by Teresa Trent
Maggie nodded. “Everything about that woman is phony. No wonder we ran into her buying mature plants.”
I loved the way Aunt Maggie put emphasis on the word “mature” the same way you might for an X-rated movie.
“I can’t believe they disqualified me.”
“Me either, baby girl, but they did. Try to look on the bright side—at least you have a beautiful garden.”
“With no tomatoes.”
Aunt Maggie tapped her finger on the table as she thought.
“What I don’t get is that you’ve pretty well established that it was Enid that destroyed your plants.”
“We’ve also established, thanks to Susie, that Enid and Wade did not get along. She tries to make everyone think she’s this super gardener. I think Wade saw Enid for what she really was, a conniving and insecure old woman.”
Aunt Maggie looked down her nose at me. “I’ll give you conniving and insecure, but being old is not so bad.”
“Okay, sorry. I guess I just don’t think of you as being old.”
“Well, when you put it that way, I can’t help but forgive you.” Her natural and beautiful wrinkles creased into a grin.
“Even though I think she stomped my tomatoes, I can’t believe that Enid Sanford took Wade’s life.”
“Seems kind of far-fetched to me, too. I’ve been living around Enid for the last fifty years. I knew her husband when he was alive. Nice fellow. Much nicer than Enid. Of course, she’s changed some since he died. He used to play tuba and lead the Pecan Bayou town band. She was there too, on flute. That was back in the day we used to have a town band.”
“You’re kidding me.” I was beginning to see Enid in a whole new light. This was a light in which I actually liked the woman. “I remember that band. Whatever happened to it?”
“It was replaced by technology. I guess after Enid’s husband died, George was his name, they just couldn’t get people together to rehearse. Nobody cares about live music anymore when a person can find everything on the Internet for practically free.”
My aunt was right. I remembered the town band playing marches and standards at every town function for years. Then they were replaced by a man with a ponytail who owned an elaborate soundboard and turntable he used to scratch records. Even though the members of the town band were not a professional group and had been known to play a sour note now and again, this guy was no replacement.
“At the end of the night, the band would play ‘Goodnight Sweetheart.’” Maggie started to sing in her wobbly alto voice, “Goodnight sweetheart, da, da, da, da.” Clearly, the song evoked something in her, and I wondered if she was dancing with my Uncle Jeeter in her mind. A memory came back to me of being a sleepy child with my head on my father’s shoulder. Aunt Maggie and Uncle Jeeter would be gliding around the dance floor, laughing and talking in a discussion that only the two of them shared. There was so much love between them.
“Those were good times,” I said, patting her hand.
“The best.” There was a glow in her eyes and a sudden rosiness in her cheeks.
“Is it hard?”
Aunt Maggie pulled herself back and looked at me questioningly. “Is what hard?”
“Living without Uncle Jeeter?”
Aunt Maggie took in a breath and then closed her lips tightly, trying to reign in the emotion overtaking her. Finally, she answered, “Some days. One thing I’ve learned is that you can’t live in the past. I’m thankful for the time I had with Jeeter, and I can’t imagine my life without him. I think that’s one reason why I was so proud of you when you were alone raising Zach, but at the same time I felt bad for you. I wanted you to have what Jeeter and I had, and Barry sure wasn’t the man to do it. The love and the trust of a good man is important. When you met Leo, it seemed like everything became good for you. My prayer for you had been answered.”
She was right. I had been lucky in finding Leo, but it had been hard for me to trust Leo after what Barry had done to me by leaving. Would it be the same for the wives of Wade Atwood?
It was two days later when there was a frantic knocking at my door. I had been busy working on my latest column and testing out a method for cleaning out my microwave with a bowl of water and baking soda and hated to stop what I was doing. When I opened the door, a tearful Susie stood holding the baby.
“Oh, my gosh, what’s happened?”
