by Misty Simon
“Ivy.” She tried to do some head-toss thing, but her blond hair was styled to within an inch of its life, so it didn’t move an iota. “I hear you’re the suspect this time, huh? And out blow-drying your lawn instead of trying to lay low.”
“It was vacuuming, not blow drying.” Good work; that ought to change her mind, make her believe I wasn’t an idiot.
“Whatever. All I know is people didn’t like you before—me included—and now you go and get yourself in trouble again. Even after I befriended you.”
Whoa! Slow this freaking horse down. Befriended? I would have never guessed she even knew the word, much less had the ability to use it correctly in a sentence. All right, I was being mean, but she had smiled at me once—and then snickered behind my back because she and her boyfriend were pulling one over on me. Befriend, my tushy. “Really?” was all I said.
“Yes, really. I can believe you’d hurt someone like Tarrin, because she could have driven any of us to murder. Lord knows how that cute fiancé of hers put up with her. But vacuuming your leaves? I gave you more credit for sense than you were worth.” She huffed away amid snickers from other tables.
The whispering started immediately, but every time I turned around to find out who it was, no one was talking. I asked Bella if she could see who the culprits were, but she said her lips were sealed.
“Some friend you are.” I was kidding, sort of.
“I am being a friend. The more ammunition you give them, the more they’ll tease you. If you let it go, I’m sure it will die down in ten or twelve years.” The snickering came again, but this time I was staring right at the culprit.
I started snickering, too. I’d have to laugh at this if I planned on living through it. I’d seen the humor earlier; I’d just keep it close to the surface and ride the wave. Yeah, or so I told myself.
“Did you hear what she said about Tarrin, though? That was a low blow, and the poor woman is dead.”
We hadn’t talked about the Tarrin angle when Bella and I had made up, and I was leery of bringing the subject around again. We were just getting back to even footing. But I’d promised myself I wouldn’t shy away anymore, so I glided around the edges of what I really wanted to say. Hey, at least I tried. “Bella, I think you saw a different side of Tarrin than most other people did.”
“Are we back to that again?”
My kettle was steaming a little, but I managed to smooth the frown from my face. “No, I was simply trying to tell you not everyone thought of her as you do.”
“Well, I don’t want to argue, so let’s drop it and order some food to go with our drinks.”
I shouldn’t have let her off so easily, but I didn’t want waves the first night out. We ordered another round of the fruity stuff, and some buffalo wings, without any more interruption. A few very mature people made vacuum sounds as they passed by, and one person asked if I was going to open a lawn manicuring service as a side business to the Masked Shoppe. Hardy-har-har.
To distract myself, I spent time coveting Bella’s dangling earrings, then took in her outfit. I’d been so preoccupied with all the comedians, I hadn’t really seen her clothes. “Are you on the prowl tonight, or what?” I asked her, eyeing the low, scoop-necked, fire-engine-red sweater she was nearly popping out of.
“Just because you’re not willing to flaunt it ’cause you got it doesn’t mean the rest of us can’t.” She smiled to take the sting out of her words, and I blew out a relieved breath when I didn’t immediately get bent out of shape.
“You look good enough to eat.”
A shiver raced its way down my spine. Would I never get used to Ben whispering things like this in my ear? And did I really want to? I turned in my captain’s chair at the glass-topped table made from a ship’s wheel and kissed him with a fervor I usually reserved for peanut butter chocolate ice cream. He seemed caught off guard for a second at my unusual public display of affection. But then, Ben being Ben, he got right into the action. Before I knew it, his tongue was in my mouth and I was nearly bent double over the back of the chair. Why wasn’t I having hot monkey sex with this man? Oh, right, the whole murder mystery thing. Damn my recalcitrant libido.
When I finally came up for air, it didn’t seem worth it. I could have gone on kissing him for hours. The bar had warmed ten degrees in the last few seconds, and I didn’t think it had anything to do with the number of people seated around us.
