“Of course.” I went into the kitchen and set the bags on the counter, and the kids followed behind. “Hey,” I said enthusiastically, “how about we have a picnic?”
“We just had a picnic yesterday, Aunt Rose,” Ashley said.
“That one was outside. This one will be inside.”
She wrinkled her nose. “An inside picnic?”
“It’ll be fun. Can you get something to drink for you and Mikey? I’ll get a blanket.”
“Okay.”
I grabbed a quilt out of the linen closet, but I had second thoughts when I saw Violet dozing. Her eyes cracked open as I reentered the living room and squatted next to her. “Maybe you’d rather I take the kids outside so you can nap.”
She smiled and reached for my hand. “No. Let’s have our inside picnic. There’ll be enough time for sleepin’ later.”
A knot lodged in my throat, and I didn’t know what to say to that.
“It’s okay, Rose. I know I’m dyin’, and Ashley knows it too. There’s no point hidin’ it.”
I swiped a tear from my cheek. “It’s just takin’ some getting used to.”
“You’ll have a lifetime to get used to it. Let me have what I want.”
I laughed at that. “You’ve been gettin’ what you want for practically your entire life.”
A twinkle filled her eyes. “So why stop now? Spread out the blanket already.”
Ashley and Mikey helped me spread out the quilt, and the three of us sat on the floor while Violet stayed on the sofa. The kids ate their chicken strips and macaroni and cheese, while Violet picked at her pot roast and vegetables. Finally, she handed the takeout container to me, looking like she was about to pass out.
“Vi,” I said, trying to hide my worry. “Why don’t you take a nap?”
“Okay,” she said, “but I want to go out in the backyard to do it.”
I gave her a look of surprise.
“You can lay the quilt under the mimosa tree. Ashley said there was a nice breeze. I thought the kids could play in the little wading pool and the sprinkler.”
“Okay, kids,” I said as I got to my feet. “You heard your momma. Go put your swimsuits on and let’s go outside.”
Twenty minutes later, I helped Violet outside to the blanket I’d spread under the tree. Mikey and Ashley were running through the oscillating sprinkler on the opposite side of the yard, but I noticed Ashley had her eye on us as we headed for the quilt. Violet’s arm was so thin, I worried I’d break it if I held on too tight. She practically collapsed onto the quilt, and I helped situate a pillow under her head.
“Are you comfortable?” I asked. “The ground’s so hard.”
“Stop fussing over me,” she said softly as she turned her head to watch her children. “Now lie down with me.”
“You’re using this dyin’ thing to your full advantage to boss me around,” I teased as I sat beside her. It was silly, but I figured it would make everything the smallest bit better if I could make her laugh or even smile.
“At least it’s good for something.” She turned back to give me an ornery grin. “Now lie down next to me like I asked.”
“Don’t you want me to watch the kids?”
“They’re fine,” she said. “They’re in a fenced yard. They’re not going anywhere.”
I did as she requested, leaving six inches between us, but as soon as I was settled, she reached out and laced her fingers through mine.
“The mimosa flowers are so pretty, don’t you think?” she asked. “Such tiny, tenacious things.” She paused and squeezed my hand. “A lot like you.” She turned to face me. “I’m countin’ on your tenacity, Rose.”
I stared at her in confusion.
“Mike’s gonna give you a hard time after I’m gone. He’s gonna do his best to keep you away from the kids, but I need you to fight for them. I need you to make sure they don’t forget me . . . and that they always know how much you and I love them. Will you do that for me?”
My mouth dropped open. “Violet . . .”
“Rose. Please. I need you to fight him. Will you do it?”
“Yes. Of course. I hated stayin’ away from them while you were in Texas. Of course I’ll fight for them.”
“Thank you,” she said with so much relief it made my heart hurt. “I’m having an attorney draw up a new will, but I’m worried he’ll contest it.” She gave a tiny shake of her head. “He’s worried you’re associating with criminals. I told him that all of that’s behind you, but he won’t listen to reason.”
