“Oh, not hardly. But handling your mom? Now that you owe me for. You owe me big.”
“Bet you already have some ideas of how I can repay you.”
More than he could shake a stick at. “You better believe it.”
“You know I love you, right?”
After all the years he and Jenny had been apart, hearing those three words from her over the past few months had been heaven. “Love you too. But I’m still wondering what I did to deserve you.”
She laughed. “I’ll be sure to help you understand the next time we’re together. Tell Mom I’ll call her later.”
“Will do.” He smiled as he hung up the phone. Abby Ruth was a handful, but without her there’d be no Jenny. And without Jenny, there’d be no happiness.
Chapter 25
The next afternoon Lillian picked her way across the pitted field of the fairground parking lot where the Ruritan Club had pulled off another transformation. The Annual High on the Hog event was already in full swing. Colorful flags marked the path to the entrance and giant tents had been set up for the festivities.
She stood at the entrance, waiting for the man she’d agreed to meet here before Sera’s dress-a-pig competition began. Strange, Lil used to run this entire event, but when Sera had asked her to judge the competition in Tassy’s stead, the rush of gratitude and pleasure Lil felt was as grand as anything she’d ever experienced as High on the Hog chairperson.
The smell of pork cooking low and slow on the smokers filled the air. Every once in a while she’d get a whiff of tangy, peppery vinegar or a smooth, fruity apple. There were as many ways to sauce a whole hog as there were to laugh, and they served up all kinds at this big shindig.
Within minutes, Bruce Shellenberger walked up. Lil did like a man who was punctual.
“Hi, Lillian.” He ducked his head, then looked back up and squared his shoulders. “Thank you for meeting me here today. I want to apologize for judging you at the auction the other night. I was out of line. I had no right to—”
“No need to apologize, Bruce. Come with me.” She patted his arm and wrapped her hand around it to lead him toward the barn, and then pulled him aside. “I was the one who strained things between you and Maggie. She was only doing what I’d asked of her by keeping quiet about my true whereabouts.”
“That’s a mighty big burden, even for a best friend.”
Yes, she’d asked too much of Maggie. And she certainly didn’t want to stand in the way of her future happiness. Although it tore a corner of her heart to think of sharing Maggie, it was wonderful to have someone else recognize how beautiful and special she was. “You like her.”
He patted his chest. “So much that sometimes I’m not sure this old ticker can handle it.” Then his happy expression melted. “But I was a complete jerk the night of the auction. I wouldn’t blame her if she never talked to me again.”
“What does your family think of her?”
“Austin, that’s my grandson, he hasn’t stopped talking about her since the day she helped him build the birdhouse. And my son thinks I should—as he put it—just go for it.”
“But now you think you’ve blown your chance?”
“Haven’t I?”
Lil smiled up at him. “Bruce, if I haven’t ruined my friendship with Maggie after all the shenanigans I’ve pulled lately, I seriously doubt your little fit of pique the other night will put her off.”
“I have no idea how to get back in her good graces.”
“I think I can help you out there. Let’s go in here.” Lil led him inside the big barn. Laughter and animal snorts and squeals bounced off the metal roof. She nodded toward the judging box where Maggie was helping Sera get two of the costume competition judges—Teague and Abby Ruth—settled.
Lil waved to them and said to Bruce from the corner of her mouth, “Here’s your chance.”
Bruce followed along with Lil.
“Look who I found in the crowd,” she said.
Maggie wore a clear look of panic on her face.
“Oh gosh, Bruce, would you and Maggie go get us some of the yummy strawberry lemonade?” Lil asked. “I saw the band is trying to raise money to get down to Florida again.”
“But…but I’m helping Sera,” Maggie sputtered.
Lil looked from Maggie to where Teague and Abby Ruth were already perched in their judges’ chairs. “I think everything will be under control once I take my place.”
Bruce looked shell-shocked at the sight of Maggie, so Lil bumped his arm, and he spurred into action. “Yes, Maggie, would you help me?” He was pale and Lil was half afraid the poor guy would hyperventilate. “Please?”