“I left them. I can’t live with my parents anymore. They keep telling me what to do. They think I should give up the baby for adoption. There is no way I’m giving up Elizabeth.”
I let Susie and the baby into the house. Her car, parked in the driveway, was packed to the roof with her belongings.
“Are you sure this is the right time to be moving?”
“You don’t understand. I just have to be out of there.”
Of all of Wade Atwood’s wives, Susie was the youngest and probably the most impulsive. Her maturity was still a work in progress, and finding herself alone with a baby would be a real test. She might be a whiz in the garden, but she had no idea what she was in for taking care of a child without help.
“Do you have any money saved up? Can you rent an apartment here?”
“No. I spent all of my salary getting things for the baby. You know, the crib set, baby clothes, a stroller. I had to leave most of the furniture back at my mom and dad’s house. I didn’t have enough room in the car.”
Leo and the boys had been more than patient with the situation, and there was no way I could ask them to move Susie in for a much longer period of time.
“I think you should have tried a little harder and been a bit more patient with your parents. You’re all under stress.”
Susie growled and threw her arms up in the air. “You’re just like them. Don’t you understand? I’m not a little girl anymore. I need to live my life, and it needs to be away from my mother and father. I thought I could come to you and you would help us. You were out on your own with Zach. Why can’t you help us now?”
I wanted to remind her that instead of running away from my family, I had depended on them. I hadn’t succeeded completely on my own.
“Okay. Settle down. We’ll think of something.” Elizabeth had started to cry, and I took her out of Susie’s arms and began to pat her back while Susie plopped down on my couch and put her face in her palms.
“She cries all the time. She never stops. Why don’t they tell you that babies cry so much?”
That confirmed something I had been wondering. Not only was she grieving for the loss of her husband, but she was also in the throes of baby blues. Suddenly finding out that you are responsible for a little person who wants to cry twenty-four hours a day can be overwhelming. It depresses even the sunniest souls. Trying to get Elizabeth to stop screaming, I continued to rock the baby, deep in thought. I made my living giving people advice. Surely I could come up with something to help Susie. It seemed so doable, but realistically, this was not like telling a person how to get a spot out of the carpet. Getting someone’s life back on track was a little more difficult.
I started brainstorming aloud, a practice I had adopted when trying to find a solution for the Happy Hinter’s hints. “Well, it’s too soon for you to go back to work. The baby needs you, and your body needs time to recover. Still, though, if you want to pay rent, you have to find a way to earn some income. I know you’re doing a column for Rocky, but it’s still not enough.”
Susie didn’t answer but nodded as I outlined the situation. I continued, “That leaves you with just a few options. Your job has to be as a full-time babysitter for your own child.”
Then it occurred to me. I handed the baby to Susie. “Here. She’s settled down for a little while. You take the baby while I get my purse.”
“Where are we going?”
“I think I could use a cup of coffee and a piece of pie out at the truck stop.”
Susie shook her head in confusion. “Why do you need pie at a time like this? I thought we were figuring out
my life.”
“I don’t need pie, but you do.”
CHAPTER 22
“So, you want to take care of Anna?” Daisy asked Susie over the clatter of dishes and diners talking behind her. The Bluebonnet Truck Stop was situated just off the main highway that led to Dallas. The gravel parking lot was filled with giant sixteen-wheelers. Drivers stopped in for some flapjacks on their way to deliver goods to the big city. The Bluebonnet was famous for its pancakes and homemade pecan syrup. I made a note to myself to pick up a bottle of the concoction for Aunt Maggie. Danny loved it on his waffles in the morning.
“Yes. That’s the idea. I could watch Anna and Elizabeth while I’m on maternity leave.” Susie nodded with the exuberance of youth. She could have been planning a cheerleading move for a football game.
“Do you have any experience watching children?”
“I babysat all through high school. Does that count?” I wondered if she would confide to Daisy her frustration with Elizabeth crying? If anything, Daisy would understand. Every mother hit that wall at some time or another.
