Joe took my hand. “Okay.” He was more certain than I was.
I closed my eyes and concentrated on Joe and the senate race and our future. Sure enough, a vision filled my sight. I stood on a stage, waving to a huge crowed. Joe’s dad stood next to me, beaming from ear to ear. “I want to present the next Arkansas Senator to the United States, Joe Simmons!”
I waved to the roaring crowd again, then turned to my left. A very pregnant Hilary walked toward me, placing a kiss on my cheek. “I told you we could win this.”
“I never doubted you.”
My eyes flew open as my tears choked the words that came out of my mouth.
Joe looked scared. “What did you see?”
“You won,” I finally managed to say.
“The senate race?”
“I don’t know about this one. The one I saw was for the US senate.”
Joe still looked scared. “Are you really that upset about me running for office?”
“No, there’s more.”
He swallowed. “Okay.”
“You were married. To someone else.” I searched his eyes. “You were married to Hilary, and she was pregnant.”
Joe stood up, anger pouring out of his body. “No!”
I didn’t know what to say.
“I love you, Rose.” His words were muffled with tears. “I don’t love her.”
I still didn’t say anything.
“You know damn good and well that what you see doesn’t always come true. What was the vision you saw earlier?”
“My murder tonight. Rhonda shot me in the head.”
Joe pulled me against his chest. “Oh, God. Why didn’t you tell me?”
“There wasn’t time with the dinner and the announcement. Besides, I couldn’t see my face, so I didn’t know it was me until Mason called to check on me, and I told him there was someone outside and the police weren’t coming.” I bit my trembling lip. “I think we both knew it was similar to what happened to his sister.”
“So you talked about his side of things.”
“We’re friends, Joe. If it weren’t for Mason, I really would be dead right now.”
The door opened and the ER doctor came in, looking momentarily confused by how Mason had been replaced by Joe. “Ms. Gardner, we have good news. There’s no sign of concussion, but we’ll need to stitch up your head wound. It’s close to your hairline, so the scar should be hidden.” She came over and leaned me forward to examine my back. “These will hurt for several days but there’s nothing I can really do about it other than have you ice it and give you some ibuprofen.”
“Thank you.”
“We’ll be in to stitch you up in a minute, and then we’ll send you home.”
When she walked out of the room, I looked at Joe. “You’re right. My vision didn’t entirely come true. But a lot of it did.”
“We can change it, Rose.”
“Do you care about her?”
“We’ve known each other for a long time, so it’s hard not to hope she’s okay. But we’re over. Your vision is wrong.”
“Do you want to run for the senate, Joe? If your father and I weren’t involved, what would you want to do?”
He sat in the chair, his hands clasped under his chin but not looking at me. “I think I can make a difference.” But something in his voice told me he didn’t totally believe it. Why was he doing this?
I wanted to cry, but I held it together as a nurse practitioner walked through the door. “Let’s get you stitched up and send you home.”
Joe held my hand as the nurse put four stitches in my head. After I signed some paperwork, he took me home, and I promptly fell asleep on my bed after I changed out of the bloody underslip and into one of Joe’s T-shirts. Joe took care of Muffy, but I awoke when he climbed into bed beside me, pressing his stomach to my back and wrapping his arms around me.
“I love you, Rose.” He kissed my neck with a tenderness that brought tears to my eyes.
“I love you too.”
I only hoped it was enough.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
By nine the next morning, word had spread about my escapade the night before. I got out of bed and discovered Joe in the kitchen fielding a call from Violet.
“I don’t know all the details, Violet. I told you, I didn’t get here until she was in the hospital.” He was silent for a moment. “No. Mason knew where to find her. He got to her before the police.” I could see it pained him to admit it.
I walked over to him, and he snaked an arm around my waist, gently pulling me to him and kissing the top of my head.
“Thank you,” I mouthed.
He grinned and mouthed, “You can repay me later.”
My heart leapt, thrilled that my playful Joe was back.
“She won’t be in for the rest of the day. She still has to give a lengthy police statement.” He shot me a stern look, but the corners of his mouth lifted into the hint of a smile. “Apparently, she’s about to supply them with all the evidence Deveraux needs to try this case. But even when she’s done, she needs to rest. She’s pretty beat up.”
When Joe hung up, he turned his phone to vibrate and tossed it on the kitchen counter. Lifting my chin, he tilted my head one way, and then the other. “You look more beat up on the right side, but it obviously could have been much worse. And you have two horrible bruises on your back. You need to take it easy today.”
“If it means I get to spend the day with you, it sounds wonderful.”
His smile fell. “I’m going to have to run back to El Dorado in about an hour.”
My happiness burst. “So you’re really doing this?”
Fear and sadness flickered in his eyes. “Yeah.”
I wrapped my arms around his neck, burying my face into his chest. I was losing him. I knew it.
“What about the sheriff’s deputy job?”
He hesitated. “That’s on hold for now.”
I turned away from him. “I need coffee.”
“I’m going to make you breakfast too.”
“If you’re leaving in an hour, I’d rather just spend the time with you.”
“Okay,” His subdued tone matched my own.
