by Jenna Harte
“I know. Randy said you recommended the lawyer.”
The image of Becca in AJ’s shirt flashed in my brain and I wished I’d asked for wine. Instead I took a sip of tea. “She’s AJ’s lawyer.”
“She seems on the ball.”
I nodded.
“I’m sure Randy would boink her in a minute.”
I nodded again.
Her head cocked. “You don’t think it was her, do you?”
Becca was too smart and sophisticated for someone like Randy, and I’m certain they’d never met before. Besides, she had her claws in AJ. “I doubt it.”
Vivie shrugged. “She got me out of jail so I’m not going to complain.”
“Are you still a suspect?”
She inhaled a breath. “Yes.” Then she leaned forward. “You were there, Sophie. At Marla’s. Did you see anyone else?”
“Junior Junior was there.” I watched her for her reaction.
Her head tilted. “He wouldn’t kill her.”
I shrugged. “I don’t know.”
Vivie waved a hand. “He was in love with her.”
My brows narrowed in curiosity. I don’t know why. Vivie was always on top of town gossip, especially the tales being told in Monticello Heights. “How do you know?”
“Because he told me. He does our yard work too.”
“I didn’t know you and Junior Junior were friends.”
She rolled her eyes. “You don’t have to pretend you don’t know, Sophie. Everyone knows he and I have had a few good times.”
“I wouldn’t think he was your type.”
“All that yard work makes him strong . . . buff. Junior Junior may not be the smartest guy, but he does know his way around a woman.” She waggled her brows suggestively.
I swallowed the ‘ew’ that bubbled into my throat. “Vivie, I have to be honest. I don’t understand why you’re upset at Randy when you have your own side dishes.”
“Of course, you wouldn’t understand. You’re a spinster.” Her eyes rolled at my naivety. “Randy brought a woman into our home. Into my bed, which, by the way, is out back and I plan to burn.”
Once again, the image of Becca and AJ, in his bed, came to mind. I wondered what he’d do if I burned his mattress. “So, you and Junior Junior . . .”
“Not in my house, no.” She pursed her lips as if I was being dense. “His family has that guest house at the back of their property where Junior Junior lives.”
“I see. So, you and Junior Junior were having a relationship, but he was in love with Marla?” I began to wonder if fidelity was a myth, all just fairy tales. Did everyone cheat?
“He and I were more like friends with occasional benefits.”
“Does the Sergeant Davis know this?”
Her eyes narrowed. “It’s none of his business.”
I winced, not wanting to tell her that the sheriff’s investigator would likely disagree. “It’s just that, it could give you motive.”
“What, why?”
“Jealousy.”
She laughed. “I’m not jealous of Marla. She was a couponing queen, but she didn’t have a lot going on for her outside that, bless her heart.”
“Do you know anything about her husband? No one I’ve talked to has ever met or seen him.”
Vivie thought for a moment. “You know, I haven’t either. He could have killed her.”
“Why, if he’s never there?”
“Maybe because of Junior Junior.”
“So, were they . . .?” I let the question hang.
She shook her head. “Nah, he wanted to do everything by the book with her.”
I sat back. “Does that mean there were no benefits for you anymore?”
“That’s right.” Vivie frowned. “Maybe she turned him down and he killed her.” But even as she said, her expression appeared to dismiss it and she shook her head.
“Ellie Tappen says they spent a lot of time together.”
Vivie’s eyes flared with heat. “Ellie Tappen should mind her own business. She’s the one that told on me, you know.”
“I’d heard that.”
Vivie pursed her lips and scoffed. “Talk about unseen husbands. No one has seen Al in ages.”
“He’s sick, Vivie.” Whenever I thought I could have a normal conversation with her, she always ended up being insensitive.
“If I had to live with her, I’d go cuckoo in the brain too.”
There was no use in trying to appeal to her sense of empathy or pity, because she didn’t have any. Before I could figure out what to say, the sound of the door opening had Vivie looking up toward the hall.
