Laina Turner - Presley Thurman 08 - Vows & Victims

by Laina Turner

  “Maybe now that she’s been away from you for a while, she will be less controlling. I mean, she hasn’t been able to control every aspect of the wedding planning from Florida.”

  Last year Katy’s parents had moved to Florida to get away from the cold Midwest winters. Not that I blamed them. Every winter found me wondering why I lived in the Midwest.

  “You’d be surprised at what that woman can accomplish from afar. It doesn’t help that she knows everyone in town, so it’s easy for her to do things because these people are her friends. It’s just like your mom.”

  “That’s a good point. Maybe that’s it!” I said, snapping my fingers. “I can get my mom to help entertain your mom and maybe distract her from driving you crazy. At least a little.”

  “You think she would? That would be the best news I’ve heard all day.”

  “Sure, let me call her.” I stepped outside to call, so as to not be one of those rude people who talk on their cell phone in a public place, annoying all those around them. She must have been in the kitchen because she picked up on the first ring.

  “Hey, Mom, I have a favor to ask.”

  “Well, then ask it.”

  “Katy’s mom is flying into town this weekend, and you know how she can be somewhat controlling and overbearing. I was wondering if you would do Katy a favor and sort of run interference.”

  “What do you mean exactly?”

  “Keep her from driving Katy crazy with everything that’s happened. The last thing Katy needs is her mom trying to take over.”

  “Tomorrow I have a junior league luncheon and a garden club meeting for the Fourth of July celebration planning. I could ask her to go. She used to be part of both those organizations so she might enjoy that, but I can’t force her.”

  “I’m not asking you to tie her up and put her in your trunk, Mother. I’m asking you to just lend a hand.”

  “Presley, there’s no reason for that tone.”

  “There’s no tone. I just feel bad for Katy.” Geez, my mother could so easily make me feel twelve again.

  “When is she coming in again?”

  “This afternoon sometime. I think about three.”

  “Then I’ll call her late this afternoon and try and persuade her to join me.”

  “Thanks, Mom, I appreciate it.”

  “Are you going to be home for dinner?”

  I thought about it for a second. I didn’t have any pressing plans, or any plans at all for that matter, and it would be nice to spend some time with my parents. “I should be. Right now, I don’t have any wedding duties, and Katy will be leaving to pick up her mom.”

  “We’re having eggplant parmesan, if that helps entice you.”

  “What about dessert?” I teased.

  “I could possibly throw together some fudge or brownies.”

  “Do you have ice cream?”

  “I believe so.”

  “Then brownies,” I said, thinking, to hell with dieting and making sure I would fit into my dress. Eggplant Parmesan was one of my absolute favorites of my mother’s dishes. The only thing remotely healthy about it was the actual eggplant, but once she breaded, fried it and covered it with tons of cheese, the healthy properties were somewhat negated.

  I hung up with her and went back to where Katy was waiting. Looking at her, I felt bad again. Katy was normally so upbeat and just rolled with things. Right now she looked so stressed out. This week of all weeks, she deserved to be on cloud nine.

  “Good news!” I said, sliding into my seat.

  “Yeah?”

  “Yeah. My mother is going to call your mother later today and invite her to a couple meetings tomorrow for groups she used to belong to. Hopefully, your mom will want to see old friends more than she wants to drive you crazy.”

  “Oh, Presley, I can’t thank you enough. I love my mom and I know she means well, but …”

  “No explanation necessary. Now, what’s next?” I said, looking at the notebook sitting in front of Katy where she had a list of items written down that I could only presume were her wedding tasks.

  “I think this is actually the hardest part.”

  “What is?” I asked, taking a sip of my coffee.

  “There isn’t really anything to do right now. Everything is in place and until Friday, when things start happening again, it’s a waiting game. Any more following up and I’m going to drive the vendors crazy. If I had work, I wouldn’t be at such a loss of what to do. I didn’t schedule appointments for myself this week, but at least I could be there and it could distract me from obsessing about wedding details.”

  “Then you need to enjoy having this time off. I know it’s not for reasons you would want, but you might as well make the best of it. Go get a massage or something.”

  “Now that’s an idea. Speaking of ideas, wouldn’t it be a good idea for call Cooper and tell him about the Dirt thing?” she said, giving me a look.

  I sighed. “In theory, yes, it would. In reality, I just don’t know what to say.”

  “I know, but that’s why this is the perfect excuse to call, and maybe it will break the ice. This is a really important reason to call him.”

  I shook my head. “You’re right. You’re totally right. I just need to stop thinking about it and do it, and I will. On my way home.”

  Katy and I stayed and chatted for a while longer, but I was distracted by thoughts of Cooper and the nervousness I felt at calling him, which was absolutely ridiculous. I mean, he was my boyfriend, had been for a while now. Yes, we had a slight disagreement, but all couples did, so what was I so afraid of?

  Maybe a part of me was afraid of losing him as much as I was afraid of the whole marriage thing.

  “Katy, what made you entirely confident that Chris was the one? You know, for marriage. For life,” I said, interrupting her as she had been talking about some more redecorating she wanted to do at the salon.

