I hope we had a chance to say our goodbyes before I passed. I’ve grown very attached to you over the past few months.
As you might have guessed after our many “lessons” about plants and flowers, I was preparing you to take over my ownership of the nursery. If you’re feeling guilty about taking the kids’ portion, please don’t. I’ve asked Joe to give them his share when they’re old enough to own it outright. Joe’s an honorable man and he loves my kids, so I know he’ll agree. Trust me on all of this. It’s the best way to handle my money for now.
Rose will need your support when she discovers what’s on the zip drive, especially if her secret lover is who I suspect he is. The fallout from this will be far-reaching, but I’m sure Rose can handle it. Nevertheless, I would feel better knowing you had her back.
We shared our sisterhood with her—me of blood and you of heart—and I’m trusting you to step fully into my shoes now. I couldn’t have picked anyone better to be a sister to her.
Have a beautiful life, Neely Kate.
Violet
By the time I finished, tears were streaming down my face, the letter picking off the fresh scab of grief over Vi’s death. If I was hurting, I could only imagine how Rose felt. She was sitting in the chair, reading the paper with a trembling hand.
Joe had finished his letter too, and he shot me a grim look, his eyes glassy with unshed tears. “Any clues?”
“Maybe.” I sure didn’t want to say all of it out loud in front of Mr. Gilliam. He seemed kind and mostly clueless, but there were some secrets too important to risk revealing.
I was sure Joe understood my hesitancy, because he reached for the letter.
I was leery about him reading Violet’s reference to Rose’s secret lover, but I gave it to him anyway. He already knew Skeeter Malcolm was the father of Rose’s baby, so the cat had already run right on out of the bag.
He quickly scanned it, his frown deepening. His gaze lifted to mine, as though searching to see if I had any prior knowledge of any of this. He must have been satisfied with what he saw, because he turned to Rose, his brow lifted.
“We need to discuss all of this later,” she said, slipping her own note into her purse.
He nodded, then turned to Mr. Gilliam. “We’re gonna need to perform a sweep of your entire office.”
The forensics team showed up moments later and Joe made us all leave.
“Do you still want to go get those mani/pedis?” I asked Rose once we got into my car. “It might help take your mind off everything.”
“No,” she said, staring out the windshield. “I think I want to go home and take a nap.”
I studied her for a moment, worried about how distant she seemed. “Do you want me to come with you?”
“No,” she said. “I think I want to be alone.”
“Do you want to try to figure out what Violet had on the flash drive?”
“Yes, but not right now,” she said, leaning her head against the back of the seat. “I just need a few hours to be alone.”
“What was in your letter, Rose?” I asked, my concern growing.
She released a small chuckle and turned her head to face me. “Not much. Some sister stuff. She also said I’d understand why she left me everything except for the nursery after I saw the contents of the envelope.” Her eyes darkened. “Only I don’t know what was in the envelope, and somehow I doubt I ever will.”
“Maybe Mike stole it,” I said. “We can go question him and see what he knows.”
“I considered that,” she said, staring out the windshield again. “Trust me, I mulled it over. But ultimately, I don’t see how Mike could break into a safe. He just doesn’t have those kinds of skills. So the question is who knew Violet had something in her attorney’s safe?”
“Maybe we should question Mike anyway,” I said. “We need to find out what she had on him.”
She closed her eyes again. “Agreed, but he’s not going to tell me anything. I think the best thing I can do right now is take a nap.”
“When’s your next meeting with the underworld?”
“You’re suggesting I ask a barn full of hardened criminals if they stole an envelope from my sister’s attorney’s safe?”
“You are the queen,” I said. “No reason you shouldn’t take advantage of that.”
She nodded. “We’re having a meetin’ next Thursday night on Dermot’s land.”
Dark circles underscored her eyes, and my heart went out to her. This was one shock too many. “I’m gonna run you home.”
She shook her head. “No. Take me back to the office, and I’ll pick up Muffy and bring her home with me.”
“I can pick her up and take you both.”
“I’m perfectly capable of driving home,” she said with a small laugh. “Just drop me off at the office and I’ll be fine.”
“I’m worried about you, Rose,” I said softly.
Her forced smile faded. “I know, and I appreciate it.” She turned to me. “I’m just out of sorts. I’ll be fine in a few hours.”
“Rose, you’re allowed to be out of sorts. You’ve been to hell and back.” I grabbed her hand and squeezed. “Maybe we should go away somewhere. Like when we went to New Orleans.”
It wasn’t a good time to leave town. Not with the news Mason had given me, and definitely not in light of Kate’s reemergence, but if Rose wanted to get away, I’d go with her. That’s what friends were for.
She laughed. “We got into a heap of trouble in New Orleans.”
“I think us gettin’ into trouble is a given,” I teased. “We’ve never let that stop us before.”
She laughed again. “True enough. Still, I just want to go home.”
“Okay,” I said. “But if you change your mind, just say the word and we can go somewhere fun. Maybe up to a spa in Hot Springs.”
“You spoil me,” she said, sinking deeper into her seat.
“That’s the idea.” But this hurt was too deep to fix with a spa day.
