I made sure Sean was ready for bed. School started in the morning. I remembered when classes never began before Labor Day, at least not in Texas. Those days were long gone.
* * *
All the way to school the next day Sean chattered like a flock of sparrows. He appeared to be more excited than nervous, but his monologue faltered for just a minute when we backed out of the driveway, facing the lettering on the shed and house, but started right up again. The school was within walking distance but the first day called for a ride. Then he was out of the car and into the crowd before I could say, “Call me if your asthma gives you any trouble.”
Just as well. I drove home, determined to avoid my worry mode.
Mumsie was leaving in her red PT Cruiser. “The fence guys will be over about one o’clock. Can you hang around, make Cass pick up Sean? Which reminds me, didn’t Cass have to work today? She’s still asleep. Later, ’gator, don’t wait supper for me.”
She drove off and I stood in the driveway thinking how everything was wrong. Even the cops wouldn’t take us seriously.
I went into the shed and rummaged through the paint cans I’d seen when we looked for the air conditioner. A can of white. Yay. I changed into shorts and an old shirt and began painting over red letters. I covered the left side and started on the right, still had the house to do. I’d have to call company about the truck.
“Shit” The roar of the motorcycle scared me, and I dropped my brush, whirled around. Who was after us now? “Frank, what the hell are you doing and what kind of get-up is that for an August morning? Aren’t you dying of the heat?”
“Yeah, I am.” Frank peeled off the leather jacket. “But it looks so cool.”
“Well, the sweat rolling off your forehead kind of spoils the image. Why are you riding that killing machine?”
“This is the finest Hawg they make. I just got it. I’ve always wanted one and Mag never wanted me to have one. Betty Ann either.”
“Frank. You just lost a wife and mistress. You think it looks a bit callous to be out spending major money on toys right now?”
“You worry too much about what other people think, always have. I’m just having fun.”
He got off the Harley, threw his jacket across the seat and stomped across the gravel. He stood beside me to stare at what was left of the graffiti.
Frank pointed at the house and truck. “Any idea who would do something so white trash?”
“Nope. You?”
“I haven’t even heard any rumors, strange when you consider this town. There’s always someone more than willing to help you figure out who did what to whom.”
I went into the shed, picked up two brushes and came out holding one out to Frank. “As long as you’re here you can help.”
“Get paint on my new boots? Not likely. But while I’m here, how about being a little more friendly. We have history you know.” Frank put an arm around my waist and tried to pull me close.
I pushed back, feeling like an idiot, having to wrestle with the drunk in my front yard. “Frank, are you nuts? You have two dead women in your life and you’re trying to come after me? Give it up.”
I shoved him, hard but he still didn’t budge.
“Who better? We know each other. There wouldn’t be any jealousy. We would understand each other.” He tried to kiss me again and I smelled alcohol.
I tried reason. “Frank, did you lose your job? What’s up with the drinking this time of day? If you don’t let go of me, I’ll call JT.” I kicked him hard on the shin just above the leather boot. He yelped and let go.
“Okay, okay. Jeez, Tali. I thought you liked me.”
“Not for a decade or two. Don’t ever do that again. Listen, I’ll call someone to take you home. You can come get your cycle later.” The keys dangled from the bike. I lunged for them.
Frank lunged faster. “No way, kid. I drive myself.”
Damn, he was fast for a big, drunk man. “Come on Frank. It’s not safe.”
“You didn’t used to be a tease.”
“I used to be young and stupid, too. You, on the other hand, seem to be regressing.”
Frank ignored me. He put on his jacket, swung his leg over the bike. “You’ll regret being so bitchy.” He gunned the cycle, spraying gravel as he peeled away and sped down the road.
He was going to kill himself if he kept drinking. He’d sounded so pissed off, maybe he’d had something to do with the murders after all. He sounded like he was ready to murder me. Drinking did bad things to people.
Chapter Eighteen
I called to see if Frank made it home in one piece but no one answered. I didn’t leave a message in case he would take that as permission to come back. If anything too terrible happened to him, the entire town would know.
Uneasy visions of a drunk Frank deciding to visit in the middle of the night ran rampant through my mind. Time to change the locks.
My plan didn’t meet with Mumsie’s approval. “Tali, if we change the locks I have to get more keys. Do you know how much I hate to keep track of them?”
“May not be a big problem since you never lock the house.”
“But you’ll need to get in.”
“Right. I’ll hang on to mine. I have a locksmith on the way. It won’t take long and we’ll all feel a little safer, even if changing things out won’t really keep us secure.
“Tell me when it’s over. I’ll be in my room.”
“Its not surgery, just an upgrade”
Mumsie went to her room, I cleaned the kitchen and watched for Pop-a-Lock to come. Birds in the back yard distracted me. Red winged black birds covered the deck. Chaos made a chittering noise at them before she tried to break through the glass door and join them.
That’s how I feel, I thought, like I’m trying to break through glass to get to a life. I can almost see where I want to go, but can’t reach it. Instead I see dead people. Love, Texas, why did I come back? Nowhere else to go.
