Framed!

by Robin Caroll

  “Max?”

  “Yeah, I think we should meet.” Man, he needed to pay closer attention. Thinking of the past could be dangerous. Especially where Ava was concerned. “When and where?”

  “MaryBeth is meeting us at the diner at one. Is that good for you?”

  He glanced at his watch. “Yeah. Twenty minutes is fine. I’ll just head straight there from here.”

  “Okay. I’ll see you soon.”

  Snapping the phone shut, Max stared out over the bayou. The water was as smooth as glass. Simply beautiful. He recalled the days when such images of nature made him think of God. Now they didn’t.

  But today was different. For the first time in many years, he wondered if maybe God had been listening, waiting to answer his prayers. Still, a decade sure seemed like a long time to wait. But what if both he and Ava needed to grow up before their relationship could survive? Had God known this, intervened to give them the opportunity to mature, then orchestrated their reunion?

  But what about Micheline’s twin, Michael Pershing? God hadn’t healed him of the cancer that claimed his cousin and friend’s young life. There was no logical reason why his cousin had to die. So much death and ugliness in the world—Max couldn’t understand how God could allow such to continue.

  Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding.

  That was the Scripture the girl had planted in his head. Now he questioned the determinations he’d made.

  Max sighed and grabbed his rod and reel along with his tacklebox. Too much to contemplate on a lazy Sunday afternoon. One he’d get to spend with Ava.

  After storing his gear in the back of the truck, Max drove all the way across town to Bitsy’s Diner. He whipped into the parking lot just as Ava pulled in. His heart did a backflip as she got out and smiled at him over the roof of her car.

  He smashed down his schoolboy reaction. “Hiya.”

  “Hi, yourself.” She lifted a large box and shut the car door with her hip.

  He moved to take the box from her. “I’d forgotten how many of these we’d ordered.”

  She smiled, and the world brightened. “You know the mayor—he wants to make sure no one in town will forget to nominate their mother.”

  Max shook his head and followed her into the diner. “You gonna nominate Charla?” He certainly couldn’t see nominating either Charla or Lenore, but Ava’s mother was grieving the loss of her son.

  Ava snorted in response.

  MaryBeth met them just inside the door. “Good, y’all have the flyers.” She turned to face a group of ladies, clapping her hands as she did. “Okay, girls. Y’all have your sections. Put them on poles, storefront windows, and anything else you can stick ’em on. Let’s cover Loomis with reminders of the pageant.”

  Max noticed the blond cleaning girl staring at him from the back of the crowd as MaryBeth handed out stacks of the flyers. Restlessness filled him. He turned to Ava. “I still don’t understand why this pageant is such a big deal. Sure, the prizes are okay, but all this hoopla?”

  She grinned, sending his stomach back into somersaults. “I think it’s mainly to earn bragging rights, if you want to know the truth.”

  He recalled his younger years, when his mother would hint and hint at him to nominate her. And he had. But Dylan and Ava had nominated Charla as well. One year in particular, he remembered Lenore breaking down in tears in the privacy of her own home, of course, when Charla won the award over her. Could this annual pageant have fed the feud the women loved to engage in?

  Satisfied that all the ladies were on track in their mission, MaryBeth turned to him and Ava. “Don’t y’all worry a’tall. We’ll have those flyers up lickety-split.”

  “Thank you so much for overseeing the volunteers. We couldn’t do it without you, MaryBeth.” As usual, Ava’s natural grace oozed from every pore.

  MaryBeth lapped it up like a coon dog with water after an all-night hunt. A touch of pink even tinged her cheeks. “Just tryin’ to help out where I can.”

  “Well, we really appreciate it.” Ava cut her gaze to him. “Don’t we, Max?”

  “Oh. Most definitely.”

  MaryBeth preened under his smile. “Oh, how y’all do go on.” She nodded at Ava. “I’ll make sure everyone completes their sections and collect all the leftover flyers. I can just give ’em to you sometime this week.”

  “Perfect.” Ava shifted her purse strap to her shoulder. “Thanks again, MaryBeth.”

  “Happy to help.”