I swallowed, knowing I needed to come clean, but I couldn’t find the words.
“But there’s more to it,” she said. “There’s something else goin’ on with him, but I don’t have the energy to figure out what it is.”
“Something shady?” I asked in disbelief. Sure, I knew he’d done something foolish when he was young and stupid, but hadn’t he learned his lesson?
“Shady?” she chuckled, then started to cough. Her coughing continued and didn’t stop.
I wrapped an arm around her back and helped her sit up. When she continued to cough, I snatched up the water bottle I’d brought out earlier and handed it to her.
She took a sip and her coughing settled down. I rubbed her back, my gaze settling on Ashley and Mikey. They’d stopped playing and stood watching their mother with fear in their eyes.
“Your momma’s okay,” I said.
Violet nodded. “Aunt Rose is right,” she said in a quiet voice. “Go back to playin’.”
They reluctantly turned back to the sprinkler, but I continued to rub soft circles on her back.
“I don’t have long, Rose,” she finally said, keeping her gaze on the kids, who were now shrieking with laughter. “I’m usin’ everything within me to hang on until the will’s done and signed, but after that . . .”
My hand froze and panic rose up inside me. “No.”
The corners of her mouth tipped up, but she refused to look at me. “Your denial won’t stop it from happenin’.”
“I can’t believe you’re just givin’ up, Vi. Get a second opinion. Let’s go to the Mayo Clinic. I’ll take you.”
She turned to face me, grabbing my hand. “No, Rose. No more doctors. I wasted so much time and put you through unnecessary pain for nothin’.”
“I’ll do it again,” I insisted, my voice breaking. “I’ll give you as much bone marrow as you need.”
She lifted her hand to my cheek and her thumb swiped away a tear. “I know you will, but the chances are so slim, Rose. Ten percent. I lost months with my babies. Why would I give up more time for a measly ten percent?” Her chin quivered. “Them seein’ me like this is bad enough. I won’t put them through anything worse.” Then she lowered back down onto the blanket, tugging me with her.
We lay on our backs, our hands linked again as we stared up at the tree canopy over our heads, and I couldn’t help wondering how much time she had left and what she planned to put in her new will.
* * *
Violet had been napping for nearly an hour under the tree. The kids were ready to go inside, so I kissed Violet on the forehead and took them inside to change. I put Mikey down for his nap, and then Ashley and I grabbed a chapter book and took it into the backyard. We settled in a hammock under the mimosa tree, several feet from Violet.
Ashley snuggled into my side and started to read quietly out loud while I listened in amazement. I couldn’t believe how well she read for a six-year-old, and somehow I’d missed it—all because Mike had kept the kids from me.
She stopped reading and looked up at me with her big blue eyes, looking so much like her mother it stole my breath.
“I’ve missed you, Aunt Rose.”
“I’ve missed you too. I’m sorry I didn’t do a very good job of spending time with you lately, but I promise it won’t happen again. I’m here whenever you need me.”
Ashley pressed the back of her head into my chest. “My momma’s dyin’.”
My arm tightened around her.
“I know. How do you feel about that?”
“Sad.”
“Me too.” I glanced down at her and tucked a stray strand of blond hair behind her ear. “You know, your momma is my big sister.”
“I know that, Aunt Rose,” she said as though I was a fool.
“Just like you’re Mikey’s big sister. Your momma used to look out for me and make sure I was okay. You could do that for Mikey.” But even as I said it, I worried I was putting too much pressure on her. “You need your brother, Ashley, and he needs you. You’ll always need each other, even when you’re bigger. Even when you fight.”
“Until we die too,” she said with a frown, then lifted her hand to my cheek. “You won’t have a sister anymore.”
A burning lump clogged my throat and my eyes stung with tears. “No,” I whispered, “I won’t.”
“Mikey and me will be here for you too, Aunt Rose.”
I squeezed her tightly, and her arms slid around my chest and back.
She started to cry, and I held her until she settled down, stroking her back and hair. When I snuck another glance over at Violet, she was watching us with tears in her eyes.
