bikes.
"Well, aren’t you two growing fast!" Janet planted a kiss on
both their cheeks, not before giving them a quick scan to locate a clean spot.
"What have you guys been into? Why do you have green stuff on your
faces?"
Richie threw his bike onto the lawn and raced up to the
house. "Dad gave us some money for ice cream. I had ‘Dinosaur Meteorites’," he
yelled.
"And I had ‘Rainforest Rebellion’! It’s the last for the
whole weekend!" Robbie answered, also dropping his bike.
She shook her head. "What happened to 'Heavenly
Hash'?"
Stopping, Robbie gave her a blank stare. "Huh? Is that what
Mom’s making for the weekend thing?"
She followed her nephew up the side door steps, just as
Maggie-Ann returned to the back door. "Forget it," she said, turning to her
sister. "What weekend thing?"
Robbie wiped his face with his shirt. "You know," he piped
up, "the medieval fundraiser thing Mom’s volunteered us for."
Maggie-Ann pivoted quickly on the top step, but not quickly
enough. Janet grabbed her younger sister by the waistband of her shorts. "What
medieval fundraiser?"
Pressing away from Janet, Maggie-Ann cleared her throat. "Go
into the gazebo, boys. Lunch is on the table."
Janet jerked her sister. "What medieval fundraiser?"
"Give me your suitcase. Is this all you
brought?"
Janet swung it behind her back. "What play are you
doing?"
"‘Much Ado About
Nothing’," Maggie-Ann said.
"I thought it was ‘Twelfth Night’?" Janet
asked.
"You’ve got me all mixed up. Let me call Tom."
Janet yanked her sister down onto the last step, glaring into
her round face. "What are you up to?"
"Don’t growl, Janet. It’s just one weekend to help a boy from
Prince Edward Island. He needs an operation..."
"A fundraiser!"
"Keep your voice down. It gets squeaky when you yell. The
operation’s in Ontario-"
"So there’s no play and you wanted to wear my gowns to your
Society for Creative Anarchy-"
"Anachronism," Maggie-Ann corrected smoothly. "You’ll look
lovely as usual and a lot of people are counting on you and your gowns and all
those titles you won..."
A strangled noise and the death grip on her sister's shorts
were all Janet could manage.
"Let me go, Janet. You’re wrinkling my new
shorts."
Trying to regain her control, she released
her sister. "I’m not coming." How could
Maggie-Ann do this?
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