My heart swelled with happiness, and for the first time I let myself think that far into the future.
“So why is Violet jealous of you?”
My smile fell away. This couldn’t end well. “I think Violet thinks she settled and for some reason she’s jealous that I have options.”
“Oh.” He stared out the window for several seconds before turning back, his happiness gone. “So what’d she do?”
“Huh?” My heart kick-started into overdrive.
“I know Violet well enough to know that if she doesn’t want you to settle for me, then she thinks you need to be movin’ on. And if you’re not talkin’ to her right now, she’s done something. What is it?”
“Joe…”
“Spit it out, Rose.”
The waitress showed up with our food, giving me a temporary reprieve. I was so torn. I didn’t want to lie to Joe, but I sure didn’t want to hurt him. I worried that telling him the truth would destroy any chance of a friendly relationship between him and Violet. But in the end, I knew what I had to do. “She set me up.” I said, my voice so quiet Joe leaned forward.
“Excuse me?”
My shoulders tensed. “She set me up. With a guy.”
Joe’s jaw tightened and he swallowed. “You went on a date while I was gone?”
“No.” I shook my head. “It wasn’t like that. Violet invited me over for dinner last night and she’d invited someone she and Mike went to high school with. So it wasn’t a date.”
I was sure Violet would disagree.
“But I take it he was single?” His words were clipped and tight.
“Well, yes…” Oh, my word. Could Joe be jealous?
His eyebrows rose, the rest of his face expressionless. “And?”
“And nothing. I went over, Mike grilled steaks, and Austin and Violet caught up on what they’d all been doing since high school.”
“Austin.”
It wasn’t a question so I wasn’t sure how to respond. Violet was right about one thing: I was inexperienced and out of my element in this situation.
“Joe, I swear to you, I didn’t know anything about the dinner being a set-up. I was sad and missing you and worried about,” I lowered my head toward his, “the situation with my vision, and then Hilary had answered your phone, talkin’ sexy and telling me you were in the shower, and I could hear water in the background—”
“So you did this because of Hilary?”
“No! Joe, I told you I didn’t know anything about it or I wouldn’t have gone.”
“Really? Even after what happened with Hilary?”
“Joe, I don’t want to be with anyone else but you. I wasn’t interested in him at all even though he asked me out for Friday night. I told him no. This didn’t have anything to do with you and Hilary. This was all Violet taking too many liberties in her big-sister role. I still would have told him no even if Neely Kate hadn’t convinced me that if you wanted to be with Hilary, you would have been already.”
His shoulders relaxed. “Who’s Neely Kate?”
“I met her at jury duty. She didn’t get picked, but she works at the courthouse so we’ve been eating lunch together every day. She found me cryin’ on the courthouse steps yesterday.” I cringed. Why did I tell him that?
“You were crying?” His mouth dropped in horror. “Why?”
My mouth twisted.
“Me?” Joe groaned and covered his face with his hands. “Rose, I’m so sorry. It was nothing. I swear to you.”
“I know that now.”
He grabbed my hand again. “Thank goodness for Neely Kate.”
“Yeah, I think she and I are friends.”
His face softened. “Good. I’m glad you made a friend.”
“Me too.” I took a bite of my ravioli. “But we have to talk about our phone conversation later.”
Joe nodded with a worried look then broke out into an ornery grin. “But first we get dessert.”
After three days of my Joe famine, I wasn’t about to complain.
Chapter Ten
We didn’t talk much when we got home. We were too busy making up and then too exhausted to carry on a serious conversation.
In the morning, Joe and I crammed into my tiny bathroom. Since I had more time to get ready, I sat on the edge of the tub watching as he stood in front of the mirror, smearing shaving cream on his face.
“We still have to talk about my problem.”
Joe spun around and leaned down until his face hovered several inches over mine. His eyes twinkled. “Problem? Darlin’, as you’ve demonstrated over the last twelve hours, you are perfect.”
