Madeleine patted Lucy’s forearm and said, “This is one of the best, if not the best, licensed massage therapist in this area. I tried my best to keep her at my spa but she truly wanted to be self-employed. I really couldn’t blame her. You know how a salon full of women together can be,” she added, giving Tabitha a significant glance that made her huff and cross her arms indignantly. “They gossip and make each other miserable. I miss her terribly.”
Claire nodded and smiled at Lucy, “Well, if I do wind up in the area, perhaps I’ll pay you a visit here, Lucy. It’s a pleasure to meet you.” Claire glanced at Tabitha looking as though she’d been rooked into something she hadn’t wanted at all. “She told me this space and the space next door would be perfect for my offices. I can see though, that they’re already perfect.” She looked closely at Lucy’s eyes and asked, “Are you related to the man next door? I caught a glimpse of him through the storefront window.”
Lucy grinned as Tabitha rolled her eyes. “Yes. He’s my brother, Seth Carter.”
Madeleine nudged Claire gently with her elbow, a grin on her face. “World famous tattoo artist, Claire. Immaculate shop. Wonderful work. Adorable wife and son.”
“Oh. Well, you know, I was thinking about having the color redone on my roses,” Claire said in a whisper. “Too bad he’s married. He’s hot!”
Tabitha gasped and Lucy covered a giggle as she walked to the door and held it open and gestured with a wide sweep of her hand for Tabitha to exit.
“I’m not done here yet,” Tabitha said testily.
Claire smiled. “Tabitha, it was delightful to chat with you while we sat next to each other at the hair dryers this morning, but I don’t think I’m interested in continuing the discussion. Have a lovely evening.”
Tabitha’s jaw dropped at being dismissed but she obviously realized when she’d been outclassed and made a hasty exit. At the door, she growled, “You haven’t seen the last of me, you hussy. You and your friends will get the message eventually.”
Lucy held up a hand to Tabitha to stop her from saying anything else, not that it would do any good. “Look. I know what you’re doing, Tabitha. You’ve tried it with others. It hasn’t worked. You’re supposed to be a Christian lady. When will you learn to live peaceably in Divine and stop judging?”
Why am I even bothering to ask? She just doesn’t understand and never will.
“I will never give up until all you sinners either acknowledge your sin or get out of town.”
“Do you know what? I was told by a good friend that ménages were among the first settlers in this community. You’re going to have a hard time digging up roots that deep.”
“Doesn’t matter, you hussy. I’ll never give up. What you’re doing is unholy and unfair.”
“Unfair? Being treated like a whore is somehow preferential treatment? I don’t know what it is you think I do here, Tabitha, but my business is completely above board, just like my brother’s.”
“Don’t even get me started on that tattooed heathen brother of yours. It’s unfair of you to be depleting the number of available males in this community by taking two for yourself.”
Males? Someone’s been reading too many paranormal romances.
“Because…one of them was actually ‘intended’ for you?”
Tabitha made a grand sweep with both hands, sending a plume of cat hair into the air from her cardigan. “Exactly!”
Lucy caught the fluff of hair as it floated in the air and looked at it. “Well, I know it’s not my men. This is Persian. They’re partial to my pussy.”
She closed the door in Tabitha’s face, locked it without flipping her the bird like she wanted to, and turned back to Madeleine and Claire.
Madeleine broke into laughter and said, “Claire, I honestly had no idea it was you Tabitha was talking to. I overheard the time she planned to meet you here and decided to intervene. I just couldn’t let it go.”
Claire laughed good-naturedly. “When it sounded too good to be true, I should’ve known better. She said it was a prime location, which it is by the way, but that it was coming available very soon.”
Lucy smiled and shook her head. “Not if I have anything to say about it.”
She couldn’t understand Tabitha’s way of thinking and was too tired to try.
Claire bid them good evening and Lucy let her out, leaving Madeleine standing there smiling at her.
Lucy slumped a little and Madeleine patted her shoulder. “You handled that as well as anyone could’ve, Lucy. She’s been spreading her gossip all over town. I think most people think she’s just a crank but I…have a feeling she’s…oh, honey.”