Chapter 7
When I dropped Rose off at the office, I stuck around to make sure she got Muffy and took off okay. I considered following her anyway, but I really needed to see Jed.
His head was buried in an engine when I showed up at the garage he owned with my cousin Witt, and I couldn’t help taking note of the way his butt filled out his jeans. Jed Carlisle was a good-looking man and I very much enjoyed the view.
As though he knew I was watching, he stood and turned to face me, worry in his eyes.
“Hey, NK,” Witt called out. “What are you doin’ here?”
“I needed to talk to my boyfriend. Jed, got a minute?”
Jed grabbed a rag from under the hood and started wiping the grease from his hands. “For you? Always.”
Warmth washed through me. I was sure I’d never get used to how Jed made me feel—loved and cherished, as though I was the most important person in his world.
He walked toward me and leaned down and gave me a lingering kiss. When he lifted his head, he searched my eyes. “You okay?”
“I’m not sure.”
He nodded, then motioned to the picnic table under the big oak tree on the other side of the parking lot. We headed over there. He sat on top of the table and gestured for me to sit next to him.
“What did Kate say?” he said without preamble.
“There’s something else I need to tell you about first.”
“Okay…”
I proceeded to tell him everything that had happened at the attorney’s office. He listened, occasionally asking for clarification, then I pulled out the letter and handed it to him to read.
He pushed out a breath as he finished.
“Any thoughts on what was on the flash drive or who took it?” I asked.
He shook his head. “Nothing beyond what you’ve already thought about.”
“Do you know if Mike is tied up in Skeeter’s business?”
“Not that I know of,” he said. “But it turns out there was
plenty I didn’t know about.”
I rested my hand on his arm, the pain in his voice twisting my insides. “I’m sorry, Jed.”
He leaned closer and pressed his lips against mine. “I love you, Neely Kate.”
“I love you too,” I said. “And I think you might like the next thing I have to tell you.”
“Kate’s phone call?” he asked in surprise.
I dug out the copy of Ronnie’s marriage certificate and handed it to Jed.
He took the document and opened it, his eyes narrowing when he realized what he was reading. His gaze lifted to mine. “Kate sent you this?”
I wasn’t ratting out Mason, as guilty as I felt about not sharing the entire truth with Jed. “Kate dug it up.” Truth.
He frowned, examining the document again. “His marriage was pretty short. He was only married a month before he moved back to Fenton County.”
“Actually, his marriage has lasted longer than you think,” I said. “He never got a divorce.”
His face jerked up. “What? Are you sure?”
“Yeah,” I said. “Kate’s sure of it and I can’t imagine her lying over something like this.”
Shock filled his eyes. “Your marriage is null and void?”
I nodded.
He lifted me up and whirled me around before kissing me with fierce possession. When he pulled back, he was grinning. “You’re free.”
“I’m free,” I whispered. Then I remembered I wasn’t done. “There’s more, Jed.”
His smile fell. “With Kate, there always is.”
“She did some digging.” I told him about Ronnie’s arrest record and how he’d been arrested with a known Hardshaw associate. “Kate says Ronnie was working for Hardshaw when he came back to town. He was their plant with Mick Gentry,” I said. “He took off because he wasn’t doing a good enough job on his other assignment—reporting about me to Hardshaw.”
Jed was silent for a moment. “Ronnie moved back to Fenton County long before Kate started diggin’ up information on you in Ardmore. How did they already know about you?”
“I don’t know,” I admitted. “That’s part of what has me tied into knots.”
“So Ronnie came to town for Hardshaw.” His lips pressed together as he reasoned things out. “What I don’t understand is why he went through the show of getting married. Why not just keep datin’ you if he was sent here for you?”
Shame washed through me and my face flamed. “I pressured him into it.”
His gaze held mine. “Did you threaten to break up if he wouldn’t marry you?” he asked, already knowing the answer. We’d gone over my relationship with Ronnie with a fine-toothed comb searching for clues about why he’d left or where he might have gone.
“No. But I really wanted to get married.” I hung my head in shame.
He placed his fingers under my chin and gently lifted my face so he could search my eyes. “You wanted someone to love you, Neely Kate. There’s no shame in that.”
We’d had this conversation before too. “I was so stupid.”
A smile cracked his lips. “No. You just needed to be with a fool so you could appreciate me all the more.”
I laughed at that, amazed yet again that this man could chase my shame away so easily. “I love you, Jed.”
“I love you too.” His eyes burned with intensity, and while I’d constantly questioned whether Ronnie had loved me—with good reason, it turned out—I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that Jed loved me with everything in him.
“If Ronnie was tryin’ to find out information about me for Hardshaw,” I said, returning to the subject at hand, “then why did he never once ask about my time in Oklahoma or even hint that he was lookin’ for the money?”
“I don’t know,” Jed said. “And that worries me. I wish to God we could find him.”
“He was in Tulsa last week,” I said. “Kate saw him on surveillance footage in a pharmacy there. With his…wife.” The word felt foreign since it wasn’t describing me.
“Neely Kate,” Jed said in a soothing tone. “How are you feelin’ about all of that?”