“Hey, Ben,” Bella said.
He gave her the eye until I gave a small shake of my head, letting him know it was all okay and I’d talk with him about it later. I assumed he got my attempt at mental telepathy, as he smiled at me and then at her before giving her a quick one-armed hug across the table.
“So, what are you two lovely ladies out doing tonight?”
“Getting in trouble,” Bella replied, toasting him with her fruity drink.
“Can I get in on the action?” he asked.
“Not tonight,” Bella said. “Tonight is for female bonding, and when Ivy last checked you were all male, from what I understand.”
His laugh bounced around the table and made me lighter in the heart. Here were my two best friends in the whole world—one of whom I would hopefully have as a lover soon—and we sat at the table laughing and joking. Life didn’t get much better than this.
Chapter Thirteen
Because this was my life, the euphoric feeling didn’t have a chance. Not two minutes later, Chad Darmore, Tarrin’s good-looking fiancé, sauntered up to the table. There really wasn’t another word for it. His long-legged gait was loose enough to suggest a masculine confidence that pulled the ladies’ eyes, while the way he carried himself transmitted a cocksureness that was hard to dismiss. If I didn’t know what a jerk he was, I would have had a hard time pulling my eyes away from him.
As it was, one lady did a double-take and managed to smack right into one of the handles on the ship’s wheel sticking out from a table. It looked as if all the air left her lungs, and she wobbled on her feet. Chad breezed right past her, not even sparing her a glance. His eyes were completely set on, and full of, Bella.
For her part, Bella grabbed my hand under the table and squeezed so hard I felt bones grind against each other. Ow! “Are you okay?” I whispered low enough for only her to hear.
“No, I don’t think I am. Please don’t leave me.”
“I never would,” I told her and patted her hand once she let go of mine. “We’ll take care of him.”
“Bella,” Chad said when he closed in on our table. “I need to talk to you. Alone.”
“Not possible,” I said.
“I wasn’t speaking to you,” the pompous ass said, looking down his nose at me. He took me in from head to toe and apparently found me lacking, as he turned his back to me and sniffed. Jeez, I thought people only did that in the movies. Well, he’d just made it firmly onto the top of my shit list, right next to the person who was trying to frame me for murder.
“I can speak for myself, Ivy, but thank you.” Bella patted my hand this time and turned to Chad. “No, Chad, anything you have to say to me can be said in front of Ben and Ivy.”
His expression sharpened, his eyes narrowed. “I need to speak with you in private. Now.” He looked ready to hit something, but Ben stood up and got in his face.
“You’re going to want to step down, man.” Oh, my. Forceful Ben had emerged, and my pulse spiked right up. I never said I wasn’t perverse. I don’t think it would have done it for me if the attitude was directed at me; however, it wasn’t, so it worked. I contemplated ogling him, maybe even leering, but it looked like he would be too busy to notice.
Chad made a fist and, before I could blink, he swung. During the blink, I heard a fist connect and thought the worst. But the thud from the ground jerked my attention down, and I saw Chad sprawled on the wooden floor, his eyes closed and a red mark blooming on his jaw. That was going to hurt when he came to, and I’d missed the whole thing. I had to learn to not blink next time somethi
ng exciting happened.
Ben hauled Chad up while he was still groggy, and two other men came over to help him. For a minute I was afraid Ben was going to take him out back and finish what he’d started. I didn’t want him to get into trouble, so I followed, with Bella trailing close behind.
“Ivy, go back to the table,” Ben said without turning his head.
I didn’t do orders well anymore, and that had sounded perilously close to an order. “No.”
At least I got his attention enough to turn his head. Unfortunately, his tone only became harder. “Go. Back. To. The. Table.” His teeth clenched around each word and his eyes went slitty like Chad’s had been only moments before. Involuntarily, I took a step back, right into Bella. We both froze on the spot. What the hell was his problem, and why had he treated me to the glacial stare and tone?