  Slipping her arm through his, Ava led Max from the diner. As soon as they were a few feet from the door, both burst out laughing.

  Oh, it felt so good to laugh. And with Ava, too.

  “That poor girl is so eager to please.” Ava shook her head.

  “Overeager, I’d say.”

  She glanced around, the smile slipping from her face. He followed her line of vision, and his gut tightened. Georgia Duffy stood chatting with one of the volunteers not two hundred yards from him and Ava.

  “You know, she has long, red hair,” Ava stated.

  “Not all that long.”

  She arched a single brow. “Do we know the exact length of the hair found on Earl and Dylan?”

  “I don’t. Remember, I didn’t even know about the hairs until you told me.”

  “I don’t know the exact length, either.” She sighed. “Maybe we should talk to her. She has red hair and had a motive to frame you.”

  “Georgia? Why would she want to frame me?”

  Ava dropped her gaze, as well as her voice. “Maybe she was a bit upset that your relationship ended.”

  “It wasn’t really a relationship, and it was almost six years ago.”

  Her stare cut him at the knees. “Then what was it?”

  Oh, he really didn’t want to explain this. Not to Ava. He gave what he hoped looked like a casual shrug. “We just went out a couple of times.”

  “A couple of times? Funny, that isn’t how I remember it.”

  That she’d noticed surprised him. That a touch of jealousy lurked in her voice filled him with hope. “It wasn’t anything serious.”

  “To you or her?”

  “Both.” Yet he couldn’t help remembering how Georgia had screamed and yelled at him when he told her he didn’t want to see her anymore. And he still believed she’d stayed working at Pershing Real Estate in hopes that he’d ask her out again.

  “Really?”

  He swallowed hard. The hate in Georgia’s eyes had made him leery ever since. Now, looking into Ava’s earnest gaze, he had to wonder if Georgia had been bitter enough to do something as outlandish as frame him. She could’ve gotten the medallion in any of the ways Ava had come up with. But why would she kill Dylan? Was it possible Dylan had rejected her as well? The hate in her eyes…well, she might be capable of just about anything.

  FOURTEEN

  Father, please give me strength. Because Ava sorely needed intervention so she wouldn’t give in to the urge to slap the smirk off Georgia’s face. Memories of how smug the beauty queen always appeared to Ava stung as she made sure steps down the sidewalk. Like the time Georgia had made homecoming court and Ava hadn’t. It’d hurt then, and the memory still hurt today. No matter that it happened almost a decade and a half ago—time didn’t heal all wounds.

  Max cut his gaze to her. “Are you sure you want to do this?”

  Ava clenched her jaw and squared her shoulders. “Why ever wouldn’t I?”

  He gave a curt nod and strode toward the fiery redhead. Ava lengthened her stride to move beside him.

  “Hey, Georgia.”

  The leggy real estate agent stepped away from the volunteer and threw a bright smile at Max. “Hello, sugah. How ya been?” She totally ignored Ava, moving to Max and laying a hand on his forearm.

  He shifted away from her touch. “Fine. How’re you?”

  One of her manicured brows rose. “I’m doing.” She finally let her gaze fall to Ava. “Why, hello, Ava. Isn�
�t this a surprise?”

  Not hardly. She’d seen them walk out of the diner together and stand on the sidewalk talking. The years hadn’t changed the woman’s attitude one iota. “Hey, Georgia.”

  The tension was as murky as the water in the bayou.

  With a toss of her hair over her shoulder, Georgia turned her back to Ava, concentrating on Max. “To what do I owe the honor?”

  Ava pivoted to move beside Max. “I’m just curious, Georgia, did you ever date my brother?”

  Eyes the color and hardness of emeralds shot to Ava. “Me? Date Dylan?” She laid a dramatic hand across her chest. “I’d never date such a playboy. I only enjoy meaningful relationships, not just a romp in bed.”

  Yeah, right. Not from what Ava heard. Well, the rumors of Georgia’s little indiscretions only started a year or so ago. But still.

  Max drew Georgia’s attention. “You never even went out with him once?”