“I don’t know,” I admitted. “Part of me is happy that I’m free of him, but at the same time, I’m not. There’s still a lot of questions.”
“Agreed.”
“Maybe we should look at the money again,” I said.
“You think it changed since the last time we examined it?” he said with a hint of amusement.
“No, but I feel like we should be doin’ something. I don’t like bein’ a sittin’ duck.”
He wrapped an arm around me, pulling me close. “I know. I’m sorry.”
“This isn’t your fault.”
“I should have seen what Skeeter was doin’. Hardshaw’s been systematically weaselin’ their way into the county and I never caught on. Not once.”
“Do you really think he’s been workin’ with them for three years?” I asked, still confused over that. It implied a shocking kind of premeditation.
“I didn’t know much about it, in fact, none of our guys did, but he’d been buyin’ prescriptions from Dr. Arnold for three years. The pharmacy filled ’em and Skeeter sent them to a buyer in Dallas.”
“Didn’t you wonder what he was up to?”
“Of course, especially since he was pullin’ back on illegal activities and focusin’ on legal ones. But even so, he never took his eyes off the prize.”
“And what was that?” I asked.
“Bein’ the king of Fenton County. He wanted it bad enough he considered startin’ his own war against Crocker, but I convinced him to hold out for Crocker to fall on his own.”
“Are you sure he’s been workin’ with Hardshaw? I just…” I hardly knew Skeeter Malcolm, but Rose had been exposed to a side of him most people never saw and the news had sent her reeling. I couldn’t help wondering if we were all speculating without any confirmed proof.
Jed’s eyes hardened. “Neely Kate, it all makes sense now. He always said if it came to a war with Crocker, he had backup he could pull in, but I never once suspected he’d been negotiatin’ with someone bigger.”
“Still…”
Jed gave a slow shake of his head and said in a defeated tone, “Neely Kate. I don’t want to believe it either, but he’s workin’ with them.”
I wrapped my arms around his neck and pressed my body against his, burying my face into him.
His arms engulfed me in an embrace, although he tried to keep from touching me with his still-greasy hands.
“I’m sorry,” I murmured.
“It’s not your fault,” he said gruffly.
“No, but I’m still sorry you’re hurtin’.”
He squeezed me tighter. “I got out, Neely Kate, but I’m scared to death I’m gonna get sucked back in.”
I pulled back to face him with a questioning look.
“This won’t end well.”
“You mean tryin’ to keep Hardshaw out?” I asked. “Why isn’t the sheriff’s office doin’ anything about it? Maybe we should be sharin’ some of this information with Joe.”
“We can’t tell him and you know it,” he said. “In fact, his close proximity to Rose is makin’ people nervous.”
“When you say people, you really mean criminals, I presume.”
“That’s a given,” he conceded.
I’d been afraid of that. “That’s why you want to talk to Rose and Joe tonight.”
He nodded with a grim look.
“I’m not sure how she’s gonna take that. Part of the reason she’s tellin’ people Joe’s the father is to keep the criminals from thinkin’ it’s Skeeter’s baby.”
“That part’s a smart move. We need to push the idea that this baby is Joe’s and push it hard.”
“What if Skeeter changes his mind and claims it?” I asked.
He hesitated. “I doubt he will. For one, he’s made it very clear he doesn’t want kids.”
“But this is Rose we’re talkin’ about,” I prote
sted. “Things are different. He cares about her.”
He hesitated. “I don’t know, Neely Kate. I’d like to say he cares about her enough to let her be, but now that she’s practically declared war on him…” He leaned forward, resting his forearms on his thighs. “None of this is ideal.”
“Do you think we made a mistake, Jed?” I asked in a whisper. “Encouraging her to be the queen?”
“If I had to do it over again, I’d encourage her to do the same thing. As queen, she has worth, if for no other reason than that she’s turned on Skeeter and those men see it as a feather in their cap. They’re gonna want to keep her around. But if she looks like she has a soft spot for him…” He turned to look at me, worry in his eyes. “All bets are off.”
Chapter 8
I spent the rest of the afternoon catching up on the bookkeeping, then headed back to the farm. Rose was still sleeping in the room she’d used while Violet had been ill, and Carly had left the nursery early to start dinner.
“Need help?” I asked when I went into the kitchen to check on her.
She flashed me a warm smile. “I’m just making Spaghetti Bolognese, garlic bread, and a salad. I’ve got the sauce and water simmering, and the bread ready to go in the oven.”
“I can put the salad together,” I volunteered.
Her smile wavered for some reason, but then she nodded. “Let’s do it together.”
“Sounds good.”
She already had the ingredients on the counter, so we worked together to wash and chop the vegetables.
I started peeling a carrot. “How was your first day back at the nursery?”
“Good,” she said, but the knife clattered out of her hand and she had to pick it up again before resuming her task. “Weird. I kept feeling like I was supposed to be somewhere else.” She flashed me a sad smile. “I was supposed to be with Violet.”
I wrapped an arm around her back and leaned my head against hers. “She loved you, you know.”
She released a short laugh. “I loved her too. I had no idea I could get attached to people so quickly, especially…”
“Someone who was dyin’?” I asked.
She hesitated. “That makes me sound terrible.”
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