My plate overflowed with this kind of crap. I certainly didn’t need it from him, too. “Why are you acting like this?”
“I’m sorry, Ivy.” His grip slipped on Chad’s arm and he scrambled to pick him back up again. Ben’s huff was pure frustration, but his tone gentled when he spoke again. “I’d appreciate it if you would stay in here while I get Chad into the car and have Harry here run him home. I didn’t want you to see it if he got out of control again. I was trying to protect you.”
Well, what an effective way of taking all the wind out my sails and making me feel about an inch high. On the one hand, I wanted him to want to protect me. On the other hand, I wasn’t some girly-girl who needed to be sheltered from everything. I’d save that dilemma for another day and concentrate on the one going on right now. “We’ll go back to the table, but please don’t get into any trouble out there, okay?”
“I won’t,” he said, leaning over to kiss me with poor black-and-blue Chad between us.
Ben and his friends made quick work of escorting Chad out the door, while Bella and I went back to our little round table. Many glances wandered in our direction, and I wished I could tell what they were all thinking. Was I the consummate troublemaker? Why did there seem to be so many fights and issues since I came to town? Maybe they were thinking these things. Then again, maybe they were thinking I was the leaf whisperer and they all wanted my clean front yard even if they weren’t willing to embarrass themselves with a vacuum as I had. Take your pick.
I positioned my fleshy rear end in the chair and prepared to wait for Ben to return from the parking lot. I avoided Bella’s gaze until she cleared her throat for the third time and pinched my arm to get my attention. “What?”
She smirked at me. “So what was that all about?” Crossing her arms over her chest, she leaned forward and looked for all the world as if she’d stay there for days waiting for my answer.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Sure you do. Ben gets all manly, you start to melt, he takes charge and tells you what to do. And here you sit like the good little woman, waiting for him to come back from his jaunt into the parking lot like a caveman.”
Speechless, I sat there, not moving at all. Had I really turned into the little woman? No, no, I hadn’t. But how could I make Bella believe it? “I am not a little woman.” Okay, not exactly what I’d meant to say. I cleared my throat while Bella grinned. “What I mean is, Ben and I don’t have the kind of relationship involving little women and the cavemen who tell them what to do or think. I chose not to go outside.”
“Uh-huh.”
“I did.”
“I believe you.”
“Then why does your voice tell me anything but? You don’t have to understand, necessarily, but I’d hoped you would support me in my decision.”
“What decision?”
“The one where I decided to stay inside instead of going out to witness Chad being stuffed into a car.”
“Oh, that one. Well, I certainly can understand how you thought you were making a decision when actually Ben made the decision for you.” She sat back, another smug smile on her face and her arms casually resting on the padded armrests.
“I thought we were back on friendly terms,” I said, miffed she was attacking me. The noise in the pseudo-nautical bar had gone back to normal after all the commotion. I was concentrating so hard on this conversation, I barely noticed.
“We are.”
“Then why are you being so catty?”
“And tell me why truthful is now the new catty?”
“Look, all I’m saying is we barely got back on speaking terms and you seem to be attacking me.” I took up my own sullen position in the chair.
She had the audacity to laugh. “I was testing you.”
“Testing me? Why?” Baffled didn’t begin to cover how I felt at that moment.
“Because you may not be wearing brown today, but I wanted to make sure you were back on track to the Ivy I saw emerge last month. I’ve been worried about you, and this opportunity seemed to drop right into my lap to see if you were backsliding.” The old-timey jukebox in the far corner kicked on, drowning out my curse. “Yep, you’re back.”
“I never left,” I grumbled, hating that I grumbled and yet oddly pleased I’d passed the test.
“I’m sorry, Ivy. I worry about you and want you to have all this confidence on your own. Self-confidence is with you all the time, not only when things are going right.”