  “What do you mean?”

  “I mean just what I said. You two have had your share of ups and downs, so what actually was it that made you confident that this was the right decision?”

  Katy sat there for a moment before she replied, and I found myself really anxious to hear her answer. Maybe it would give me some insight on what to do or help me understand why I was feeling the way I was.

  With a soft smile, Katy said, “It took me a while to not be mad at myself for allowing him to treat me like crap and still take him back. After the last incident, I thought long and hard about why I did it. I was afraid it was my own insecurities or fear of being alone that compelled me to take him back all those times, but what I realized is that even with his flaws, I couldn’t imagine him not in my life. I can talk to him about anything, even when we’ve not been together we would talk and share. He’s been one of my best friends forever and I wouldn’t want to not have that.”

  I thought for a minute about Cooper and I understood what she was getting at. He was the same to me. My best friend, my confidant. The person I texted several times a day with little anecdotes, or when I had a problem. I didn’t want to lose that.

  “Presley, I know you’re in a tough spot right now with your feelings and what you want to do, but if I had to pick any guy out there for you, it would be Cooper. Just talk to him. You guys can work this out.”

  She was right. “Look at what time it is, Katy. We’ve been gabbing forever. You better get moving if you’re going to get to the airport in time.”

  She looked at her watch. “No kidding. I didn’t realize it was so late.”

  We walked out into the sunshine and Katy hugged me. “Call him!”

  “I will. As soon as I get in the car.”

  “OK. I want a full report. I’ll call you later.”

  “Have fun. Are you sure you don’t need a ride home?” I said.

  “No. Chris is going to pick me up.”

  “OK, talk to you later then.” She went back inside to wait for Chris and I just sat in my car, phone in hand. I went to favorit
es, where his name was first, and hit call. I wasn’t sure he wouldn’t just send it right to voicemail. But he didn’t. He answered on the third ring.

  “Hello,” he said and while I couldn’t tell by his tone what he was thinking or feeling, the sound of his voice just made me melt a little as it always did.

  “Hey, ” I said and then just sat there. Not knowing what I should say next. A long uncomfortable silence went by and Cooper was the first one to start talking.

  “Is there something you need, Presley?”

  He wasn’t cold, exactly, but he wasn’t warm and fuzzy either. He seemed on guard or just a little reserved. I didn’t really know how to take him.

  “Actually, there is. I thought you should know that Dirt escaped from prison this morning.”

  “What! How?”

  “I don’t know all the details, but during some routine transfer he escaped. Officer Schultz called us in to tell us. Me and Katy that is, because I guess he’s made threats about coming back to Alkon. Oh, and Dirt tried calling Katy this morning. I guess he more than tried. He was successful, because she answered and he said he would see her soon.” I knew I was babbling.

  “Has he tried to contact you?”

  “No, just Katy as far as I know.”

  “Damn, and I’m getting ready to catch a flight.”

  “Here?” I asked, thinking maybe he was coming in early for the wedding and I got excited.

  “No, I’ve got a job.”

  “You’re still coming to the wedding, right?” I asked, afraid of what he might be about to say.

  There was a long pause, which really made me nervous.

  “No,” he said, blowing out his breath heavily as if he had been holding it. “I just took this emergency job and I won’t be able to make it.”

  “Oh, really? There’s no way you can make it?”

  “No. I already talked to Chris and told him.”

  Double oh. He told Chris and didn’t tell me. That hurt. He must be more upset with me than I thought, which hurt doubly worse. I never intended for this to happen.

  “Oh,” I said again, not knowing what else to say. “When will you be back?”

  “I don’t know. Probably a couple weeks. Listen, I need to run. I will call and talk to the police and if I hear anything else I’ll let you know.”

  “So, we’re still on speaking terms,” I said tentatively.

  “Presley, I don’t know what to say right now. I think we might just need a break from each other to figure out what we want.”

  “Oh,” I said for the third time, sounding like a complete broken record, but I was at a loss of what to say without coming across like an idiot or a whining girl. Especially when this was all my fault.

  “I’ll call you when I get back. I really need to get off the phone.”

  I hung up and just sat there. I didn’t know what I expected when I called him, but that wasn’t it. I didn’t think our conversation would end with him needing a break. I took a deep breath. My heart was racing. I didn’t know what to think because what I absolutely didn’t want to think was that we might be over. What if after thinking about things, he realized he didn’t want to continue our relationship? I wasn’t sure I was ready to get married yet, but I sure didn’t want to lose him. What was I going to do?

  Chapter 8

  After driving around trying to gather my thoughts and emotions, I walked into my parents’ house an hour later to the yummy smell of food cooking. And I was definitely ready to eat. I wasn’t one who got sad or upset and lost my appetite. I was the complete opposite. I knew it would only give me a temporary fix, but one of my mother’s amazing home–cooked meals would hit the spot right now and definitely make me feel ten times better.

  I walked into the kitchen where my mom was stirring something on the stove that I assumed was the brownie frosting by the looks of it. “Hi, Mom.”

  “Good, you’re home. Just in time. We will be ready to eat in about fifteen minutes.”