Giggling, I reached up to swipe a streak of shaving cream off his face, leaving a thin line of his skin exposed. “If you kiss me with that stuff all over your face, you will regret it.”
He lifted his eyebrows and laughed. “I’ve always had a hard time ignoring a challenge.” He lowered his mouth to mine.
I squealed and leaned back to escape, nearly falling into the empty tub.
Joe grabbed my arm and righted me with a chuckle. “No need hurtin’ yourself to get away from me.”
“Joe, seriously.”
He sighed and turned back to the mirror. “Okay.”
“Joe, I’m sure he’s innocent.”
“Rose, you could very well be right, but I’m at a loss of what to do.”
“The guy who killed poor Mr. Mitchell was hanging out at the hardware store after the murder.”
Joe stilled, his razor stopping mid-stroke. He watched me in the mirror as his eyes darkened. “Please tell me you know that because you had another vision.”
I pursed my lips. I had vowed to myself not to lie to him.
He closed his eyes as the muscles along his naked back tensed. “You went to the hardware store to buy paint yesterday.”
Since he already knew the answer, I saw no reason to say anything.
He put the razor on the counter with a loud whack and spun around to face me. “Rose, you know what you did was illegal, right?”
“I had to do something, Joe.”
Without a word, he grabbed a towel and stormed out of the bathroom, leaving me perched on the tub. Tears welled in my eyes. We’d been getting along so well and I’d ruined it. But my visions were part of who I was, whether I liked it or not. The good Lord knew I’d never have a vision again if I could help it, but what did Joe expect me to do? I knew Bruce Wayne was innocent, and I couldn’t stand by and do nothing.
Several minutes passed and I wondered if he was going to leave for Little Rock without saying goodbye. Surely, he wouldn’t do that. Maybe I’d really blown it this time.
The phone rang, jolting me out of my brooding. I ran into the kitchen and picked up the receiver. “Hello?”
“Rose? This is Marjorie Grace from down at the courthouse.”
“Oh, hi.” Standing on my tiptoes, I looked out the window over the sink, checking to see if Joe’s car was still there. He was leaning against the hood, talking on his cell phone, his face dark and gloomy. Obviously, he was still mad at me.
“Most of the jury is still sick with food poisoning so Judge McClary is postponing the trial until tomorrow. There’s a chance we’ll be out again, but for now, plan on comin’ in the morning.”
“Okay, thanks, Marjorie Grace.”
The side door opened after I hung up and Joe pulled me into his arms and kissed the top of my head.
“I thought you were mad at me.” My words were muffled as I buried my head into his chest.
Joe sighed, his arms tightening around my back. “I was, but then I put myself in your shoes.”
I looked up in surprise. “You did?”
“Yeah, I understand why you went to the hardware store. Believe me I do, Rose. But do you have any idea what could happen if you get caught?”
We both knew the answer. I nodded.
“Rose, listen to me.” He lifted my chin so he could look into my eyes. “Please, please don’t do anything
crazy, okay? Let me do some behind-the-scenes checking and see if I can come up with something.”
I had no trouble relinquishing control to Joe. If anything, I was grateful I wouldn’t be the only person carrying the weight of Bruce Wayne Decker’s innocence. At least Joe had more resources and authority to do something. “Okay.”
“Good.” He kissed me lightly.
I clung to him, wishing it were Saturday.
He lifted his head with a chuckle. “Since we had another disagreement, maybe we need to make up again.”
“You’ll be late. I don’t want you to get in trouble.”
A grin lit up his face. “I fell into trouble the first time you showed up on my front porch.”
Laughing, I patted his chest. “Well, I have to go to work today and I suspect Suzanne will have my hide if I’m late.”
His eyebrows rose in surprise. “What about jury duty?”
“Marjorie Grace just called and said the judge has postponed the trial until tomorrow because half the jury is still out with food poisoning.”
“Thank goodness you didn’t eat that crazy cat lady’s casserole.”
“I can’t believe the others did.”