“Thank you,” she mouthed.
I nodded as tears streamed down my own cheeks. I wasn’t sure I could do this, but I didn’t really have a choice.
A little while later, Ashley and I helped Violet up and into the house, getting her settled onto the sofa again.
“You go on back to work,” Violet said. “I’m gonna take a good long nap, and Mike will be home any minute now.”
I glanced around the living room, wondering if I should stay.
“I can tell what you’re thinkin’,” Violet said. “Go back to work. Maybe you can come back in a day or two.”
“Yes, of course. But I can start some laundry before I go,” I said. “Or start dinner for tonight.”
“I’ve got a freezer full of meals from the church, and Mike got the laundry caught up last night. We’re fine, Rose.”
“Okay.” I gave her a kiss goodbye, but she held me close when I started to pull away.
“You’re wrong, you know,” she murmured. “People can’t help loving you, Rose. They’re drawn to you, and even if they fail you, I’ll always be with you.”
I hurried for the door, giving Ashley a quick hug, then bolted for the truck before I broke down into tears again.
Chapter 10
Since I’d been gone nearly three hours, my first thought was to check on Neely Kate. I checked my phone and found several messages. She said that she and Jed were having a hard time tracking down Patsy’s mother and her aunt, so they’d switched their focus and were looking for her sister down in Pickle Junction.
I wasn’t sure what else to do for Patsy’s case, so I decided to work on Marshall’s. I was half-tempted to drop by the pawn shop and see if I could find any clues there, but I didn’t want anything tying me or Neely Kate to this mess. We needed to fly under the radar. The question was whether to go back to the office or out to the farm to check on Marshall, but that was quickly answered when I listened to the rest of my voice messages. A client who was due to have her backyard landscaped in a few days had called asking for yet another substitution. I needed to head back to the office to figure out the cost difference as well as the availability of the plants.
After sorting it all out and calling Bruce Wayne to let him know about the changes, I settled in at my desk to dig up more information on Marshall.
I’d already figured out that he attended—or used to attend—Fenton County High School and had been in FFA. The Henryetta Gazette published the high school’s honor roll every semester, but Marshall’s name had never appeared on the list. Based on the little information I found about him, it didn’t look like he played any sports either, and his Facebook profile only had sporadic posts. Most of the public posts showed him at FFA events. In one of them, he was standing next to a dead deer and holding a shotgun.
Basically, I’d found squat.
I was staring at my computer, about to shut it down and head home, when my phone rang and Neely Kate’s name appeared on the screen.
“How’s Violet doin’?” she asked first thing.
“Not good,” I said, fighting the urge to cry. “Not good at all.”
“Would you rather Jed and I work this case instead?” she asked. “Then you can spend more time with Vi.”
I sucked in a breath. I was tempted. “How about we play it by ear? I offered to stay and help with laundry and start dinner, but she practically kicked me out, saying Mike had gotten the laundry caught up and the church had given them plenty of meals.”
“Okay . . . ,” she said reluctantly. “But if you change your mind, the offer stands.”
“Have you had any luck?”
“We finally got ahold of Patsy’s sister, Poppy, but the two don’t get along. She’s also not close to Carol Ann, so she has no idea when she first got back to town. While we were there, Poppy got ahold of her momma and she agreed to meet us tomorrow morning at ten. She’s gonna convince Carol Ann’s momma to come too.”
“That’s great. We need to work on Patsy’s alibi,” I said. “We should try calling her again.”
“I already did and she didn’t answer.”
“Huh. So we’re temporarily stalled.”
“Maybe. Jed and I have one more place to try, but I’m callin’ about something else. Marshall called me a little while back.”
My heart skipped a beat. “Is everything okay?”
“He said he’s running a high fever and wants one of us to come home.”
I kept thinking about Dermot saying the kid might not make it. “I should go check on him. Maybe I’ll call Dermot too.”
“I already called him, although he wasn’t happy to hear from me. He called in a stronger antibiotic under your name.”