  “Great. It smells wonderful. Want me to set the table?”

  “I would appreciate it, yes. And can you go tell your father to get off the computer and come in for dinner. I swear that man spends more time on Facebook.”

  “I heard that,” he said, walking in.

  “Good. I don’t understand what is so interesting in there.”

  “You’d be surprised, Sue, you’d be surprised. Hiya, sweetheart,” he said to me and gave me a hug. I could always count on my dad to make me feel special.

  “What do you want to drink, Dad?” I said, as he sat down and I walked to the refrigerator.

  “Iced tea, if there’s some left.”

  “Just made a fresh pot and stuck it in there,” my mom said. “Might need a lot of ice though, probably still hot.”

  I got the drinks on the table as my mom put out the eggplant, a bowl of noodles with butter and garlic, and some hot rolls she had just taken from the oven.

  We sat down and said grace, a tradition in our family, and then all dug in.

  The only sounds for a while were the cutting and chewing. My family was serious about eating.

  “This is great as usual, Sue,” my dad said.

  “I second that. I haven’t had this in a long time and it was exactly what I needed.” In more ways than one, I thought.

  “If you came home more often, you could eat this more often.”

  “C’mon, Mom, don’t start with that.”

  “Well, it’s true. And where is Cooper? I was looking forward to making his favorite bacon–wrapped filet with blue cheese crumbles. ” While the food she was mentioning made my mouth water, I had stopped thinking about him for a few minutes and really didn’t relish the thought of explaining the situation to my parents. Especially when I wasn’t a hundred percent sure what the situation was.

  “He won’t be coming this trip.”

  “He won’t be at the wedding? Why not?” she asked with concern.

  “He got a last minute job and he had to fly out today,” I said, just now realizing I had no idea where he was flying to or where the job was.

  “That’s a shame.”

  “Yes, it is.” In more ways than one. I still couldn’t believe he had told Chris and hadn’t told me. It made me wonder if he would have told me at all if I hadn’t called him about Dirt. Speaking of which…“I do have some interesting gossip, though.”

  “And what’s the scoop?” my dad asked.

  “Dirt escaped from jail.”

  “What?” my mom exclaimed, dropping her fork. “Oh my goodness. When did this happen? What is this world coming to?”

  “This morning, according to the police.”

  “What are they going to do?” she asked.

  “Who? The police,” I said, grabbing a second helping of eggplant. A helping I shouldn’t have taken, since I had an already–tight dress to wear in a couple days, but right this moment I didn’t care.

  “Yes, the police. We can’t have a murderer running around loose.”

  “Of course not, Mom. I’m sure they’re looking for him.” While I didn’t want the third degree over this either, at least it got her off the Cooper subject.

  “You better be careful.”

  “I will, Mom. Stop overreacting.”

  “Your mom’s right,” my dad interjected. “It’s not something to take lightly. He has reason to not be very happy with you.”

  That was probably a bit of an understatement, but he was right. No matter what he had done, it was still hard to reconcile in my brain that the Dirt I had grown up with was now a convicted murderer.

  “I will. I promise. Now let’s eat some brownies.”

  An hour later, I was stuffed, the kitchen was cleaned up, and I had changed out of my jeans into yoga pants to better accommodate my full belly. I was sitting on the couch with my laptop, putting the finishing touches on my first food blog post when my phone buzzed. It was Tobey.

  “What are you doing?” I asked when I answered the phone. />
  “The question is what are you doing? Can you meet me?”

  “Now?”

  “Yes. Now!”

  Chapter 9

  What do you have for me?” I said, sliding in the booth at Betty’s, where Tobey had said he wanted to meet when he’d called me twenty minutes ago.

  He slid a piece of paper toward me with names on it.

  “What are these?” I asked.

  “Names of some former associates of Bethany’s.”

  I looked over the list where there were names of three females and two males. I looked back at Tobey. “I guess I’m just a tad confused. Why did you need to meet me just to give me this?”

  “Because I wanted to see your face in person when I told you what all these people have in common.”

  “Please tell.”

  “They were all arrested as part of a prostitution sting.”

  My jaw hit the floor. “You’re kidding me.”

  “No, I’m not,” he said with a smile, apparently getting the reaction he was looking for. “After you dropped me off, I decided to do some digging into Bethany’s past. She had worked at a real estate office in another town that’s no longer in business. When I checked into why, I found there had been an investigation into the business for suspected prostitution. These three ladies,” he said, pointing to the names, “were arrested for soliciting, and the two gentlemen on the list were the ones allegedly trying to hire them. There were more involved, but these folks were the only ones who were actually arrested.”

  “Allegedly? Meaning they weren’t convicted?”

  “Nope. The charges were dropped.”

  “Why?”

  “It doesn’t say.”

  “Then we need to find out,” I said. “It just seems in a small town that wouldn’t necessarily be something overlooked. Great work, Tobey. This really could have something to do with Bethany’s murder. If she worked there, maybe she was part of things? Do you have phone numbers, or better yet, addresses for any of these people?”

  “No, but we can find out that information fairly easily.”

  “Then do it. We can try and track them down tomorrow.”