A knock at the front door made me jump. Joe tenderly stroked my arm. “I’ll get it.”
He went to the front door, and I heard muffled voices while I poured a bowl of cereal.
“Rose, it’s for you.”
Worried it was Detective Taylor, I took my time getting to the front door, but I exhaled in relief when I discovered Bruce Wayne on my front porch.
When he saw me, he hung his head. “I’m sorry for stirring up so much trouble for you yesterday.”
I leaned against the doorjamb. “What happened to you? I was worried sick.”
“I got scared. I didn’t want to go back to jail.”
“But the waitress said you left with Sly and Thomas.”
His mouth dropped. “You haven’t been running around telling everybody that, have you?”
“Well…only a couple of people.”
“I heard you were planning on going out to Weston’s Garage.” His voice lowered. “It’s a good thing you didn’t. There’s a lot of people out there who don’t like you.”
I scowled. “Friends of yours?”
He shrugged. “They’ve helped me out from time to time.” He shuffled his feet. “Look, I left with those guys, but they didn’t force me. I wanted to go. They offered to hide me until this was over. I was okay.”
“You have to tell me the next time something like this happens, Bruce Wayne. You can’t leave me so worried.”
“I will, Miss Rose.” He paused. “So are we still doing the parsonage job or not?”
“I don’t know.” I rubbed my forehead and winced. “I’m sure Jonah’s busy dealing with the fallout of his mother’s arrest, not to mention he was shot in the arm. I’m not sure when—or if—he’ll want us back.”
He grinned. “Then we’ll just wait for the next job.�
��
“Yes, we will.”
“Oh, I heard about Christy taking you from the sheriff’s office at gunpoint. I’m not sure if you heard that Ernie arrested Christy yesterday afternoon. He found her high and shooting stop signs in Jonah’s neighborhood. Oh, and Jonah said he was reverting all of her property back to her because his mother had coerced Miss Dorothy into willing her things to the church. She wasn’t the only one, either. Miss Rhonda fooled a lot of people.”
“So I heard.” There was one piece of the puzzle I didn’t have the answer to yet, but I suspected Bruce Wayne might. “Do you know anything about the break-in at Miss Dorothy’s?”
His eyes widened, and he held his hands up. “I didn’t do it. I swear.”
“I know you didn’t do it, but I suspect you know something about it.”
He sucked in his lower lip and kept his gaze down. “Let’s just say it didn’t have anything to do with Miss Rhonda or Jonah, but it had a whole lot to do with the houses being empty.”
“Houses? You mean this isn’t the first time?”
His face lifted, and his eyes pleaded with mine. “Stay out of this, Miss Rose. You don’t want to get messed up with Crocker’s guys right now.”
So Crocker’s guys were breaking into the homes of the deceased, which explained the missing things at Miss Laura’s house too. The news didn’t surprise me at all. “Don’t worry, Bruce Wayne. I’m done solving murders. I’m officially just a garden shop owner. So be ready to get back to work soon.”
He grinned. “I will.” Shifting his weight, he hooked his thumbs on his pants. “You take care, Miss Rose. You’re one of the only people in this town who gave me a fair shake. Twice. I won’t ever forget it.”
“Thank you, Bruce Wayne.”
After he left, I found Joe in the kitchen making an omelet, his back to me. I knew him well enough to know that something was bothering him.
“I told you that you didn’t have to cook, Joe.”
“I know darlin’, but I wanted to make sure you ate something filling, something that’s not cereal.” Grabbing a plate, he slid the omelet out of the pan, setting it in front of me. He sat down next to me, looking uncomfortable.
I stabbed my eggs, taking a big bite, not realizing how hungry I was until the food was in my mouth. “Go ahead and spill it. I can always tell when you’re worried.”
“This senate race might be tight.”
My food felt like a bowling ball in my stomach. Would I ever be able to just eat a meal in peace? “I thought the race was unopposed.”
“Someone else is going to declare he’s running later this morning. Frank Delany. Delany’s a family man, so they’ll be comparing me to him.”
I glanced at the ring on my finger. “Is that why you asked me to marry you?”
“No. God, no.” He took my hand, searching my face. “I told you that I planned to ask you today. Before I knew about the senate race.”
“What does that have to do with what you’re worried about?”
“My mother is concerned.”
I set my fork down.
“You’re from a lower socio-economic class than the opponent.”
Resentment simmered in my gut. “And you.” I looked up at him. “I’m much lower than you.”
His eyes hardened with determination. And desperation. “But we can spin that as a positive. Look at the nursery that you and Violet started. Voters love that kind of stuff. I told my mother that you might actually be an advantage. We can pull in voters who relate to you and your humble roots.”
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. I squared my shoulders. “I believe your mother called it ‘poor white trash.’”
Joe cringed.
“Why are you doing this?”
He looked at me with a blank expression, but I could see the fear in his eyes.
“Where’s my Joe?” My voice broke. “Because he would never talk about using me for votes.”
Scrunching his eyes closed, he shook his head. “That all came out wrong. I’m doing this all wrong.”
“Joe McAllister couldn’t give two figs about a political office. Joe McAllister wanted to be with me and barbeque and take picnics and walk Muffy.”
