Read A Simple Case of Angels for Free Online

June Bug sprang and grabbed hold of the braid. Nicola stepped into the hall with the dog hanging on. She got all the way to the kitchen where her mother was working on the giant holiday crossword puzzle, the one that filled two whole newspaper pages.
    â€œI need an eight-letter word for ‘heavenly being,’” Mina said, before looking up and frowning. “Nicola, that’s fifteen pounds of dog dangling from your braid. It can’t be good for your neck.”
    June Bug let go, thudding four-footedly to the floor.
    â€œThank you, June Bug,” Mina said, returning to the puzzle.
    June Bug headed for her pillow in the corner, Nicola for the chair across from her mother. She leaned over and swept the eraser tailings off the newspaper with the end of her braid.
    â€œHow did Grandma Bream die?” she asked.
    â€œCancer. Do you remember much about her?”
    â€œI remember visiting her apartment. I remember her cinnamon buns.”
    Mina smiled. “She liked to bake.”
    â€œAnd I remember her funeral, sort of. She didn’t seem very old.”
    â€œShe wasn’t, unfortunately. Not even seventy.”
    â€œGrammy and Grampy don’t seem old, either. Not like people in a retirement home.”
    â€œGrammy and Grampy are amazing. Seraphim.”
    â€œWhat?”
    â€œThat’s the eight-letter word for a heavenly being.” Mina searched the vast network of squares for the place to write the word.
    â€œI’d like to take June Bug to visit a retirement home. Is that okay?”
    Nicola half-wished that her mother would say no. Shady Oaks smelled bad, and the old man, Mr. Milton, frightened her with his booming voice and the strange things he said. Even worse was that man stomping on the snow angel.
    Except if Mina did say no, June Bug would have to wait until the priest found her a different place to do a good deed.
    â€œWhat retirement home?” Mina asked.
    â€œIt’s called Shady Oaks. It’s over by the church.”
    â€œWhat church?”
    â€œOur Lady of Perpetual Help. You remember. I went there with that girl Lindsay.”
    â€œDoes the retirement home have anything to do with the church?”
    â€œNo,” Nicola said, in case her mother was heading toward an Embarrassing Talk.
    Nicola had suffered through several of these. The Embarrassing Talk about Where Babies Come From. The Embarrassing Talk about What Your Big Brother Is Going Through and Why He Is So Mean. Nicola would rather not have known the facts in these Embarrassing Talks. She wasn’t planning on making babies, not after living with Jackson. And after living with ­Jared, she was never going to have anything to do with boys.
    â€œI stopped there today when I was walking June Bug and asked if I could bring her. They said to come back tomorrow.”
    â€œYou already went? On your own?” Mina pushed the puzzle aside. “Nicola. We talked about this.”
    Nicola hung her head. That was the talk about the Bad People Who Would Just Love to Get Their Hands on Unattended Children, which was not so much Embarrassing as Terrifying. She fiddled with the end of her braid.
    â€œSo you’ve already organized this visit?”
    â€œYes. I want June Bug to cheer up the old people. I’m hoping it will make up for the turkey and the tree and everything else. I’m hoping it will make her a good, kind dog who won’t get in so much trouble.”
    â€œThat’s lovely, Nicola,” Mina said. “I’m proud of you. Certainly you can go.”
    Nicola smiled the way you do when you get something you don’t want very much. A small smile.
    â€œBut I’d like to go with you the first time.”
    â€œThat would be great,” Nicola said, brightening.
    â€œAnd I’d like you to bring a friend.”
    Nicola slumped. “Who?”
    â€œAre you still not talking to Mackenzie?”
    â€œShe has other friends