“Great,” Lil said. “After the judging, why don’t we all go over to the food tent and Teague can give us the scoop about the mess with Tassy.”
Maggie smiled, but there was a little quiver in her lip. Lil squeezed her hand and gave her a bolstering wink as she walked by.
Once Maggie and Bruce were off in pursuit of lemonade, Lil hung her pocketbook on the back of her chair and took her seat.
“What are you up to now, Miss Lillian?” Teague asked.
She smiled at him. “Love’s not just for you younger folks.”
“Ladies and gentlemen.” Angelina Broussard’s voice came over the loudspeaker, and Lil spotted her standing in the middle of the ring. “This year, the High on the Hog committee is proud to present a new and creative competition for the kids. In a moment, you’ll be treated to a parade of the finest animals and the best costumes you’ve seen since my Halloween party last fall.” Her face took on a tightness and she waved a hand toward the judges’ box. “And I’d like to thank our judges. Sheriff Teague Castro. Ms. Abby Ruth Cady. And certainly not least, Lillian Summer Fairview.”
The crowd around them clapped up a storm after Lil’s name was announced. And if that didn’t warm her heart, nothing in the world could.
“So without further ado, I give you the Soooo-weeeeetest parade around.” Angelina swept an arm toward the ring entrance.
Abby Ruth leaned over the rail separating them from Sera. “She didn’t even give you credit for the idea.”
As the kids began to file out, Sera’s sunny smile increased by a thousand watts. “Doesn’t matter. This isn’t about me.” She clapped with excitement.
That Sera, she was so much smarter than Lil had ever imagined. A lesson in this-isn’t-about-me was just what Lil had needed for a long time now.
But for the moment, she concentrated on the adorable children leading their pigs into the ring. One little boy urged along a pig dressed all in black and wearing some kind of pointy-eared hat. A girl had hold of two pigs—both dressed in red and blue, one with silver cuffs around its front legs and the other with a flowing red cape. What in the world?
Teague pointed to a pig swathed in all green with a bow and quiver strapped to its back. “Is that…the Green Arrow?”
Sera clapped and bounced on her toes. “Aren’t they fabulous? I mean, it’s much harder to consider eating one of those adorable little piggies when you think of them as superheroes, right? In fact, they might just fight back.”
Abby Ruth muttered, “Wouldn’t bother me a bit to take down Batman and Superman.”
Lillian choked on a laugh. The woman was outrageous, and she had a feeling nothing in the world could change that.
At least thirty children coaxed their pigs around the ring, showing off outfits for everything from Aquaman to the Hulk. One girl was especially enterprising and was holding a stiff leash with nothing attached.
Teague leaned over and said, “The Invisible Woman.”
“Definite points for creativity.”
By the time they’d each cast their ballots and Angelina was announcing the winners, Lil spotted Maggie and Bruce heading their way with a box of drinks. At the sight of their smiles—wide as the Mississippi River—her heart picked up an extra hurry in the beat department.
Lil couldn’t stand it another minute. She’d been dying to hear the wh
ole story about Tassy Harrison for two days. “All right, everyone, let’s head to lunch so Teague can tell us everything.”
But before they could make their way out of the barn, a middle-aged fellow wearing very expensive-looking shoes walked up to their group. It was clear from the expressions on everyone’s faces that no one knew him, but he looked dead straight at Sera.
“Serena Johanneson?”
“It’s Johnson,” Maggie corrected him. “Serendipity Johnson.”
Sera sucked in a breath. “No, he’s right.” She lifted her chin. “Yes. That’s me.”
Teague cocked his head, his eyes narrowing.
The stranger flipped an envelope in Sera’s direction. “You’ve been served.”
Sera watched the man turn and stride toward the barn’s exit. Around her, her friends’ silence was heavy and pressed on her heart.
So she’d waited too long and her time had run out. She shouldn’t be surprised. She’d been gone from home for well over a year now. Marcus couldn’t be expected to wait forever.
