Half Past Mourning

by Fleeta Cunningham

  “Still mad at me?” he asked when they met under the sprawling pecan tree at the corner.

  “Not mad, Peter, just exasperated that you and the sheriff can’t seem to see what’s so obvious to me.”

  He held up both hands in surrender. “Can we just say that two people looking at the same thing can see different views? Can we leave it at that for now?”

  Some of the tension that tightened her lips and shadowed her eyes faded. A small smile lit her face. “Let’s leave it alone for now. We could both be wrong, and until there’s something to show what actually happened, I can’t see much reason to wrangle about it.”

  Peter released the breath he’d been holding. “Good. And just to prove I’m willing to put the question of Danny Wilson aside and that you’re truly looking at things from all sides, let me take you to dinner and a movie. I don’t care what’s showing, even if it’s a singing, dancing, full-blown Technicolor musical.”

  A line of doubt marred her smile. “I don’t know, Peter. People will notice if we’re out together in Santa Rita. They’ll ask questions.”

  Unable to resist, Peter tilted her face up to his. “Married or not married, Nina? A married woman goes home to a cat and waits for the man who should be living there with her. An unmarried woman is free to have dinner with a man, join him for a movie, and not be shackled by the questions her neighbors might ask. Married or not, Nina?”

  He saw the apprehension in her narrowed eyes. He felt the hesitation in her rigid shoulders. At first he was certain she was going to refuse. Then the tension eased, a bit of sparkle glowed in her honey-brown eyes, and Nina stood taller.

  “Not married, Peter. Definitely not married. And I’d love to have dinner with you. It should be worth any gossip just to see you sit through a singing, dancing musical with minimal plot to hold the story together. If it gets too much for you, just remember you asked for it.”

  “You’re on, lady. I can take anything you can hand out. Just let me have a decent steak first. Where are we going?”

  ****

  The movie, a breezy, highly improbable comedy, eased any remaining strain, and by the time Peter took Nina back to her orchid house and accepted her offer of coffee, he was just a man out with a pretty girl who stirred his hopes and made dreams seem possible. The ragged cat met them at the door and made himself comfortable in the chair Peter would have chosen.

  “Cream only, right?” Nina asked from the door of the kitchen.

  “Correct,” he answered, trying to encourage the glaring feline to move. The cat rolled over on his back and waved all four feet in a pose of utter indifference to Peter’s preferences.

  Nina brought coffee and, seeing Sinbad had taken the armchair, casually heaved the monster to the floor. “Sorry.” She gestured to the chair. “His manners are as ragged as his coat, but he’s not used to company.”

  Peter drew the chair a little closer, so he sat next to her. “This has been a good evening, Nina. I’m glad you agreed to spend it with me.”

  She put her cup aside and favored him with a smile that was echoed by the light in her eyes. “It felt a little strange to be out like that, like anyone going to dinner and then to see a show. I guess I haven’t done that in forever. But it was nice, a pleasant evening, and I’m glad you convinced me to go.”

  “I saw your friend Tinker at the drug store today. Looks like he has a girl, a very pretty one.”

  Nina’s cocked head and quick smile told him she was intrigued. “Tinker’s found a girlfriend? That’s good. Maybe he’ll stay with Uncle Eldon longer if he has some outside interests here.” She put her cup aside. “Wonder who she is? A local girl, you think?”

  “Looked like they knew each other pretty well. She’s blonde, ponytail about halfway down her back, dressed up in a frilly pink dress. Waves her hands when she talks like she’s pretty excited. And hanging on every word he said.”

  Nina chuckled. “Could be the Michaels girl. She’d be home from college for the summer, I suppose. Sweet girl, and Tinker could do a lot worse. If he stays with Uncle Eldon, I think he’ll find a pretty decent career waiting for him at the museum. Unc says Tinker has a talent for working on the restorations and can make a long-term thing out of working with him if Tinker wants to do it.”

  Peter could see the situation from several points of view, some not to Tinker’s credit. He kept his suspicions to himself. No point in upsetting Nina without knowing he had a reason to do so. He reached for Nina’s hand and drew her closer.

  “Now that we’ve been seen in public, do you think we can do this again? Go out together, let the town begin to see you as a single woman who might find a man in her life a nice thing?”

  She turned her head away as if to deny his suggestion, then looked up, too honest to duck the question. “I like being with you, Peter, but I don’t know if it’s fair to you to make a habit of it.”

  Not certain he understood her concern, Peter took possession of both her hands. “What’s going on in that curly head of yours, sweetheart? You’re not still concerned about gossip getting back to Marigold, are you?”

  A slight smile pulled at the dimple in the corner of her mouth. “Oh, it’s gone back to her with embellishment by now,” she answered. “It’s just that...Peter...I don’t know if it’s right, or fair, for me to...to encourage you...” She tried to pull away, but Peter stilled her hands by putting his over them.

  “You don’t have feelings for me? Is that it?”