Chaos flipped the tip of her tail back and forth and then leaped three feet in the air to catch a bird as it flew up. A knock on the kitchen window and I beat Chaos’s jump. I ran to the living room and answered the front door.
It was the young man from the club and the lake. “Hi. Can I help you?”
I looked past him and saw the Pop-a-lock Truck. Oh, right. He’s a locksmith when he’s not a life guard or bouncer, jack of all…
“You rang? New locks? I’m Keith Atkins.” He stuck out his hand.
I shook it, but couldn’t quite read him. His dark hair shined, even pulled back in a pony tail. The black tee shirt allowed his muscles to show themselves off, as did the tight jeans.
“I’m Tali. Come in and I’ll show you. I’d like a dead bolt for the front door and some kind of bar lock for the back sliding glass door.”
He examined the doors, brought in supplies from the truck, and went to work. I concentrated on not watching his ... muscles. He was pretty, even though something about him made me uneasy. Must be the fact that I’m single and there’s a guy in the house. Can’t be that, JT was in the house. I know what it is, I’m horny. I didn’t recognize it.
“Ma’am? Ma’am? Is there anything else?”
Oh, God. I’d been so busy undressing the man in my head that I lost track of what he was doing and how hard I was staring. Dang. He called me ma’am. Boy, was I toast.
I felt myself flush. “Um. No, that should do it.” Now he thinks I’m senile or psychotic. I brushed the hair out of my eyes, just avoiding the teen-age hair flip that wouldn’t work for me. “Would you like some iced tea while I go get the check for you?”
“Sure. Take your time.”
In the bedroom I grabbed my checkbook from my purse, checked my make-up. Grow up, Tali. You’re not sixteen.
“Here you go.” I handed him the check. “I’ve seen you around town a few times. Have you been in Love very long?” Dang, that came out all wrong.
He grinned. “Nope, not long. Used to have family here but th
ey’re gone now. How about you? Been here all your life?”
“Some of my life here, some in Dallas, divorce and all the crap that goes with it.”
“Well, hey. That’s good news. I mean the divorced part, not the crap. I’m tied up today but do you want to go for coffee or something tomorrow? Single people should stick together, pun intended.” He looked me up and down, a half-grin teasing his dimples.
He just asked me out. He’s too young for me. I can’t go out with an almost teenager, well, twenty-, maybe thirty-something. Besides, I just flirted with JT, kind of.
A devilish spark danced in his eyes. I swear he could read my mind.
“I’d love to. How about three tomorrow afternoon?”
The radio in his truck sputtered static.
“Gotta go. I’ll be here around three tomorrow. Don’t stand me up, you hear?”
He was gone before I could take a deep breath. Now what have I done?
* * *
Back in the kitchen, I already felt safer with locks that worked on both the front and back door, in spite of Mumsie’s conviction that no one should have to lock their doors in Love. My worry now was the fact that I’d opened myself to something that might be better locked. What would I do with some kid? It would be stupid to go out with someone young as Keith looked. He might be half my age. I finished loading the dish washer, wiped down the cabinets.
Wheels on gravel made me jump, inside and out. Frank was back. I ran out to find Reneé. Her red hair was up in all directions and her skin so pale it was translucent.
I gave her a hug. “I didn’t know you were coming over. Why didn’t you call?”
Reneé looked down. “I was afraid you wouldn’t let me come. You sounded so pissed at me when I called you.”
“Honey, I’m sorry. Too many things happened that day, and ever since I came back. I acted like a real bitch.”
She tilted her head and grinned. “Yes, you did. I’m glad you’re over it. I need to show you something but maybe we need to go inside. Got coffee?”
I led her inside. “How about if you help me with some centerpieces?” I poured coffee and we began gluing pictures of past queens on the outside of square glass vases with white glue.
“Now what did you want to show me?” I trimmed the bottom of a picture and squared it on one side of a vase.
“Have you read the paper yet?”
“Mumsie doesn’t believe in the newspaper. She doesn’t get it delivered and I haven’t been energetic enough to get one.”
Reneé held out a piece of newsprint. “You’d better look at this before Mumsie sees it and tears this guy a new one.”
“What is it?”
“Newspaper.”
“What’s in it?” I had the feeling this wasn’t good news and it had nothing to do with any powers. No news had been positive in a long time.
She shook the clipping at me. “Tali, read it already. You’re so exasperating.”
Me? I didn’t run off to Dallas and scare everyone. I took the clipping and read.
Letter to the Editor
The Holy Truth
By Reverend Billy Joe Hollister,Second Adventist Pentecostal Church
Our town is in trouble. We have a family of witches in our midst. They threaten our children. They go against our teaching. One of them tells fortunes and even has a sign out in front of the house. We can’t allow this blight to remain on our community. I’m calling on every believer out there to stand with me against the EVIL creeping into our small Texas town. Make sure the witches know just how you feel. Come to the special service Wednesday and listen to my sermon “Cast out the Demons.”
Dizziness raged though my brain. Reneé’s mouth moved. The roar in my ears drowned out the words. What did I do to this preacher? Why did the editor run such a shitty story?