Then again, maybe this was something else.
She gently pushed a finger under the envelope flap, folded it back and slid out the papers. Petition for divorce. Petitioner - Marcus Johanneson. Respondent - Serena Johanneson. And it seemed as if everything stood still. The squealing kids, the rides, the microphones, it all fell silent under the static in her mind.
She folded the papers in half, then stuffed them back into the envelope.
“Sera,” Maggie said softly, “what’s going on here?”
“And why the hell did that man call you Johanneson?” Abby Ruth demanded.
“Could we walk?” Sera asked. She couldn’t stand inside for another second. She needed air and space. But she owed her friends the truth. She felt like a very sad Pied Piper leaving the barn with five other people trailing her. Their worry and confusion was so thick she could’ve reached out and touched it.
Once they were out in the April sunshine, she turned to them and took a deep breath. “I’ve been served with divorce papers.”
“You’re married?” Maggie’s face crumpled, which was a punch right to Sera’s heart. “But…but…”
Bruce wrapped his arm around Maggie’s shoulders and she turned her face into his body.
“I’m sorry, Maggie.” But Sera’s words were completely inadequate. She’d hurt the woman who’d become the best friend she’d ever had.
“Johanneson?” Teague said. “Isn’t there some bigwig director-producer type guy named Marcus Johanneson?”
Sera patted her skirt pocket, but she’d neglected to drop a box of Mike and Ike’s in there this morning. Of all the days to be without her small sugar stash. “Yes.”
“And you’re married to him?” Abby Ruth’s voice was flat, indicating she was just as hurt as Maggie.
“Apparently not for much longer.” The words almost choked Sera.
Unbelievably, Lil was the one to slip an arm around Sera. “Why don’t we all go sit down and get some food? There’s no news in the world that’s good news on an empty stomach.”
Inside the food tent, the women settled at a table while Teague and Bruce went off in search of lunch. Sera swept her hand across the blue-checked plastic tablecloth to smooth away the wrinkles. She couldn’t look her friends in the face.
Lil grabbed her hand. “Dear, if there’s one thing I’ve learned in the past few months, it’s that hiding from the truth doesn’t make it go away.”
Running from it had given her a small reprieve, but she’d known it wouldn’t last. She’d just thought she had a little more time. “I’m married to Marcus Johanneson.”
“And you never told us. Why?”
“Because I desperately needed a break from that life.”
Abby Ruth tapped a finger on the table. “I saw a spread in People magazine, the one with your house. That damn thing’s ten thousand square feet if it’s an inch. Why in God’s name would you need a break from that? And why are you driving that shabby piece of sh—steel? What do you drive back home?”
Home. Serendipity flinched at the word. Was that her home…back in California? Or was it here? Or had she ruined the most true and precious friendships she’d ever made in her life? “My birth name was Serendipity Meadow Blu. My parents were what most people would call hippies.”
“Well, at least that’s not a lie,” Abby Ruth muttered.
“About a year and a half ago, my dad passed away and left me his van. I can’t tell you how many miles my family put on that thing.”
“Oh,” Abby Ruth said. “Sorry I called it a piece of sh—steel.”
“Death has a certain way of making life incredibly clear,” Maggie said.
Sera looked at her friend, pleading with her to understand. “Yes. And after my dad died, it was like I was looking at my life through a painfully clean window. I had a big house, a famous husband, but I felt like a black hole.”
“And so you ran away.”
“I didn’t run. I told Marcus I needed some time to get my head on straight. To figure out what I wanted from life. My life, not his.”
“But now it’s time to fish or cut bait.”
“He’s been so patient, but yes, it’s time. The decision might’ve been so much easier if I hadn’t made such wonderful friends. I honestly feel like I belong here.” She swept away the tears as she choked out the words.
The men returned to the table with two trays full of food. And although Sera wasn’t hungry in the least, that piece of chocolate cream pie Teague was passing her might soothe her wounded soul.
Everyone dove into the goodies.