“See? You’re smarter than you give yourself credit for.” He picked up his bag from the table. “Walk me to my car?”
I nodded.
We went outside with Muffy and Joe wrapped his arm around my back, pulling me close to his side. Each time he left was harder and harder, the pain almost unbearable.
Joe stood next to his car door. We stood face to face and he picked up my hand. “You still comin’ up to see me this weekend?”
“Yeah,” I whispered, feeling the familiar lump in my throat. “As soon as I get out of jury duty tomorrow and pick up Muffy, I’ll hit the road.”
“I’ll text you directions since you don’t have a GPS.” He cast a disgusted look at my Nova. “I’ll be honest. I’m worried about you driving that thing so far. Maybe I should just come back here.”
“No,” I protested. “That’s not fair. You always come to see me, and besides,” I gave him my best wicked look, “I want to see your place.”
“Then maybe you should think about getting another car.”
“Maybe…” The Nova had been my dad’s. It was hard to consider giving it up.
“You think about it and if you decide to get a new one, I’ll help you if you want, okay?”
I reached up on my tiptoes and kissed him. “I’m a lucky woman, Joe Simmons.”
“I could say I’m a lucky man, so let’s split the difference and say we’re damned lucky to have each other.”
“Works for me. You better get goin’.”
“Yeah,” he sighed, opening his car door. “I’ll call you tonight. I promise. And I’ll do some digging.”
“Thanks.” I gave him one long last goodbye kiss before he left. I stood in the driveway and watched his car get smaller and smaller as he drove away. My house was so empty without him. I couldn’t understand how that was possible. How had he gotten so deeply embedded in my life in such a short time?
“Rose Gardner! Have you no shame?” Miss Mildred shouted from across the street.
“Good morning, Miss Mildred.” Here I was, standing in my driveway in a spaghetti-strapped, slinky lavender nightie. The one I’d bought at Walmart over a month ago.
She stood on her front porch, her plastic watering container held over a pot of geraniums. She was so intent on scolding me, she’d ignored the water pouring over the edge of the pot. “There’s nothing good about it when you find a—”
“—porno show in my front yard.” I grumbled. “I’ve got it.”
I was in a foul mood and poor Muffy hid under my bed to avoid my wrath, even though she had nothing to fear. I’d never take it out on her. But I couldn’t help thinking she’d rather be playing with Andy Jr. and Keith instead of spending the morning with me. Not that I blamed her. I’d rather spend the morning with the boys than me too.
It was a good thing I wasn’t in a good mood when I got to the DMV, because Suzanne would have snatched it right out from under me.
My boss sat at the break room table. She held a breakfast sandwich to her mouth, but when she saw me, she threw it down in front of her. It bounced and landed on the floor, rolling until it stopped at my feet.
“You!”
I took a step back toward the exit, unsure that work was such a good idea after all.
She strode over, blocking my path as she put her hand on her hip and tilted her head with a sneer. “Well, looky who bothered to show up to her job.”
A couple of months ago, Suzanne intimidated me. Okay, she still did, but not as much. It was hard to be frightened of her when I saw her so differently. Or maybe it was that I was different. But either way, Suzanne no longer had the power to scare me, other than she was my boss.
I really did feel sorry for her. It was obvious from her teased, bleached-blonde hair and sallow skin that she’d had a difficult life. She couldn’t be past her mid-thirties, but the chain cigarette smoking had carved lines around her eyes. Lines I knew she’d wasted a small fortune on creams trying to fill in.
I pushed past her. “I haven’t been on vacation, Suzanne. I’ve been at jury duty.”
“You got a letter or card to prove it?”
Crappy doodles. I knew I’d forgotten something. I stopped and turned around to face her. “Uh…”
She pinched her mouth into a smug line. “That’s what I thought.”
“Wait!” I opened my purse and dug until I found my letter from Fenton County Courthouse at the bottom. “Here! This is my jury summons letter.”