  “Would you be jealous if I had, sugah?”

  “You know, it occurs to me that Dylan never would’ve gone out with someone like you.” Ava clenched and unclenched her fists.

  Georgia just laughed, full and throaty. “As if Dylan was so selective.”

  Max shot Ava an apologetic smile. “You knew Angelina, didn’t you, Georgia?”

  A scowl scampered across the redhead’s perfectly made up features. “Yeah, I knew her. Silly little thing. Always going on and on about how she’d be Mrs. Dylan Renault before year’s end.” She shook her head. “Didn’t turn out so well for her, now did it?”

  “She really believed my brother would marry her?”

  “He’d given her more attention than any other woman in town, so why wouldn’t she?”

  “But he broke it off with her. He told me she’d been getting too serious.”

  “Yeah. She took it really hard. Was so angry and bitter that he dumped her in such a public place. She was humiliated.” Georgia let her scathing glance fall over Ava. “But that’s how Dylan was—never cared a bit about anyone else’s feelings but his own.”

  Ava sucked in air and fought to control her breathing.

  Max’s steady tone cut through the forced civility. “Did you know Leah Farley well?”

  “Not really.” Georgia smiled at Max as if he were the only person on the planet. “You know me, sugah, I don’t have much interest in the mommy world. All Leah ever wanted to talk about was her kid. I was her real estate agent, you know. We were trying to find them a house to get the kid away from the pawnshop. Leah wanted a house with a yard.”

  Ava nodded. Leah had been a dedicated mother. Which meant that the FBI was probably right—Leah Farley was dead. “I heard she fired you.” Ava lifted her chin.

  “Wherever did you hear such a silly thing?”

  Detecting the hint of unease in Georgia’s tone, Ava kept going. “And I heard you’d been flirting with Earl.”

  A flash of panic burst across Georgia’s face. “I don’t know where you got your info, sugah, but you’ve been misinformed.”

  “Do you happen to remember where you were between ten thirty and eleven thirty on the morning of January 23?”

  Placing her bony fists on her hips, Georgia squared off with Ava. “What’s with all the questions?” She shifted her stare to Max. “Wanna tell me what’s going on here?”

  “We’re just trying to find some answers,” he replied.

  Georgia tilted her head. “Because that’s the time when Dylan was murdered.” She laughed that annoying laugh of hers again. “Oh, this is rich. Y’all think I might’ve had something to do with the murder?” She snorted, then coughed before glaring at Max. “From what the paper said, you’re the prime suspect.”

  “Someone’s framing me.”

  “Oh, I see. And you think that person is me?” Georgia shook her head and clucked her tongue. “Max, Max, Max…I wasn’t as hung up on you as Angelina was on Dylan. We had fun while it lasted, but I never thought of us in the happily ever-after way.” She batted her mascara-heavy lashes.

  Ava resisted the urge to smack her. “Just answer the question, Georgia. Where were you at the time my brother was shot?”

  “Not that it’s any of your business, but I’ll tell you. Just to show you how incredibly silly y’all are. If you must know, I was in N’Awlins that day judging the Teen Miss Mardi Gras Pageant.”

  Ava’s heart plummeted. Why couldn’t Georgia be guilty? That would get Max off the hook. “All day?”

  “Yes, sugah, all day. From nine in the morning ’til five-thirty that afternoon. Then we had the crowning ceremony and parade of the court. I didn’t get home until after nine, and that’s when I heard all the hoopla about your brother.” Georgia didn’t bother to mask her glare behind polite appearances. “Satisfied?”

  As much as she hated to admit it, Georgia had an ironclad alibi. Oh, Ava would still check about the pageant, but it sounded like a Georgia event.

  The redhead turned her glare to Max. “I’m shocked that you, sugah, think such of me. I thought you’d know me better.”

  “I don’t know you at all, Georgia.” He shook his head. “You’ve changed over the past few years.”

  Georgia’s gaze danced from Max to Ava. “Ah, I see how it is. You want a second chance with this little heartbreaker.” She turned to Ava. “Be my guest, sugah. I have much better things to do with my time.” With a little wiggle of her fingers, she turned and sashayed down the sidewalk toward her convertible.

