The Red Hat Society's Acting Their Age

by Regina Hale Sutherland

  She didn’t know why she was at all surprised to find Cade standing on the other side of the door. Still, her heart skipped at the sight of the steady gray eyes staring back at her from beneath the brim of his Stetson. “Hi,” she said.

  “Morning.” His warm breath hit the cold air in feathery white puffs. He handed her a newspaper. “Aubrey Ricketts said he was taking this out of your front flowerbed a few minutes ago when he heard you scream. He’s worried about you.”

  She made a frustrated sound. “I screamed because he was staring in my window. What was he doing picking up my paper, anyway?”

  Cade smiled. “You know Aubrey.” When Mia didn’t smile back, he continued, “Aubrey said he sees you every morning on your way to work. When he didn’t today, he made a spin by here to make sure—”

  “What?” Mia interrupted. “That the paperboy wasn’t holding me hostage?”

  “Just to see if you were okay, I guess.” His eyes gleamed. “He means well, Mia. And why wouldn’t he be worried?” Reaching into the pocket of his coat, Cade pulled out a pair of tiny, hot pink thong panties, brand new, the tag still on them. “He found these in the flowerbed, too.”

  “Oh . . . um . . .” She stared, mortified, at the lace-trimmed satin strip dangling from his fingers. The new panties Rachel coerced her into buying with claims that she had been “the onlygirl in the whole stupid school” who didn’t own a pair.

  Mia remembered Aggie dropping a sack in the driveway yesterday when she’d been transferring her new purchases from the Tahoe to the Blazer. Rachel’s panties must have been in with Aggie’s things. It was dark at the time, and she could have easily missed them if they’d fallen out.

  Cade cleared his throat. “These yours, by chance?”

  “Um . . . yes.” She snatched them from his hand, glanced up at him just long enough to see his brows lift.

  “Guess you were right when you said I don’t know everything there is to know about you.” He cleared his throat again, and she had the distinct impression he stifled a laugh. “I see you used that purple polish.”

  Mia’s face burned. “I bought the panties for my niece, Cade. It’s her birthday next week. Not that it’s any of your business.”

  “You have a niece? I thought you were an only child? Dan, too.”

  Damn him. He might not know everything about her, but he knew too much. “Well, thanks for checking on me,” she said, dodging his question. “Tell Aubrey not to worry.” She backed up and started to close the door. “I’m going in. I’m cold.”

  “Really? I’m a little warm, myself.” His teasing eyes slid to the panties she held. “Why aren’t you at work? If you don’t mind my asking.”

  “I’m going in later. I woke up with a headache.”

  “Those seem to be going around.” He tipped his hat and grinned. “Later, Mia. Hope you enjoy your new clothes.”

  Still grinning, Cade sat in his truck out in front of Mia’s house. If his mama hadn’t raised him to be a gentleman, he would have asked Mia to model those panties for him.

  His grin fell away. Damn, he hated this. The games. He and Mia dancing around one another. Getting nowhere. What did she plan to do? Hide that runaway girl until she turned eighteen? He always thought Mia had more sense. What she and the other women were doing could only end one way. In trouble.

  Mia could be stubborn. She’d proven that over the past few months of him asking her out and her turning him down. Maybe he should just give up on that. The timing had never been right for them.

  Back in junior high, he’d had a thing for her, but had been too young and too nervous to do anything about it. By the time they reached high school, they wanted different things. Mia was the type of girl who went steady; he played the field. Oh, they’d flirted and teased, but she had a boyfriend and he had his eye on various members of the cheerleading squad. Then they went away to different colleges and she fell in love with Dan, while he fell for Jill. Now, he was a lawman, and she’d become a lawbreaker.

  Maybe friends were all they were ever meant to be.

  Cade put the truck in gear and pulled away from the curb. Sooner or later, Mia would slip up. Or Aggie or Leanne would. Then what? He’d arrest them? It wasn’t his place to give preferential treatment or bend the rules if he thought them too harsh. But could he really arrest Mia?

  Back at his office, Cade finished up some paperwork, answered a few calls, tended to business in general. At ten, he stopped by the Brewed Awakening to have a cup of coffee with the group of old geezers who gathered there every day to chew the fat and pass the time.