Hell. I knew why. It was Laurel. I just didn’t know she hated me quite this much. How could she be so irresponsible? Did she have no clue what kind of damage this kind of crap could do to Sean? Question after question chased themselves in circles. I felt as if I’d been asking them for centuries but only a few seconds passed.
“Tali. Tali. Answer me. I know this is mean but I didn’t know this would upset you this much, or I wouldn’t have shown you.”
I told her everything I was thinking, loud and long.
The phone rang in middle of my rant. It was Laurel, demanding my presence at an emergency fair board meeting that night.
“Laurel, unlike you, I have children and commitments. I can’t simply run off at the last minute with no notice.”
“I guess it depends how you feel about the job,” Laurel said.
“What job? What are you talking about? I don’t work for you.”
“The Calf-roping Ball, remember? The board needs a report on exactly where you stand with your preparations so they can assess what needs to happen next if another planner is chosen at the last minute.”
My temper threatened to overtake my common sense. I bit down on the words I wanted to say. “You’re telling me, after I’ve done this much work, you are considering changing at this late date? Are you out of your mind? Is it because of the slander you ran in the newspaper?”
Laurel sounded almost happy when she said “I’ll talk about this in person when I see you this evening. Just bring the report with you. Since you are so good with computers, I know you’re able to present a simple list of what’s done.”
She hung up before I said what I thought. It wasn’t kind, or polite. I thought about all the ways I might save this, ingratiate myself.
Wait one minute. I’m not taking this abuse. It was true I needed the job, but I can wait tables, flip burgers if I have to. I will not roll over and play dead for Laurel, the fair board, this town, or even whoever was murdering people left and right. I refuse to live in fear for my life or livelihood any more.
I’d begin with Laurel. She didn’t have any idea who she was dealing with. She wanted a report, boy would she get one, and then some.
Reneé busied herself gluing center pieces until I sat down.
“What’s up? Doesn’t sound good. Who was that?”
“Laurel.”
“Oh, the witch at the paper, the one JT has been paying attention to. She’s a piece of work.”
“That’s the one. She seems to think she’s the queen of Love, Texas. I’m about to boot that ruler out of the royal family.”
“You go, girl. You know Cher and I are behind you all the way. Am I still catering with you for the ball?”
“You are if I get to keep the job.” I told her about Laurel’s insinuations.
“Witch, bitch, she’s toast. We can’t let her live.”
I grinned. ”What did you have in mind?”
“Oh I don’t know. Throw her into LoveLake with an anvil tied to her ankles, better yet, a few bundles of that thing she calls a paper.”
“We’d pollute the lake. What if we fed her through her own printing press, mashed her flat?”
Reneé shook her head. ”They use computers, you couldn’t press her flat. We could kidnap her for ransom, bury her, and forget to dig her up.”
“Too hard, takes too long. I don’t have that much energy. I think I’ll just send my visiting spirit after her and scare her to death.”
She looked puzzled until I explained about Mag, my gift, Betty Ann, and everything that happened. I left out Frank’s latest behavior, on the theory that Reneé didn’t deserve that bit of news.
“My God, Tali, and I thought my life was bizarre. You win. So, have you figured out who the murderer might be, or even who decided to target you?”
“No, not yet. But if I’m going to survive in this town, and I have to, I will figure out what’s going on. I’m certainly not going to continue to be Laurel’s whipping boy no matter what else happens.”
* * *
At city hall that night, no Mag showed up. I walked into the fair board meeting early, in kick-ass spike heels and my red power suit. I threw my
report on the table.
“Here it is, a budget for the ball, what I’ve spent already, and what’s left to do. Unless you tell me this job is a done deal, I stop now. Nothing else will get done until I have a written contract. I will not be blackmailed with the threat of having this job taken away on a whim by any member of the board who has a bee up their bonnet. You are all here, make a decision now. Or, start looking for someone willing to do this with no notice.”
I turned on my heel and left, followed closely by the mayor, protesting, apologizing and promising once again.
“Get it to me in writing,” I said, now slowing down.
They did.
Chapter Nineteen
At three o’clock the next day I sat across from Keith at a table in the Perked Cup. “So, how did you choose Love, Texas to live in? Most of the people around here are born in, raised in, or married into this town. A lot of young people move out, not in.”
Keith grinned. “I was raised in a small town, like the feel, friendly people, not lots of crime.” He reached out to touch my hair. “I like the pretty country girls.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Not too country here, lived in the city then got married, lived in a small town again, hated it.”
Keith’s eyes twinkled at me. “You sound like you haven’t had enough fun lately. We’ll have to see what can be done about that.”
The waitress came and took our orders, espresso for him, a latte for me. We talked, and talked, laughed, drank coffee.
We walked down main street, window-shopped, sat on the grass in Rayburn park with our shoes off. He asked me out to dinner.
I went home to change. Mumsie fed Sean and sent him off with Rusty to bike ride. Still worried every time he went off with that boy. I changed into something I hadn’t worn in a long time, a sun dress, showing skin, showing my waist and legs. I felt sixteen, giddy, silly.
I walked into the green room where Keith waited. He stood up with this lovely stunned look on his face. “Wow, Tali. You clean up nice, not that you weren’t before, but man.”
“All right, you passed the test. You can hang around.”
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