Funeral home owner and undertaker Dual Hood knows a good thing when he sees it, so when Charlie Soder applies for the job of embalmer, he snatches up the young man in a heartbeat. Charlie, fresh-faced and just out of college, also knows a good thing when he sees it, and immediately sets his sights on his new sexy boss.<br><br>It doesn’t take long for sparks to fly and romance to blossom. But Dual worries what folks in his small Mississippi town will say, and whether his family-owned business will suffer if word goes round about his new love interest. He isn’t at all certain he has the courage to do the right thing and grab love before it slips through his fingers.

The Undertaker's Secret

Inside the coroner’s office, I introduced Charlie to Billy Joe Dabbs, who was a short, squat man well on in years and rather rough around the edges. He has his moments. Once in a while. Most of the time he’s a pain in the ass who thinks of himself far too highly.


“Got yourself some help, Dew?” Dabbs asked.


“Charlie just finished school,” I said.


He grinned, as if this was enormously funny.


“Mortuary school,” I said, ignoring him. “What do you have for us?”


“Hell of a mess. Got ‘im in a body bag. What’s left. What we could find.”


“I’m sure you’re exaggerating—you wouldn’t have called if you were still looking for bit and pieces.”


“Man’s gotta have his fun,” Dabbs allowed.


Dabbs led the way. Charlie steered the gurney. I followed. Dwayne Duffy’s remains were sealed inside a body bag.


Chapter 14