Suzanne snatched it out of my fingers and scanned the document. “This says you were supposed to report for jury duty, but it don’t say nothing about you stayin’.”
“Suzanne! I got picked. I swear it. We just got let out today because most of the jury got food poisoning.”
“Uh-huh.”
I had to admit, it sounded like a lie. “I can call the courthouse if you want. They’ll excuse me. Or I can get a letter when I go back tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow? Rose Gardner, if you don’t come into work tomorrow then don’t bother coming back next week.”
“What? You can’t do that!”
She put a hand back on her hip in an exaggerated motion. “Just watch me.”
I knew for a fact that she couldn’t. Joe had said so. But if she tried it, maybe she’d be the one fired and the DMV would be a happier place. It’s a sad day when you miss your old boss, despite the fact she tried to kill you.
Suzanne went out of her way to make my life miserable all morning. She took difficult customers from the other clerks and handed them off to me. When a customer with complicated paperwork showed up, she tossed the documents on my counter with a wicked grin. The only good thing about the day was that I was too busy to dwell on Bruce Wayne Decker’s situation. In the rare moments I did, I hoped Joe had made some progress.
I’d planned on eating lunch in the break room, but Suzanne had worked herself under my skin like a raging case of scabies. I wasn’t a violent person, in spite of my previous rolling-pin reputation, but I was dangerously close to snapping Suzanne’s head off.
When I announced that I planned to leave the building for lunch, the other employees released sighs and relaxed in their chairs. I felt as welcome as a door-to-door vacuum cleaner salesman.
“You better make sure you’re back on time! Not one minute late!” Suzanne hollered as I hurried out the back door.
The afternoon was sweltering, but thunderheads loomed on the horizon. With any luck at all, we’d get a good storm to cool things down, but if my morning was any indication of my luck, there wasn’t much chance of that happening. I climbed in the car and turned the ignition over, waiting for the air blowing out of the vents to turn cold. Joe was right. While my car was reliable to get around Henryetta, I worried about driving it to Little Rock. I briefly considered asking Violet to borr
ow her car, but knew I had a better chance of Mildred waving hello the next time Joe left.
My lunch break was a half an hour, which meant I now had less than thirty minutes before I had to face Suzanne again. If I’d done nothing else in the last month and a half, it was learning to stop squandering my life. Why didn’t I just quit my job and move to Little Rock with Joe? I had to admit, the idea was tempting. I missed him. An overwhelming wave of sadness washed over me and I decided to call him. I figured I’d leave a voice mail so it surprised me when he answered on the second ring.
“How’s your day goin’, beautiful? I didn’t expect to hear from you so soon, not that I’m complaining.”
My stomach fluttered. How could he do that to me with just a phone call? “I miss you.”
“I miss you too. I’m counting the hours until I see you again.”
My voice lowered. “And how many hours is that, Detective Simmons?”
“About thirty more hours before I get to see your naked body again.”
“Joe!” I protested, even as my body tingled with anticipation.
“When you asked me to help you with number fifteen on your list—do more with a man—did you think it would turn out like this?”
“Never in a million years.”
“Thanks for asking.” Wickedness laced his words.
My face burned, and I was unsure what to say. I cleared my throat. “Did you find out anything about Bruce’s case?”
“Bruce?”
“Bruce Wayne Decker. You know, the innocent man who’s bein’ railroaded into a life time in jail.”
“I know who you’re talking about. I just didn’t know you two were on a first-name basis.”
I rolled my eyes. “Well, have you?”
He paused. “About that.”
My breath stuck in my chest, making me regret thinking my day had gotten better. “That doesn’t sound good.”
“Well…” He paused for several seconds. “That’s because it’s not.”
“What? But how can you know that already? You just got back to your office only a few hours ago.”
“Right, but…I may have had a head start.”
“What are you talkin’ about?”
He cleared his throat. “I actually started making some inquiries yesterday when you wouldn’t answer my calls. I wondered if you were onto something and decided to do a little diggin’.”
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