“There’s only one problem. I don’t have enough money to pay you. That’s why Miss Aileen threw us out. There’s no way you could support yourself and the baby off what I’d give you.”
“Miss? Can I get some more coffee over here?”
Across the restaurant, a burly trucker held up a thick white coffee mug. “I’ll be right back,” she said, turning to grab a clear glass coffee pot off the warming plate behind her.
Susie leaned on her elbow as Daisy left. “I didn’t think of that. She doesn’t have any money either. What am I going to do?”
I knew that the next logical step would be for her to move back into our house. I scrounged around for an answer. “What if you moved in with Daisy and her?”
“You’re a genius. I could do that.” She reached over and stroked Elizabeth’s little hand.
Daisy returned with her coffee carafe and pulled out her order pad and made a quick note. She stuck her pencil behind her ear, redeposited the pad in her pocket, and looked up.
Her gaze went to Susie and then to me. “Any ideas?”
I broached the subject. “Okay, this may sound a little crazy, but keep an open mind. What if Susie were to move in with you and your mother?”
Daisy reached up and rubbed at her temple as if a headache were coming on. A small piece of hair had slipped out of her ponytail. “I don’t know. I’d have to ask my mom first. After all, it is her house. There is a small third bedroom we’ve been using for Anna. I suppose Anna could move in with me for a while.”
Naomi had seemed happy about Daisy and Anna moving into her home. How would she feel about two more victims of Wade Atwood? It would give her more time to get back to work instead of just trying to catch up on Saturdays. It would also get me off the hook for babysitting, although Coco would hate losing her Saturday playdate.
“If you would do this, I would be so grateful. I just had to get out of my parents’ house. When I came here to Pecan Bayou, it was like one of those moments where you suddenly know just exactly what you want. I can’t explain it. I already have a job at the Gazette writing the gardening column and, well ...” she looked dreamily at the ceiling, “then there’s Nick. I had the same feeling for him that I had for the town. He’s called me a couple of times. I thought about staying with him, but it felt a little premature. There was just something about him that I was attracted to right away. I think we have the possibility of starting something. He did come to the hospital. Me living over there in Blakely would be impossible for him if we were to start dating. I don’t do long-distance relationships well, and after Wade, I never will again. I just know he’ll be tickled pink to find out I’m going to be living right here in town.”
There was something about Susie’s words that made me a little uncomfortable. It all seemed awfully fast to be moving near to a man she had just met. How did Nick really feel about a woman he met one week and then she moved to his town the next week? Susie was vulnerable and in need right now with the loss of her husband and the possible post-traumatic depression she was going through. It was an awful lot to pile on Nick, whose primary male role model was Rocky, Pecan Bayou’s oldest bachelor. He didn’t get that way by chance.
“Nick?” Daisy asked. “You just met him.”
“I know, but isn’t that how it happens? Love at first sight?”
Leave it to me to tickle the elephant in the room. I blurted out, “But what about Wade?”
Susie’s radiant smile faded when I said her deceased husband’s name. It was like I had taken all the happiness out of her soul. She stopped herself, and her voice began to shake.
“You’re right. How can I do this to Wade?”
Daisy patted her hand. “It’s okay. Wade was gone so much that even if they tell me he’s dead, it still feels like he’s out making deliveries somewhere. I think he would want us to go on and live our lives. You two had so little time together. I believe that it’s perfectly natural that you don’t give up on life. I don’t think Wade would have married you if he thought you were a quitter. I’ll call my mother. We’ll work it out.”