“He did? He’s not a doctor.”
“No, but he’s a nurse practitioner, so he can do that. Slight problem, though.” She hesitated. “He called it into the Piggly Wiggly.”
I groaned. Last winter I’d been banned from the Piggly Wiggly, and I hadn’t tried to go back since. “Can’t we get him to call it in somewhere else?”
“I already asked him, and he said it’s the only pharmacy that takes his prescriptions without askin’ questions.”
“Well . . . it has been over a half year. Maybe they forgot.”
“Yeah,” she said with a forced exuberance. “I bet they have.”
“Liar.” I’d had a couple of incidents at the grocery store. The last one had ended with me being arrested for vandalism and evading an officer. In reality, I’d recognized a potential bank robber from one of my visions. When I took off running after him, my cart got tangled with Officer Ernie’s and my frozen turkey knocked down a display of cans like a bowling ball. Mason had gotten the charges dropped, but as far as I knew, the ban still stood.
“Okay,” she said, lowering her voice. “Wear the hat I left in the backseat of your truck and sneak in and out. No one will even notice you. If you make a beeline to the pharmacy counter and get the drugs, then who cares if you get caught on the way out?”
She sounded a lot more confident than I felt. “Yeah. You’re right.”
“Thatta girl.” She rushed on. “As soon as Jed and I get done chasin’ one more lead, we’ll head home.”
“Actually,” I said, turning off my computer, “if you and Jed want to go out to dinner or something, don’t rush home on my account. I’d already planned on spendin’ the evening alone.”
“But you’ll be stuck with Marshall.”
“There’s no reason for both of us to babysit him. At least one of us can have fun tonight.”
“I feel guilty leavin’ you.”
“Please,” I said. “The only reason he’s at our house right now is because I insisted on pullin’ the Lady in Black out of mothballs. If I need you, I’ll call.”
“We could come hang out with you.”
“I�
�m plannin’ on curlin’ up on the sofa with Ben & Jerry’s and a movie.”
“Now I really need to stay home,” she said. “It must have been awful with Violet. I don’t want to leave you alone.”
I rubbed my forehead. “It was rough, but selfishly, that’s not the only thing that has me down.”
She paused for a moment. “Skeeter.”
My chest ached. “I know I’m gonna have to tell him no, Neely Kate. Mike’s gonna fight me on seein’ the kids, and Violet begged me to fight for them. She’s even changin’ something in her will to make sure he can’t keep me away. But if word got out that I’m seein’ him . . .”
“Mike will have grounds to keep you from them.”
“Yeah,” I said, sounding as dejected as I felt.
“Maybe I should come home, Rose.”
“I’m already livin’ under a mountain of guilt. Don’t add more to the pile.”
“Jeanne.”
I didn’t say anything. I didn’t need to.
“It wasn’t our fault.”
“I know,” I lied. “I’m gonna go get Marshall’s medicine and then get to the farm to check on him. You kids have fun,” I added in a teasing tone.
“Rose . . .”
“I’m fine. I promise.”
* * *
When I pulled into the Piggly Wiggly parking lot, I parked in the back, worried if I parked too close to the door, someone would see the landscaping company’s logo painted on the side. Leaning over the backseat, I’d expected to find the ball cap Neely Kate had been using on job sites, but the hat in the back was floppy, straw, and had a wide brim decorated with a pattern of clear and pink rhinestones. While a floppy hat would do more to hide my face, the rhinestones were sure to be noticed.
I jammed it on my head and grabbed my purse, then made my way toward the closest doors, my heart hammering in my chest. Why was I so nervous about getting kicked out of this stupid grocery store? Shoot, I’d been nearly kicked out of Walmart a few weeks ago. This was nothing.
Filled with a new confidence, I walked through the door as bold as I pleased, but I wasn’t eager to tempt fate, so I tugged the brim down a little as I grabbed a handbasket and passed the cashiers.
Hell in a Handbasket: Rose Gardner Investigations #3 Page 10