Sera was thankful for the break from the prying questions and also the chocolate because no sugar-free gluten-free tofu chicory natural stuff would make a girl feel better after being served like that.
She took an oversized bite of pie and closed her eyes, praying the sugar would somehow soften the day’s blows.
A hand rested on her shoulder. “We love you, Sera. You’re family to us,” Maggie said.
And like her dad had always told her, the world’s problems rebalanced themselves. We must shift and stay in tune. Lil was back and her problems were finally righting themselves. Now Sera’s past had to be dealt with. She prayed she hadn’t waited too long to do the right thing, because frankly she still wasn’t sure what the right thing was.
Goodness gracious, Lil thought. Sera had certainly just dropped a bomb on them. And by the way the gal was stuffing chocolate pie into her mouth, she didn’t want to talk about it anymore.
Time to change the subject. “Okay, Teague,” Lil said. “We need to know everything.”
“Well,” he said, “it was a little more complicated than any of us realized. And Tassy Harrison aka Veronica Karlov was right in the big middle of it.”
Abby Ruth stomped her foot, sending the whole table wiggling in a shimmy. “I knew it. That Tassy was too pretty to be true.”
“Not just pretty,” Teague said, “put pretty darned smart too.”
“Spill it, Tadpole.”
“This whole thing was way bigger than just Ellerbee. In fact, his piddly few sculptures were a fraction of the whole operation.”
“Operation?” Sera said around a mouthful of pie. “That sounds serious.”
Teague rubbed a palm across his forehead. “If I’d known how dangerous this might’ve been, there’s no way I would’ve let the three of you investigate the forgeries.”
Lil piped up, “Four.”
“Excuse me?”
“The four of us,” Lil said, tapping a finger in the air counting off Maggie, Sera, Abby Ruth and herself. “Or did you forget I was the one who stopped Tassy?” Lil suddenly knew exactly why the girls were so keen on continuing the investigations. She wouldn’t soon forget the thrill of taking down that woman.
Teague cleared his throat. “I stand corrected. Anyway, Veronica Karlov is the daughter of Dimitri Karlov.”
Abby Ruth snapped her fingers. “Wait a minute,
something about that name sounds familiar.”
“Probably because law enforcement agencies here and abroad have been trying to track down Dimitri Karlov for years. Lots of people knew he was moving fakes through the art world, but no one could seem to catch him. Up until recently, he dealt mainly in oil paintings.”
“What in the world made him turn to junk art?”
“Apparently, his daughter took a real liking to Ellerbee’s work and convinced her dad they could make millions off the stuff,” Teague said. “She expected Colton’s reputation to explode and her family would profit when it did.”
“Well,” Abby Ruth drawled, “in a backwards sort of way, I think that was a compliment to Jenny’s skill as an artists’ agent.”
Maggie leaned forward on the table. “But Colton was so adamant that no one had seen the sculpture he shipped to Jenny.”
Sera raised her hand and waggled it as if she had the right answer to a teacher’s question. “I’ve got this one. During the High on the Hog committee meeting, Tassy mentioned she’d asked Colton about fixing the smokers and he kicked her out of his workshop. What do you want to bet that’s when she saw it?”
Teague pushed away his now empty plate. “And you’ll be glad to know we located your wayward nativity scene sheep. It was hidden under a draped packing table at the gallery. I’m not sure when or how she took it from your garage. She hasn’t ’fessed up to that yet.”
“I think I can fill that one in,” Maggie said. “She brought us banana nut bread. Oh, I guess it must’ve been the end of January. We all thought it was such a nice gesture. Should’ve known she was up to something.”
“Good news is Veronica was willing to give up her dear old dad and her brother in order to get immunity. The dad and brother will be facing federal charges.”
Maggie pushed back her bangs. “You mean to tell me we busted up an international art fraud ring?”
With a sigh, Teague looked up at the tent’s ceiling. “I don’t even know how to answer that.”
Abby Ruth whacked him on the back. “Just say yes. Then you can say thank you and ask if we’re available for consulting jobs.”
In High Cotton Page 22