I’d think about her last statement later, because Ben walked in the door and homed in on our position. He looked good enough to eat, walking with his long-legged stride, but even he was being a pain in the ass right now. When had my life taken such a downturn that Bella was testing me and Ben was ordering me around?
I decided to take them both on at the same time and not put off thinking about their individual attitudes. Once Ben sat down, I pulled out all the stops and went right for the jugular. “I have something I want to say to both of you now that we’re all together. Ben”—he gave me a slightly panicked look—“I have never and will never need you to tell me what to do or how to do it. I appreciate your protective streak and think it is really sweet, but do not ever do that to me again. I don’t want a keeper, I want a partner. I thought we’d worked this out before, but apparently you need a reminder.” He sat sputtering, while Bella clapped.
I turned my eyes to her and she stopped, gulping. “And you. You are more than welcome to continue to help me find myself. In fact, I adore you for it, but the last thing I need right now is to have my best friend testing me in the interest of my self-confidence. I know I have work to do and am willing to do it. But I also need your friendship, not your censure. I have never played games and don’t intend to start now.”
The whooping started immediately. Ben and Bella raised their glasses in a toast to me, eyes shining and smiles wide. Why these two idiots were so proud of me for taking them each down a peg was yet another facet of deep friendships I didn’t understand. But at least now I had two wonderful people to figure it out with. Was this the kind of relationship Bella and Tarrin had enjoyed?
I remembered Ben’s comments about the dead woman, how selfish she could be, and impulsive. Was that why she’d been killed? She’d pissed someone off enough to choke her?
I threw the idea onto the table along with the empty wing plate, knowing this wasn’t necessarily the best place to talk about such things. But we were here, and I doubted a better time would present itself any time soon.
“I’d believe it,” Ben said.
“Not possible,” Bella said at the exact same time.
They looked at each other, disbelief plain on each of their faces. “What?” came in stereo from both of them.
“Why impossible?” Ben got his question in first and Bella stared at him like he’d grown a second head.
“You knew her better than I did, Ben, and you knew what a nice, sincere person she was. How can you say you believe she’d irritate someone enough they’d murder her?” Bella’s perfect eyebrows rose into her mahogany hair and her eyes widened.
“Yeah, Bella, I knew he
r better than you, and I absolutely believe she could have caused that kind of reaction. I would never condone murder, but she had me thinking about it a time or two when we were dating. She was so jealous of you; I’m surprised your ears didn’t burn right off your head.”
“What? When?” The baffled look Bella wore only got worse. It appeared this was hitting her out of left field, and I really felt bad for a moment. It was hard to have your world turned upside down. But how could she have been so blind? Then I thought about how hard she’d said her divorce was. I guess she’d needed a friend so badly, at that time, she’d been oblivious as long as Tarrin stood up for her and stood by her.
“For as long as I knew her. She was always going on about how perfect you thought you were and how you needed to be taken down a peg.” Ben rested his elbows on the table and started pulling the label off his beer. “I was surprised when you became friends during your divorce. She and I weren’t talking by then, but I still heard some of the things she said about your weight and how that was your comeuppance.” He shot me a cheesy smile and I mouthed “good word” and blew him a kiss.
Bella didn’t seem to notice our exchange, and I was grateful. The last thing I wanted was for her to think we were laughing at her. My (I hated to use the word pity, but I couldn’t think of anything else) pity for her increased. To find out someone you thought was your friend, someone you trusted and leaned on during a hard time, was in actuality laughing behind your back and feeding on your misery was horrible. I couldn’t even begin to imagine what Bella must be going through right now.
“That skinny-assed bitch.” Apparently anger was first on the list. “If she weren’t already dead, I’d kill her.”
We all sat for a stunned minute before I had the most inappropriate response to her outburst—I giggled. I hadn’t really meant to laugh, but I hadn’t been sure what Bella’s response would be to finding out she was lied to.
“Now, Bella,” Ben said, laying a hand on her arm, “you don’t mean that, and this isn’t the right place to say those things.”