Lucy sniffled and Madeleine gave her a hug. “I’m not a bad person. She makes me out to be a big evil pervert or something. Maybe I’m paranoid but I think she’s behind some of the cancellations I’ve had.”
Madeleine said, “If you treat your customers right, you’ll be able to make up the business. I wouldn’t want anyone she could influence as a customer anyway. Ignorant hag. You know what? I think she protests too much. She’s probably hiding the biggest secret of any of us. And, honey, trust me, you’re not evil. I really do miss you. All that talk wasn’t just for show.”
Lucy smiled at her former boss and noticed when Madeleine scrunched up her shoulder and then reached up to rub it. “How long has it been since you’ve had a massage?”
Madeleine squinted at her and grinned. “I planned to ask you the same question. How would you like to work out a trade so that we don’t both wind up bent old ladies?”
“Now that I can do!”
Lucy’s mood was much improved when she left that evening after trading appointment times with Madeleine. She looked forward to her massage with relish, feeling blessed that she could do the same for her friend.
She swung by the print shop in the next block to pick up the labels for Beck’s Bees Pure Wildflower Honey and Bee’s Knees Body Products. Beck had been working long hours getting all the body products mixed and the containers, tubes, bottles, and tins filled so they could label and price everything that night.
“I’m here!” she called out as she dropped her purse and keys on the table by his chair. The house was filled with the sweet scent of orange blossoms. There was no sound for a moment, and then she noticed a whirring sound. She turned, trying to pinpoint its location. Her purse had landed on his answering machine and it was rewinding.
“This is Beck…and Chloe!” Lucy heart slammed in her chest as she heard the dual greeting from Beck and his former girlfriend who kept chiming in with him. “We can’t come to the phone right now. Leave a message and one, or both of us, will get back to you.”
She bit her nail, a habit she despised, while listening to how happy he sounded. How happy Chloe sounded.
The machine played the last message left. “Hey, Beck. It’s…it’s Chloe. I have some news…I wanted to tell you.” There was a pause. “I’ll call you on your cell. Bye for now.” The tone of that message was so hesitant, pained almost. It dawned on Lucy why that might be, realizing that Chloe had called and probably heard the same message she’d just listened to. Heard for herself that he hadn’t been letting go.
A noise behind her caught her attention and she turned to find Beck standing in the back door with a box of containers. He looked torn and she went to him.
“I’m sorry, baby. My purse landed on the answering machine. I should’ve stopped it when it first started playing.” She was worried he might be angry at her but she couldn’t see a trace of it in his eyes.
He set the box on the tile counter in the kitchen and sighed. “It’s all right. It’s way past time to change that message.”
Lucy smiled as he came to her and she looked up at him. “That’s an old-school answering machine you got there, sexy.”
Beck smiled, “I know, but it’s easier for me. Why don’t you record a professional sounding message for me in that sexy, honey-sweet voice of yours?”
“Why, Mr. O’Malley
, I’d be delighted.”
Cooter came snarfling into the room and grunted at her as he sat down beside her, waiting for his pats. Beck sat in his chair and pulled her into his lap, pulled the machine over and went through the process of erasing the outgoing message and setting it up to record again.
When it was time, she recorded his message.
“Hi, you’ve reached Beck’s Bees Wildflower Honey and Bee’s Knees Body Products. Beck isn’t available to take your call at the moment but if you’ll…”
She wouldn’t have expected him to let her record the outgoing message but she didn’t mind doing it for him. She planned to be with him for the long haul, or at least until that old machine finally croaked. She was willing to bet she’d outlast it.
Chapter Fourteen
The next morning, they’d just finished putting up the cabana shade over the tables set up for Beck’s booth at the trade and craft fair. Patrick burst into laughter when Lucy and Beck told him about Tabitha Lester’s parting words the day before.
“I can’t believe you said that.”
Lucy spread the decorative red and white checked cloths over the three long tables and smiled at Beck when he helped her. He hadn’t understood why all the colorful touches were needed but he’d gone along without complaint.