“Well, it’s about time you got here, Betsy. I’ve been watching you around town, and you’ve been looking shaggier and shaggier. Your hair has just enough curl to it to make it a problem when it gets out of shape.” As Ruby spoke, she ran her fingers through my hair as a doctor would examine a patient. The Best Little Hair House in Texas was business as usual today. Up against one wall was a bank of pink sparkly hair dryers where the ladies of Pecan Bayou relaxed while reading the latest gossip magazines. On the other wall were two black porcelain sinks with rounded dips in the front for the necks of customers while they had their heads massaged with strawberry-scented shampoo. There was a cupboard above them filled with fresh towels that Ruby replenished daily. When the warm water hit you and Ruby used her magic fingers on your scalp, it was a delight.
Ruby started pinning up portions of my hair and then reached for the scissors. Before she could get a single cut in, the phone rang.
“Best Little Hair House in Texas. You grow it. We cut it.” She listened for a moment and then pulled out her appointment book. “I can take you on Thursday. How are you doing since that nasty bunion surgery?” She listened as her caller described her condition. “Well, now, you keep it on the ice and when you come you can put your foot up. You need to heal. The square dance club just hasn’t been the same without you.”
She hung up the phone and then turned her attentions back to me. “That woman uses so much hair spray it’s like plowing through cotton candy. How is everything in your world, Betsy? Did your daddy find Wade Atwood’s killer yet?”
Ruby’s real gift was not cutting hair but finding out the latest gossip.
“He’s working on it.”
“Does he have a suspect?”
“I don’t know. He doesn’t share everything with me when he’s working on a case.”
“Well, just like when I read my murder mysteries, you have to find the person who has the most to lose. Now, let’s take a look at Wade’s wives. The first thing you have to wonder is who knew and who didn’t. The man was putting up red flags everywhere and leaving a trail of babies with light-blue eyes and dimples in their chins. If it had been me waitin’ by the window for my hubby to come home, I think I would have caught on to him.”
Looking at it from this perspective, I would have been onto him too, but obviously, three intelligent women were completely fooled.
“I’d look to the young one first. Young people are full of passion. If she found out, she might have just done him in without looking back. Look at how he was found in the dirt. She’s a gardening expert, and she planted him. It’s as simple as that.”
I’d been around Susie for several weeks now, and she just did not seem that coldhearted. She was young, I’d grant that, but I just didn’t see “killer” in her eyes.
“Funny you should mention Susie.
She’s back in town with the baby,” I said as Ruby squared up a line of my hair in the teeth of her comb and then chopped it off.
“I thought she went home to her mama and daddy.”
“I did too. She showed up asking for me to take her in again. She said she couldn’t stand living with her parents after being independent.”
“Oh well, that happens.”
“The only problem is she just had a baby and can’t exactly work full-time. She has no way of supporting herself for at least six weeks.”
“That’s a problem.”
“I know, but I think I found an answer. I took her to the Bluebonnet Truck Stop and convinced Daisy Atwood that Susie should move in with her and her mother and provide babysitting for Anna.”
Ruby clucked her tongue. “Seems like you dodged a bullet.”
“I know, right? I just couldn’t do that to Leo and the boys again.”
“It’s tough having company when you don’t know when they plan to pack up the Chevy and skedaddle on out of there. Having a baby around presents a whole new set of problems. Sounds like you found a solution, but how did Naomi take it? She went from having one fatherless child to two. That’s an awful lot of responsibility on her.”
“Daisy called me this morning and said Naomi didn’t take to it at first, but when she was reminded that she’d be able to go back to her job during the week, she agreed. I think I can predict there will be some tension between those three women, but right now they’re an involuntary family stuck at trying to make it work.”
“That’s even tough for the voluntary families,” Ruby quipped.
“Susie is going to be writing a column for the Pecan Bayou Gazette, so she’ll have a little bit of spending money coming in. Then by the time Elizabeth is old enough to go to daycare, she can find an opening at a gardening store.”
“Ruby, I think I’m done,” warbled a voice from across the room. Libby Loper, owner of the local dude ranch and daughter of famous cowboy star Charlie Loper, was tapping her pink plastic lux dryer with her fingernail. “Hey, Libby. I didn’t see you over there.”