  Nina shook her head like a confused child. “I just don’t know, Peter. How can I trust myself to know what I feel? I loved Danny with all my heart. I truly did. But the Danny I loved didn’t exist. My judgment was so flawed, my understanding of his character was all wrong. I can’t gauge what I feel right now. Maybe I’ve just been alone for so long I’m leaping at the first person who makes me feel alive again. Or my emotions are too shallow to be real. Maybe I’m like Sinbad and just take up with anybody who shows me a little affection.” Her darkened eyes were clouded by doubts. “I don’t know where I am in all this, Peter. And the fact remains that until I get some legal advice or we know what happened to Danny, I am mired in contradiction. It’s not fair to you if I can’t tell you what’s real in my life and what’s not.”

  Touched by her concern but exasperated as well, Peter leaned forward to leave a casual kiss on her lips. “Nina, I’m a big boy. If you can live with this mess, I can. I do believe you love me, my girl. I think you’re afraid to let it happen, to trust your heart, but you’ll get there. The clouds will clear, the doubts will fade, and one day you’ll look at me and know that what we have is real. Meanwhile, I want to be here to help you get through this. And I want to know, as much as you do, what happened to Danny. You need to know so you can leave the past in the past. I want to see you free of it so we can look to the future. If you decide your future doesn’t include me, it’s going to hurt, but I’d rather try, and be disappointed, than to live with not having made the attempt.” He brushed back the short tumbled curls that fell across her forehead. “Now, what are we doing next? Another dinner and a movie? Take a canoe out on the river? You name it.”

  “You’re serious, Peter? You want people here in Santa Rita to think of us as...as a couple? Even if everybody still thinks of me as a married woman?”

  Peter stood and pulled her up beside him. “They need to think of you as Nina, the pretty schoolteacher, the girl who drives in car rallies, the tomboy on the pitcher’s mound. They need to see the person, not the label, Nina. And I think they need to start seeing you out with a man, a man who frankly finds you adorable. So yes, I want to go out with you, be seen with you, and be regarded as seriously interested. So what are we doing next?”

  Nina sighed. “You’ll be sorry you asked. I have to go to Paula King’s wedding this weekend. It’s just a small, informal ceremony at the house of some friends, but I’ll have to go. Otherwise it will look as if we’ve had some kind of falling out. It won’t be as easy as it would have been if
I’d never learned about her and Danny, but still I need to show up.” She gave him an anxious glance, her eyelashes lowered and masking her feelings. “I know men generally hate to go to weddings.”

  Peter pulled her into his arms, tucking her head under his chin, pleased with the way she seemed to fit there. “Men generally hate anything that requires dressing up and standing around making polite chit-chat to strangers, but I’ll bite the bullet and go. It’s a good time to make a public appearance. So I’d be pleased to escort you to the wedding, Miss Kirkland. Day and time?”

  Her answer, muffled by his shoulder, sounded as if she were pleased he was going. “Saturday afternoon. The wedding is at three, but you might pick me up around two. The county judge is performing the ceremony, so it’s just a small civil service, with cake and punch to follow. No need to get really dressed up.”

  “Still a jacket-and-tie affair,” he answered, dreading the encumbrances in the July heat. “Martyr to fashion, and all that.”

  “Not as bad as we’ll get next week at the rally. Do you have a costume yet?”

  Peter bit back an exclamation. The costume for the rally had slipped his mind. He’d meant to see about borrowing something from the costume collection at the college drama department. “No, but I won’t let you down, sweetheart. I’ll be in full regalia for the rally. I suppose you have yours?”

  “Not yet, but it will be finished in time,” she assured him. “I got our local seamstress to put something together for me, and I asked her to make it as light and cool as possible.”

  “Rally is coming up quick now. Just over a week. Are you sure we’re ready? Do we need more practice runs?”

  Nina took a step back from him. “You just like running around the country having picnics.” Her brown eyes gleamed with amusement. “We’re fine, as ready as we can be. I’ve been driving the Princess, putting her through her paces, and though she’s a little hard to handle, I think I’ve got the knack. Today was the last tryout. Uncle Eldon is as excited as a kid at Christmas. Even if we don’t win he’s going to be crowing over getting the Princess into the show. Winning the rally would be cream on the cake for him.”

  “We’ll do our best, Nina. I’d like the pleasure of giving him that trophy.”

  “So would I.”

  “It’s getting late, sweetheart. I’d better go.” Peter drew her back to him for a gentle goodnight kiss, keeping a tight rein on his inclinations. “I’ll see you Saturday. Or sooner?”

  “Saturday,” she answered, her tone firm, but Peter caught a hint of wistfulness in it and smiled.

  ****

  Nina dressed carefully for Paula’s wedding, choosing a silky yellow afternoon dress with dainty tucks across the fitted bodice and a billowy skirt over a fluff of petticoats. With an open crowned straw hat and T-strap pumps, she felt dressed up yet cool enough for the warm afternoon. Peter arrived on the dot of two, so they had sufficient time to make the drive out of town to the rambling ranch house where the quiet ceremony would take place.

  “Quite a spread,” Peter noted, looking at the rolling green acres around the native-rock house.