“I told her that. I did. Couldn’t believe it. It was just hanging there on a breeze and needed to be said. And her poor pussy evidently is in serious need of brushing, too.”
They all turned at a coughing, splurting noise from the booth next door and Lucy laughed when she saw Seth struggling to breathe. He’d evidently been taking a long swallow of his fountain drink when she’d said that.
She went to him and patted him on the back and he coughed and laughed and made a mock bow to her. “I bow to the master, Lucy. I bow to the master.”
“She learned from the best, Seth,” his wife Jayne said with a chuckle as she cuddled their toddler son, Toby.
After realizing he’d forgotten to bring his business cards with him, Seth excused himself to walk across the street to his studio. Lucy tickled Toby under his arm and then played peekaboo with him, grinning when he covered his face with Jayne’s long auburn hair and peeked at her through the strands. Lucy watched as he yawned and then turned in Jayne’s arms to rest his head on her shoulder. Lucy patted his bottom. “He looks tired.”
PJ ran to Lucy and wrapped his arms around her legs wanting her attention, as Jayne said, “Yeah. He didn’t sleep much last night. He still has nightmares sometimes.”
Lucy was so glad that Toby had Jayne to love on him. His biological mother had proved she wasn’t the loving kind when she’d abandoned him to Seth but Jayne had devoted herself to making a place for Toby in her home and her heart.
PJ grasped Lucy’s hand and got her attention, then pointed at Toby. “He has nightmares, too?”
Feeling compassion for him, Lucy squatted down and nodded as she straightened his shirt collar. “Yeah. He and his mommy had a scary time last year.” She felt it served no purpose to hide the truth. It was obvious PJ felt empathy for Toby.
“Just like me, when I was a baby?”
“Yeah, sort of.”
“Was he all alone, too?”
“No, honey. Jayne was with him and kept him safe like Summer kept you safe. You remember?”
A frown wrinkled his brow for a second as he shook his head negatively and then hugged her.
It disturbed Lucy that Patrick’s personal recollection of that day in Stigall’s with the madman who’d come in with a loaded gun was as a solitary experience. Summer Webster had been the one to keep him from harm even though his own mother had been there.
“Shameful.” The voice made Lucy’s hackles rise. She wasn’t ready to deal with Tabitha Lester again so soon. With kids around wasn’t the time for another confrontation with her. Jayne looked beyond Lucy, and Lucy had to grin at the subtle transformation in Jayne.
“Can I help you?”
Normally the mild-mannered librarian was softness and light, affectionate to those she loved and friendly to everyone, but the hardness in her tone was unmistakable.
Lucy stood and turned as Tabitha dismissed Jayne with her condescending tone. “I don’t think so, dear. I think you have your hands full with that poor, abandoned child. And I would never, ever want to put a permanent mark on my body. I’m keeping my temple holy.”
Jayne burst into laughter as she cradled Toby against her shoulder and said, “Well, heavens-to-Betsy. We wouldn’t want to desecrate your holy temple, now would we? You’re the one who spoke first.”
“I did. I think it’s shameful that the Trade and Craft Day committee made room for a tattoo booth, since you have no crafts to sell, but then again, they also let all these other perverts bring their wares so why not? They top it off by exposing innocent children to their perfidy.”
Tabitha gestured to Beck’s booth next door, where he and Patrick stood talking, drawing Patrick’s attention. “It’s one thing to do the despicable things that they do behind closed doors, but they ruin the lives of all these innocent children.” She pointed down the row of booths at Teresa Martinez, who walked between her men, Angel and Joaquin.
Their children, Michael and Eleazar ran to and fro, looking at the goods offered on the tables. Teresa appeared serene, her hand stroking her bulging abdomen as she spoke with Angel. Joaquin stopped to inspect a knitted scarf she’d stroked her hand across just seconds before, while removing his wallet from his jeans pocket, obviously planning to indulge her. Lucy was angered when Teresa’s gaze was drawn to Tabitha’s gradually rising voice and the placid expression left her face and was replaced by distrust. She called to her children.