  “Well, what do we have here? Who’s your new employee, Leanne?” he asked, appraising Aggie head to toe when she came up front. Her hair was no longer gray and she wore blue jeans and a tiny pair of red glasses. “I like the new look, Aggie.”

  She blushed and smiled shyly. “Why, thank you, Cade.”

  From the corner table, Tom Pellinger said, “She looks ten years younger, doesn’t she, Sheriff?”

  Cade nodded. “At least.”

  Beaming, Aggie waved away the compliment. “Oh, go on, you two.”

  “No joke, Aggie,” Henry Kroger piped in. He hooted a laugh. “I bet Roy’s wearing himself plumb out chasing you around the house.”

  Cade paid for his coffee then joined the chuckling old men at their table. Over the top of his raised cup, he watched Aggie and Leanne behind the counter. They had their heads together and were talking quietly. Leanne glanced his way, tension radiating from her eyes. He was the cause of it. No doubt about that.

  The bell over the door jingled, and Roy Cobb walked in. He didn’t bother to say hello to Cade or the other men in the corner. With a sour expression on his face, he headed straight for the counter, his gaze on his wife.

  “Hi, Roy,” Leanne said.

  Aggie glanced up. “Roy . . . what are you doing here?”

  “Had to come into town for some supplies. Why aren’t you answering your cell phone?”

  “The battery’s dead. I forgot to charge it last night.”

  Leanne frowned at him. “You could have called the shop phone.”

  “The damn line was busy.”

  Aggie polished a spot on the counter with a paper towel. “What do you need?”

  Roy jerked off his John Deere hat and barked, “Do I need a reason to talk to my wife all the sudden?”

  Beside Cade, Tom Pellinger winked at the rest of the Coots and called out, “Can’t blame ya for keepin’ an eye on her, Roy. Aggie’s turnin’ heads today, that’s for sure.”

  George Humphrey, the baldest of the group, added, “People’ll be thinkin’ she’s your daughter, old man.”

  Roy scowled over his shoulder at them, his face flushed cherry red. He returned his attention to Aggie. “What time you plannin’ to be home?”

  “I don’t know. I’ll probably work a little late, and then I have some things to take care of in town. Why?”

  Roy’s eye twitched. He cast a look back at the Coots, faced Aggie again, then muttered something that Cade couldn’t hear.

  Her chin lifted. She narrowed her eyes. Roy turned and stomped out of the shop.

  Ten minutes later, Aggie left out the back way.

  Cade waited a minute before leaving, too. He drove a back way to Mia’s and broke the speed limit getting there. Parking the truck around the corner at the far end of the block, he walked the alley then stood at the side of a house three doors down. He watched the front of Mia’s place and waited. Sometime after he’d left her porch this morning, she had pulled her Tahoe out of the garage. It sat in the driveway now.

  Moments later, Aggie eased her Blazer into the driveway beside Mia’s Tahoe. As if someone had been watching for her, the garage door went up then closed behind her after she pulled the Blazer inside.

  Cade counted to twenty. Mia came out the front door, climbed into her vehicle and left. He waited until she was out of sight before walking down the block to the house. Stepping onto the front porch
, he rang the doorbell, waited a full minute then rang it again.

  Nobody answered.

  It was time to pay Roy Cobb a little visit, Cade decided. Drop a few hints. Ask a few questions. Make certain the man caught another whiff of suspicion. Cade knew Roy; the man would sniff that scent to its source, no matter how much trouble it might cause with Aggie.

  Chapter 11

  Aggie couldn’t sleep. She turned on the light over the stove, illuminating the dark kitchen. Lifting the cordless phone from its cradle, she sat at the table facing the window and dialed Mia’s number.

  Outside, West Texas wind-blown snow sifted down from the roof. Sometimes she hated the Panhandle’s harsh weather, the brutal winters, the scorching droughts of summer. The extremes didn’t make a farmer’s life easy.

  But she loved the windswept land, the velvet darkness of a snowy night. The vast landscape made her all the more aware of her little place on earth, her moment in time. It passed too fast; she knew that now. And she was through sitting idly by while it did.