“Vivie?” Tracy’s voice floated to us. A moment later, she appeared. When she saw me, her face fell a little bit, and she immediately looked at Vivie as if to gauge if I’d told on her.
“Did you bring the lighter fluid?” Vivie asked.
Tracy nodded. “Yes. What are we burning?”
“My mattress. Oh.” She got up and went to the kitchen. She returned with a pair of black panties. Tracy went still and pale.
“Can you believe it? Whoever she is, she’s a cow. Look at the size of these.” Vivie dangled the panties between her thumb and forefinger like they had cooties.
For the first time that day, I laughed. It wasn’t appropriate. It just burst forth. Vivie smiled.
Tracy tensed. “Not everyone can be a size two, Vivie.”
“If it’s the last thing I do, I’m going to find out who these belong too.” Vivie waved the undergarment.
“Well, I should probably go. You and Tracy have things to do.” I stood.
“Get me some wine, Vivie. I’ll walk Sophie out,” Tracy said.
I figured she was going to try and talk me out of telling on her. I hadn’t told on her, so I didn’t know why she was worried. “She’ll figure it out, Tracy.”
“Not if you don’t tell her.” Tracy looked up the hallway presumably to make sure Vivie couldn’t hear. “It’s over between me and Randy.”
“That’s probably a good thing.”
Tracy gripped my arm. “Promise me you won’t tell.”
“I’m not going to promise anything.” I continued on before she could respond. “But I have no interest in any of this. Vivie wouldn’t believe me anyway, you know that.”
Tracy glared at me for a moment.
“Hey Tracy, let’s go set fire to my cheatin’ husband’s clothes. It will make good kindling for the mattress.”
I saw my chance to leave and took it. I wondered how long before a neighbor called the fire department. While outdoor burning was common in rural Virginia, it wasn’t approved in backyards of Monticello Heights.
I’d done my duty at Vivie’s although I wasn’t sure Randy would think so. I didn’t understand the two of them at all. Then again, I was no expert in relationships. Somehow, I’d gone from being blissfully happy with AJ to being single, I think.
I wanted to be angry that he’d turned this situation around to be my fault. I was mad, but the anger couldn’t replace the pain.
Needing a friend and an objective point of view, I headed to Lani’s townhome. I hoped she and Dwayne weren’t in the middle of anything important as I showed up unannounced. I couldn’t call because I couldn’t trust myself to not weep, and crying wasn’t conducive to driving.
“Hey girl.” Lani’s smile greeted me at the door. Immediately, her smile faded. “What’s wrong?”
“I think AJ and I broke up.” Saying the words out loud was my undoing, and I burst into tears.
“Oh honey.” Lani pulled me inside and into a hug. “Come in and tell me what happened.”
“I’m not interrupting?”
“When my friend’s in pain, I always have time.” She led me to the kitchen where she pulled out a bottle of wine
and two glasses. Then we went out on her back patio,
“Where’s Dwayne?” I asked as I sat in one of the resin chairs.
“He’s napping. I wore him out earlier.” She waggled her brows suggestively. I was happy that Lani and Dwayne had a good marriage. I was beginning to think they were the only ones that did. Except maybe Aggie and Earl. They appeared happy. Everyone else? It seemed like cheating and discontent was rampant. Even Aunt Rose, if Ellie’s story was right, was the victim of cheating. I was beginning to understand why she simply gave up on men.
Lani’s expression was sympathetic as she asked, “What happened?”
I explained about visiting AJ that morning and seeing him and Becca barely dressed, and how he got angry with me for not being more upset. I finished the story with his visit to the library and how he drove off angry at me.
“I don’t get how I’m the bad person here.” I looked into my wine glass and decided it probably wasn’t going to be enough as I took a large gulp.
“He said he loved you, right?”