  Ava stared after her, fighting the dislike rising in her chest until she felt as if she were suffocating. But Georgia’s alibi drummed against her thoughts and brought the original question back into focus. If she didn’t frame Max, who did?

  That was uncomfortable.

  Actually, uncomfortable was too mild of a word. Max watched Ava watch Georgia. Little bursts of unease took a spin around his gut.

  Finally, Ava glanced at him. “Guess that rules her out as a suspect of both murderer and framer.”

  He had to admire her. Even when Georgia had deliberately provoked her and insulted the memory of Dylan, Ava had been nothing less than a true Southern lady. Genteel and regal. His heart pounded. “I guess so.”

  She let out a sigh. “I suppose it’s too much to hope she’s lying about being in New Orleans.”

  The way her mouth turned into a half pout was so cute, Max couldn’t help but let out a little chuckle. “I’m thinking she’s telling the truth.”

  “Was she truthful about everything?”

  He took her elbow and led her down the sidewalk. “I have no doubt she was at that pageant all day.”

  “What about what she said in regards to y’all’s relationship?”

  His stomach tightened. “I told you already, we just went out a couple of times.”

  “That isn’t how she acted.”

  “She was just trying to get your goat.”

  “Hmm.”

  Max walked beside her in silence, letting Ava stew in her thoughts. Georgia had always rubbed Ava the wrong way. Georgia was a people magnet, while Ava always had been an over-analyzer. One of the things he’d loved most about her and had irritated him the most at the same time. Why should a decade make a difference?

  It would never matter that he’d gone out with Georgia only because his mother kept goading him to date. Kept harping on him. So much that he’d finally given in and asked the most available woman handy. Georgia. But back then, she didn’t have a reputation. No, she’d earned that only in the last few years, after he’d called off the farce of a relationship.

  They’d had a couple of dates—been to the movies and out to eat a couple of times. Maybe they went to a Mardi Gras ball or two. But as soon as she wanted him to come over for supper and get to know her mother, he knew to put the skids on the relationship, but fast. Georgia had been beyond livid, if his memory served him correctly, and it did. But with an airtight alibi…

  They reached Ava’s Jaguar. He stopped, not knowing what to say or do. She fingered her ke
y ring. “Look, it’s none of my business what went on between you and Georgia.”

  “But there wasn’t anything. Nothing more than a couple of dates. And it was so long ago.”

  She held up her hand. “None of my concern.”

  “Stop.” He grabbed her hand, savoring the soft flesh in his. “Let’s stop pretending you and I never had a past.”

  Jerking her hand free, Ava shook her head. “It was a long time ago, Max.”

  “Years ago, but I loved you.”

  Moisture pooled in her eyes. “Let’s not do this. Not here. Not now.”

  He glanced around, spotting the Sunday afternoon walkers who stared, even from across the street. “When, then?”

  “Is this really necessary? What’s done is done. It’s over and in the past.”

  If only his heart could believe that.

  “I think it’d be a good thing to clear the air between us.”

  “But people…”

  “Let’s drive out to the pier. Just sit and talk.”

  Suspicion lurked in her gaze, hurting him. She didn’t trust him. Had she ever? “C’mon, Ava. Don’t you want to get everything out in the open and deal with it? Haven’t we tiptoed around the issue long enough?”

  His heartbeat hesitated for as long as it took her to give a brief nod.

  “Follow me.” He jumped into his truck, backed out, waited for her to get her car out of the parking spot, then led the way to the edge of town.

  He still couldn’t believe she’d agreed to come. As he pulled into the gravel pit area next to the end of the pier, panic almost engulfed him. What was he going to say? More important, what was she going to say? And how exactly would he react to whatever she shared?

  She slammed her car door, walking slowly toward him. Now was the time to find out what had happened all those years ago.

  Find out why she’d stopped loving him.

  He led the way to the end of the old pier, then plopped down on the rickety old bench he’d often sat upon and prayed for God to bring her back.

  Now she was finally here.