  When Mia picked up, Aggie glanced over her shoulder toward the kitchen doorway to make sure Roy hadn’t heard her slip from bed. “What are y’all doing?”

  “Rachel and me?” Mia sounded baffled. “Getting ready for bed, Aggie. What are you doing? It’s after ten. You’ll never get up in the morning if you don’t go to sleep.”

  “I can’t. All that baking with Rachel this afternoon was more fun than I’ve had in years. Did she decide on any more recipes to try out tomorrow?”

  “After today, we have enough brownies and bourbon balls to last through next week.” Mia laughed. “Rachel’s really getting into this, though, and I hate to stop her. After she washed and folded the tablecloths and cup towels I brought home from the shop, she spent the rest of the evening with her nose in a cookbook. She’s still up. Let me put her on.”

  While waiting for Rachel, Aggie crossed one leg over the other and swung her foot back and forth. She needed new house shoes. Some less dowdy than her terrycloth slip-ons. Preferably something with a pointed toe so she could give Roy a swift kick in the backside. This morning before he left the Brewed Awakening, he accused her of flirting with the Coots. At least he’d kept his voice down so they couldn’t hear. Still, she had refused to speak to him since then.

  “Hey, Aggie,” came Rachel’s voice over the phone, followed by a yawn. “What’s up?”

  “Have you decided what we’re cooking tomorrow?”

  “Dirt cups.” Rachel giggled. “It’s pudding with gummy worms on top.”

  “That ought to make the Coots sit up and take notice.” Aggie chuckled. “Or give them the urge to go fishing.”

  “Yeah, they probably get tired of the same stuff everyday.”

  “Sugar, old men love their comfortable ruts. But worms are good. We’ll shake the geezers up a little. What else?”

  “How about Black Forest Torte and Snickerdoodles? My mom always made snickerdoodles. And the Black Forest Torte? It just sounds dark and mysterious.”

  Forgetting the hour and that Roy snored in their bedroom down a short hallway, Aggie hooted and fanned her face. “It does at that, sugar pie.”

  “Bring your sewing machine tomorrow. Leanne called a while ago. She said she bought patterns and material. We’re going to make me some halter tops for the summer.”

  “Oh, what fun! I’ll be sure to bring it.” When a floorboard squeaked, Aggie swiveled around. Roy stood in the doorway wearing only his tighty whities, an undershirt, his snakeskin boots, and a scowl.

  Blinking and adjusting her glasses, Aggie turned back to the window and said, “Well, I’d better go, sugar. I’ll see you in the morning.” She punched off the phone and faced him.

  “Who in the sam hill are you talking to at this hour?”

  “Mia. And it’s not that late, Roy. You’re just an old fogey.” She glanced down at his boots. “Where are your house shoes?”

  “I couldn’t find ’em.”

  A giggle slipped past her lips. “Well, you look silly wearing boots with your underwear.”

  Roy flinched. His eyes widened then narrowed. His nostrils flared. “So that’s how it is, huh? I’m not good enough for you now that you have your fancy new look.”

  “I never said that.” She stood.

  He eyed her up and down. “Act your age, Aggie. People think you’re pathetic trying to be something you’re not.”

  Her stomach dropped. “And what’s that, Roy?”

  “Young, namely.”

  “So I’m old and pathetic?” He might as well have slapped her. “People think that, Roy? Or you do? I’ve heard nothing but compliments all day.” Lifting her chin, she patted her hair into place. “I happen to like what everyone’s saying.”

  A thin strand of hair fell across his forehead. “Who are you trying to impress with that Jezebel red hair and those silly glasses you bought?” He made a huffing sound and scowled. “And what’s up with those skintight jeans you had on today?”

  Tears stung Aggie’s eyes, but she refused to let them fall. She wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of making her cry. “I’m not trying to impress anyone. Maybe I’m just tired of looking like an old woman.” She started around him and headed for the bedroom.

  Roy followed. “I liked the way you looked before.”

  “Why didn’t you ever tell me that? Do you know how much I’ve needed a compliment from you? Do you?” Aggie tugged at the sash of her robe until it untied. She slipped free of the garment and tossed it across the chair by the window. “Would that be so hard, Roy? To say something nice about me for a change?”