I looked up at Lani. Of course, that’s the one bit of the story she’d focus on. She was a romantic. I suppose that’s partly why we were friends. She liked happily ever after stories like I did. However, in this moment, I could only stare at her.
She gave me a compassionate smile. “Honey, he was wrong to react the way he did, but it makes sense.”
“Really? How?” Maybe I just wasn’t cut out for having a relationship. Perhaps I should plan a life like Aunt Rose. She never married, and she was happy enough. She had friends and a full life.
“He interpreted your reaction to seeing him and Becca as not caring.”
“I told him I believed him. Should I have yelled at him?”
Lani smiled. “Probably. How did you say it?”
“What do you mean? I told him I believed him.”
“Were you sincere?”
AJ words came back to me. It seemed liked you didn’t believe it.
“He doesn’t seem to think so.”
“I know this is going to sound crazy, but many people equate the level of jealousy to depth of love. I know what you’re saying is that with trust you wouldn’t be jealous. The fact that your reaction was non-existent could make him think you’re not invested in the relationship. That you don’t love him back.” Lani cocked her head to the side. “You do love him, right?”
I nodded.
“Did you tell him that?”
Guilt pinched my gut as I shook my head. “In my defense, he was angry with me when he said he loved me.”
“That was the first time?” Lani’s voice pitched up in surprised.
“Yes.”
“You two have been dating for over two months and that’s the first time you’ve talked about feelings?”
I nodded.
“Honey, you need to go back and the two of you have to have a serious talk about how you’re feeling.”
“It didn’t go well in the library parking lot.”
“Except you two weren’t really talking, where you? At least you weren’t.”
I shook my head. “How come I’m the bad guy?”
“Oh honey, you’re not.” Lani patted my hand. “But you’re guarded. I don’t blame you. You’ve been through an emotional roller coaster. You have every right to feel wary about trusting someone. And seeing AJ and his lawyer like that, and his bad reaction, doesn’t help. I get that. But if you believe him and trust him, you should open up to him.”
“I did.”
“Did you? You didn’t tell him you loved him. You said he didn’t think you believed your own words when you said you trusted him.” She poured me another glass of wine. “Dwayne and I had all sorts of problems in the beginning of our relationship. It wasn’t until we agreed to lay our hearts out on the line, to be totally honest in sharing our feelings, good and bad, that our relationship really gelled.”
What she was saying made sense, but my stomach pitched at the idea of laying my heart on the line. Or giving my heart 100% to another. The data I had on love and romance skewed on the side of heartache. Maybe that was because most didn’t do what Lani and Dwayne did. I wasn’t sure Randy or Vivie knew what they were feeling, much less have the ability to share it.
I took another sip of my wine. “What if he’s done with me?”
“Then he’s an idiot and you’re better off without him.”
By the time I left Lani’s it was nearly six in the evening. AJ and I had planned to have dinner together. It looked like that wasn’t going to happen. Then again, I had to talk to him. I wanted to know once and for all where we stood and whether this fracture could be mended.
I looked in my review mirror and saw my weary bedraggled face. Deciding to regroup and clean up before heading to AJ’s (or maybe I was just procrastinating), I drove home. I hoped Aunt Rose would be occupied by the TV, because I didn’t think I could survive listening to her rant about how men were no good. She wasn’t necessarily wrong, but I wasn’t ready to give up on AJ.
As I reached the house, I saw AJ’s truck parked out front. My heart skipped a beat. Could it be he wasn’t ready to give up either?
In all our months of dating, AJ had avoided Aunt Rose, opting to wait for me outside. As I passed the truck to pull into the driveway, I looked at the driver’s side. It was empty. Was AJ in the house? With Aunt Rose?
I made my way up the walk and opened the door wondering what the heck I’d find when I did. I stepped through the door and looked to the living area where Aunt Rose and AJ sat at her dining table, each holding a hand of cards.
They both looked up as I entered. AJ stood, making me think of an 18th century gentleman.