Lucy was about to speak but Jayne put her hand on her shoulder to stop her as she stood by her. “First, Tabitha, someone needs to buy you a dictionary. Perfidy does not mean what you think it means. It’s betrayal. Duplicity. Deceit. No one has been deceived here. Sort of like telling a real estate agent that a property is available when it’s actually not. Your temple may be ‘holy,’” she said, adding air quotes, “but you foul the air around you anytime you climb onto your soapbox. I find you offensive.”
“Well I find you offensive, slut,” Tabitha growled at Jayne. Several craft fair patrons browsing nearby gasped and stared at Tabitha.
Jayne shook her head at Tabitha in disgust and then looked at Lucy. “I don’t know why I bothered saying anything. There’s no reasoning with a fanatic. She’s lucky Seth isn’t here.”
Noting that she’d drawn the attention of others, Tabitha smiled. “Shoppers! Good people! You should be aware of who you’re giving business to here!”
Heat like a blow torch filled Lucy and she saw red. Angel and Joaquin gathered Teresa and the boys and directed them away from the gathering crowd.
Tabitha called out, evidently warming to her subject. “Many of these businesses are owned by people who are involved in unlawful activities, perversions, and perfidies of various natures!” Tabitha turned a glare on Jayne, obviously enjoying the attention.
From down the row, Summer Webster called out, “How dare you point the finger at us, Tabitha Lester? You and that vigilante squad your best friend led were party to the arson and assault that occurred at my place of business. I hardly think you’re one to point the finger.”
Tabitha pointed a finger at Summer. “You sinner!” To the crowd she yelled. “She lives with two men. Two men! Having sex with both of them and with each other! It’s an abomination!”
Two women laughed and walked on, obviously not interested in her tirade, but one of them called out, “Are they hurting anyone else?”
“Yes! They hurt this community. Weaken it!”
“How so? They’ve drawn us out to shop at this fair.”
“Your money supports them in their perversions.”
Several patrons gasped and walked away. A married couple frowned at her and the husband said, “Lady, what they do behind closed doors is none of our busi
ness. We came here to shop, not to judge others.”
Tabitha pointed at Lucy and yelled, “This one knowingly exposes a young child to her unbridled lust for these two men!” She then pointed at Patrick and Beck. “Good upstanding men of our community who she has drawn astray with her wiles! And she plans to lead many more astray with her massage parlor. We know what really happens behind those closed doors, you hussy!”
Someone in the crowd gasped and said, “Two men?”
Lucy’s fists were balled and she was preparing to launch herself at Tabitha, to wipe the zealous glee from her face, when a pair of strong warm arms wrapped themselves around her, staying her from action. By his scent, she knew it was Beck before he spoke.
“Lady, you’ve spewed a lot of garbage this morning about things that are none of your business. If we choose to live differently, we don’t push it on anyone else. You need to move on and find someone else to victimize.”
“What you need is to get laid!” Lucy yelled, trying without success to pull free from Beck. He shouldn’t have to explain anything to Tabitha or the crowd. Several people in the crowd laughed.
“Shhh, little tiger. You’re egging her on,” Patrick whispered before turning to Tabitha. “No one has led anyone astray, Miss Lester. We’d appreciate it if you moved on or we’ll call the sheriff. You’ve done what you came to do.”
His tone was polite, and Tabitha looked like the wind had deserted her sails as she looked up at him, swallowed, and then walked away. She looked back at Patrick and then faded into the crowd.
Lucy was a little surprised that she moved off as quickly as she did. She turned to Jayne and asked, “Are you okay?”
Jayne nodded and looked relieved when Seth returned to the booth. His anger was palpable as she explained what had happened.
Thinking that the event had surely hit its low point and couldn’t get much worse before it got better, her heart sank as she watched Tabitha flag down Patrick’s father.
“Shit,” Patrick muttered as they both watched her launch into a conversation with his dad. “Well, I guess it was just a matter of time.”
Lucy's Revenge [Divine Creek Ranch 15] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) Page 22