  “I shouldn’t have to. You know what I think about you.”

  She climbed into bed, turned her back to him, pulled the blanket over her head. “That’s the nice thing about a compliment, Roy. It’s a gift. It doesn’t have to be given.”

  She sensed his presence beside the bed, felt him staring down at her, heard his staggered breathing. Seconds ticked into a minute. Pressure built in Aggie’s chest. She squeezed her eyes shut.

  “Who is he, Aggie?” Roy finally asked, his voice a low rumble.

  Aggie pulled the blanket down to her nose and opened one eye. “Who is who?”

  “The sorry son-of-a-bitch you’re steppin’ out with behind my back.”

  “What?” Slinging the blanket aside, Aggie sat up.

  With his shoulders hunched, his face twisted and red, his eyes bulging, Roy looked like a snorting bull about to charge. He clenched and unclenched his fists. “You heard me.” Stomping across the room to the closet, he flung the door wide. “I’ll kill him.”

  “First you accuse me of flirting, now this?” Aggie’s feet hit the carpet. She crossed to him in three strides. “How dare you—”

  “I may look silly, but I’m not stupid.” Roy jerked a work shirt free of a hanger, stuffed one arm in then the other. “Giggling into the phone like a school girl. Coming home late from work. Sneaking over to Mia’s.”

  Heat singed her cheeks. “I—”

  “Did you think I wouldn’t put two and two together?” He pulled a pair of clean jeans from the pile on his closet shelf. ”People are talking. You go over to Mia’s house while she’s at the shop. You park in her garage. Who are you meeting? Buck Miller?”

  “Buck—?” Flabbergasted, Aggie followed him to the bed where he started to tug on his jeans, then stopped to take his boots off first. “He’s the one who told you about me being at Mia’s in the first place. Besides, if I was going to cheat on you, it wouldn’t be with Buck Miller.”

  “Oh, I get it. Now that you’re all fancy and prissy you want some young stud, is that it?”

  She punched his shoulder. “Would you listen to yourself? You’re talking nonsense.”

  “Is it that Bailey kid?”

  “Aaron Bailey?” Stunned, Aggie barked a laugh and stepped backward away from the bed. “Stop it, Roy. Aaron’s not even thirty years old.”

  “He lives on Mia’s block. Damn pa
ntywaist stays home all day with the kids while the wife brings home the bacon.” He stood, tucked his shirt into his jeans, zipped his zipper and snapped the snap beneath his belly.

  Grabbing for his arm, Aggie ran after him as he started from the bedroom. “Where are you going?”

  “Out.” He jerked free of her grasp.

  Aggie stopped in the living room and crossed her arms. “Roy Cobb, don’t you do anything we’ll both regret.”

  The front door slammed.

  Aggie went to bed alone but didn’t doze off until Roy tiptoed into the room three hours later, reeking of root beer.

  The next morning, Leanne told Eddie she had a doctor’s appointment in Amarillo and that Mia and Aggie had agreed to cover for her at work. Only her yearly physical, she assured him, when he asked what was wrong. She felt so guilty lying to him. Ever since she’d begged off from going to his football reunion, the questions in his eyes had intensified. More than once, he had asked why she was so quiet, why she suddenly spent so much time away from the house.

  Eddie gathered some loose change from the bedroom dresser and dropped it into his pocket. “How long are you going to be gone?”

  “I’ll be home long before supper.” She buttoned her coat. “Will you?”

  He raked his fingers through his wavy dark hair and said defensively, “I’d planned on it, why do you ask?”

  “I’m not the only one spending a lot of time away from the house these days.”

  His eyes narrowed. “Maybe that’s because, even when you’re here, this is a lonely place, Lea. I can’t stand the quiet.”

  Leanne pushed her purse strap up to her shoulder. Now was her chance. She should just say the words, tell him she felt incomplete. But she couldn’t do it. He thought that was all behind them. She had, too, until recently. More than once, Eddie had made it clear to her that she was enough to make him happy; he didn’t need anything else. How could she tell him that she didn’t feel the same? “Let’s not get into that again, Eddie.”