He turned his head to look out the window.
“Your mother called me a pretty diversion from all the bad things that had happened to you this year.” I swallowed the lump of fear in my throat. “Is that true? Is that what I am to you?”
“God, no.” Pain and tears filled his eyes. “How can you ask that?” His hand tightened around mine. “Do you even know how much I love you?”
“You know, you were right.” I sat back in my chair, pushing my plate away. “You’re very obviously two different men. Joe McAllister—my Joe—and Joe Simmons—the man you’ve fought so hard not to be. You’re turning back into him.”
His face hardened. “You’re the one who told me there was only one me.”
He was right. And so was I.
“So you plan on using the story of our entrepreneurial spirit in the campaign?”
He hesitated. “If you agree.”
“What else do you want me to do?”
His jaw tightened and he refused to look at me. “You’ll need to distance yourself from characters like Bruce Wayne and David for a while.”
“And what about Neely Kate?” I asked without emotion. I couldn’t believe I hadn’t blown up yet.
From the way Joe was answering, neither could he. “I’m not sure yet.”
I tilted my head. “So I need to cut the few friends I have out of my life. Mason too?” When he didn’t answer, I swallowed my disgust, but kept my voice expressionless. “I guess I can work at the nursery since it will help your campaign.”
“For a while anyway, until we get married. We can’t live in Henryetta since it’s not in the same jurisdiction.” He wouldn’t look at me but his hand held onto mine as though he’d drown if he let go. “I guess we’ll live in El Dorado when we’re not in Little Rock.”
“Okay,” I said, waiting to see how far he’d take this.
“Okay?” his gaze swung back to me, his eyes wide. He stood and grabbed the edge of the counter in front of the sink, his back to me. “Are you even listening to what I’m asking you to do?” He spun around to face me, horror in his eyes. “Are you seriously considering doing it?”
My mouth dropped open, my head muddled in confusion.
“I’m sitting here listening to the words coming out of my mouth and even I can’t believe I’m asking this of you.” He ran his hands over his head, his face contorting in agony. “I can’t believe I even tried to make this work. I was so stupid. But I couldn’t face losing you.”
Fear coursed through my veins, and I stood in front of him. “Don’t do this, Joe. I know you. You don’t want to do this.”
“I’m not strong enough to fight them, Rose.” He shook his head, fighting his tears. “You’re the strong one. Not me.”
“What are you talking about?” I grabbed his hands. “That’s not true, Joe. I’ve spent four months with you. I know you.”
His eyes glassed over. “No. You knew the me I so desperately wanted to be. A man free to live his life without family obligations. Free to love you.” His chin trembled.
“They’re holding something over your head,” I whispered. “That’s why it took you so long last night. You were telling them no thank you, and they threw something bad at you to make sure you did what they said.” What could be bad enough to make him do this? “It’s about me.”
His eyes sunk closed.
“No more secrets, Joe. We can’t make this work if we have secrets.”
“You don’t want to know,” he pleaded. “Just let it go. Let me go.”
“Let you go? No! We can fight this together.”
“Rose, my parents are terrible people.” His face paled, and he rested his forehead in his palms. “It’s not just about you and none of it’s true. But the media doesn’t care. They’ll run
with it, and no one pays any attention to retractions.”
“What is it?”
“They’ve concocted some nonsense about Mike bribing county officials for his construction business.”
My heartbeat sped up. “Oh, that’s bad.”
“They have photos of Violet with Brody McIntosh coming out of a motel. They plan to say they had an affair and left their spouses for each other.”
“Oh, God.” They knew about Violet. I couldn’t let them expose her affair. My stomach tumbled. “What about me?”
“It’s not true.”
“I know. What is it?”
He looked green. “My father has set up an account in your name, and he had someone postdate the opening for last May.”
“Why would they do that?”
“He also postdated a money transfer for last May.”
“I don’t understand.” I was starting to panic, and I didn’t even know why.
“Rose, they transferred the money into one of Daniel Crocker’s bank accounts. They set it up to make it look like you hired Crocker to kill your mother.”
My head felt fuzzy, but Joe pulled me onto his lap as he sat down in a chair, his voice breaking. “I was gone so long because I begged and pleaded for them to not do this, not to take you away from me.” He looked down into my face, tears in his eyes. “You’re the only good thing I’ve ever had in my life. I want you. You have no idea how much I need you.” He stared into my eyes. “But I can’t destroy you.” He kissed me and moaned. “Oh, God. I can’t believe I even considered it.” He clung to me, crying into my shoulder. “If I love you, I’ll let you go.”
I shook my head, my panic rising. “No! I don’t want you to let me go.”
“If I don’t, they’ll destroy you. They’ve agreed for me to have a test engagement to see how the voters respond to you, but the things they expect you to do and not do will make you miserable. You’ll end up resenting me for it. The life they expect me to live isn’t you.”
I grabbed his face between my hands. “But it’s not you either. Can you tell me that you’ll be happy?”
“Rose, it doesn’t matter if I’m happy. My parents don’t care.”
“But I care. I can’t let you do this, Joe. I can’t let you throw us away.”
Thirty and a Half Excuses Page 30