  “The place has been in the same family since the days when Texas was a Mexican colony,” Nina explained. “It’s not as big as it was back then, but it’s still a good-sized place.” She saw knots of people strolling through the side gate toward the back of the house. “Must be getting ready for the bride and groom to enter. I see the county judge is already here. That’s his red Corvette over there. We’d better find our place.” Nina urged Peter along the path and through the arched gate. Inside, a small waterfall cascaded into an ornamental pond. Flowers surrounded the pool, and white folding chairs encircled the flowers. A narrow path had been left through the seating area. To one side, a trio of musicians played soft background music.

  “Certainly is a pretty setting,” Nina commented as she and Peter settled into chairs beside a basket of white daisies. “Oh, look, we’re just in time. That’s the judge coming now.”

  Moments later, the musicians began the traditional wedding march, and Paula, looking as elegant as ever, came down the aisle. White lace over blue taffeta accented her lush blonde beauty. Nina caught the brightened smile that lit Paula’s face as their eyes met and was glad again that she’d made the effort to come to the wedding. Though a good bit older than the bride, the groom was a handsome man with a distinguished air. The service was brief, and the newlyweds lingered only long enough to cut the elaborate cake and greet their guests before departing for an undisclosed destination. As a final gesture of friendship, Paula dropped her bouquet of stephanotis and white roses into Nina’s hands as the bride and groom rushed through the gate on their way to a new life.

  “She really appreciated your being here,” Peter observed. “And that may hold the record for quick weddings.”

  “I’m glad we came, too.” Nina waved as the wedding car pulled away. “Paula really hates fuss and formality,” she added. “They would have eloped, I think, if Paula had had her way, but his family would have been upset. So this was a compromise.”

  The visitors began to drift away in small clusters. Nina lingered to speak to some of the other guests but was willing to leave when Peter suggested it. She saw the county judge go and decided they could depart in good conscience. Just as she was saying goodbye to the hostess, she saw the judge return, accompanied by Sheriff Hayes.

  “Why on earth is the sheriff here?” she asked Peter.

  “No idea, sweetheart, but if we move up closer we might find out. Hope nothing’s happened to the bride and groom.”

  “Oh, surely not!”

  They inched forward with the other guests approaching the sheriff and the small group around him. The murmurs were too low to hear. Nina had almost decided to lead Peter out the side gate when she heard the sheriff’s irascible tones rise about the soft chatter.

  “Take some kind of fool, or a damn cocky thief, to steal the county judge’s car right out in broad open daylight. But I’ll tell you, he made a big mistake this time. I’ve been pretty soft on this thieving coyote so far, but this is too much. This time he’s done gone and interfered with my family. My nephew is a mite put out that somebody took his Corvette. When you get the county judge and the sheriff after you, you might as well roll over, give up, and say ‘uncle,’ ’cause we’re not gonna stop till we find that miserable horse thief and lock him up good and proper. That’s for sure and certain, folks, for sure and certain.”

  Chapter 16

  “So the county judge left the wedding and discovered his car was gone?” Ron’s wide-eyed surprise repeated the reaction of the guests at the wedding.

  Nina nodded. “He’s handling it better than the sheriff did. Al Hayes took it as a personal affront, like a slap at his office or something.”

  Pushing a box of grease-blackened parts aside on the desk, Ron leaned against the edge of the polished wood. Nina had come to the museum to tell her uncle about the events of Saturday afternoon but found the office empty. She decided to wait, feeling sure that Eldon Lassiter hadn’t gone far in his wheelchair, and soon Ron Reeves came in looking for her uncle, as well.

  “Sheriff Hayes has a point. Taking his nephew’s car is pretty ornery, almost like a challenge. He’ll pull out all the stops to find that Corvette.” He pushed a billed cap to the back of his head, leaving his light brown hair in damp waves on his forehead. The faint grin faded from his face as he gave Nina a steady, inquiring look. “I know you’d hoped to get word about Danny by now. How are you doing, Nina? Any news?”

  Though she appreciated Ron’s concern, she felt reluctant to go over the story again. She’d known Ron since her childhood, when he was in his mid-teens and first came to work part time in the paint shop behind the museum, but they’d never been really close friends. Still their long association accorded him the right to ask.

  “We haven’t learned much more,” she admitted. She gave him a brief summary of the trip to Dallas and the conclusions she’d dra
wn from the lack of activity in Danny’s financial affairs.

  “You really believe Danny’s dead?” Ron hunched forward, his face drawn tight. Nina saw he was shocked by the suggestion.

  Weary with the dismay that flooded her every time she had to say it, Nina dug her fingers into the leather arm of her chair. “I’m afraid so.” Unable to sit through another bout of sympathy laced with curiosity, she stood up and paced the length of the office. “I can’t see any other answer. I could believe that Danny might leave me. I can even accept the idea that he sold the T-Bird as part of his plan to disappear. But I can’t see him taking any kind of job and walking away from his inheritance. He wasn’t trained to work, and the only practical experience he had was driving a car and finding a way to make it go faster. With his health problems, he’d never get work doing either of those things. He was a rich man with a rich man’s habits and tastes. He’d need his money.”