“It’s about time you got home. AJ here said you didn’t have to work tonight. So, where you been, Sophie?” Aunt Rose drew a card from the pile in the middle of the table.
“I went to see Vivie and then I went to Lani’s.” My gaze held AJ’s or maybe his held mine. Whatever it was, I was transfixed.
“Vivie? I thought you didn’t like her.” Aunt Rose put the card in her hand.
“My boss asked me to check on her.” I didn’t want to mention Randy’s name as it might upset AJ.
“Well, AJ here has been waiting a long time. You’re not going to keep a boyfriend, Sophie, if you make them wait.”
“I’m not going anywhere.” His voice was soft, but firm.
My breath hitched as the grip of fear and pain on my heart loosened.
“Not until you play. It’s your go,” Aunt Rose told him.
AJ looked torn. I nodded that he should finish his card game. After all, it appeared Aunt Rose liked him, and she didn’t like anybody.
“I’m just going to get cleaned up,” I said.
“I should beat him by then,” Rose responded.
AJ gave me a wan smile and then sat. “You’re pretty sure of yourself, Ms. Parker.”
“I beat you the last two hands, why would this be any different, AJ?”
AJ looked over his cards. “You’re probably right.”
With a light heart, I went to my room, grabbed a change of clothes and then went into the bathroom. I looked bedraggled, but the spark was back in my eyes. I washed my face, combed my hair, and changed into white capris and a teal green sleeveless blouse. It was nice enough to go out to dinner, if that was still an option.
When I got back to the living room, Rose was stuffing the cards back into the box.
“Thank you for the tea, Ms. Parker.”
“You know you’d be better at cards if you focused more. But at least you don’t cheat.”
The word hung in the air.
AJ’s bright blue eyes looked directly into mine. “No, ma’am, I don’t.”
Aunt Rose put the cards in the drawer of her side table. “I’m going to make some dinner. You’re w
elcome to stay AJ. But no hanky panky.”
“Yes, ma’am. Thank you.”
Aunt Rose went to the kitchen, leaving AJ and me alone. The moment was awkward. I wanted to go hug him and tell him I was sorry, even though I was mad that he’d turned things around to make me look bad. He appeared unsure, as well, standing still, as if he was waiting for me to make a move.
“We can sit out on the porch, if you want. To talk.” I jerked my thumb over my shoulder pointing toward the porch.
He nodded.
Once outside, I sat on the wicker love seat, while AJ remained standing as he looked down on me.
“You’re pretty brave to play cards with Aunt Rose.” I wanted to lighten the mood, hoping it would make the conversation go easier.
His lips twitched upward slightly. “I think she likes me.”
“I think she does too.”
Aunt Rose earned her reputation as a cantankerous old bitty. She had no time for nonsense and wasn’t afraid to let people know it. The truth was, she was a good judge of character. I was sure she initially thought I was a crook like my family, and when she determined I wasn’t, she thought I was a ninny. Over time, she has come to realize that while I was sheltered and naïve, I was smart and resourceful, and our relationship has improved. Not that she won’t put me in my place if she thinks I’ve stepped out of bounds, but it was actually refreshing. I never had to guess what Aunt Rose was thinking or feeling about me, unlike AJ.
AJ remained quiet for a minute and then said, “I owe you an apology.”
“Oh?”
“I was angry, Sophie, and I took it out on you. I know how things looked and I hated it because I’d never cheat.”
My heart told me that was true, even as my brain reminded me that my own family was made of cheaters and thieves.
“Your reaction . . . I couldn’t figure it out. You said you believed me, but it didn’t sound true. I wasn’t sure if you didn’t believe me or was angry or if you just didn’t care. The idea that you didn’t care . . . when I care about you so much . . . I just went a little crazy.”
“A little?” I smiled.
“Okay, maybe a lot.” He sat down next to me. “I swear nothing happened. Becca and I are friends, and she’s my boss’ daughter, so I let her stay. That’s it.”