by Tegan Maher
Rose went to stand, but Gabi shook her head. "Oh no you don't. You don't get to leave yet unless you have to. I'd love to catch up some more, and you're more than welcome to stay."
Rose sat back down, and I was glad she had somebody to keep her occupied. I hated to think of her going through this alone.
"Thanks again, Noelle," she said, standing to give me a hug. "You have no idea how much help you've been."
I smiled after giving her a quick squeeze. "No problem. You need anything else, just let me know."
"So can you stick around?" Gabi asked.
"Absolutely," Rose said, her tone wry. "In the state I'm in, the last thing I need is to be left alone with more than a case of wine."
Gabi raised a brow, and Rose gave a quick explanation.
"Yeah, I'm sure we can help you dispose of that safely," Gabi said, smiling.
I snorted and turned to leave.
"Noelle, don't forget," Rose called after me, "If I don't see you before the funeral, catch up with me because I owe you a lunch."
"Oh, sugar," Gabi said, "if there's one thing she won't forget, it's when somebody owes her food!"
I scrunched my nose at her as I headed out the door.
The blue label on the Bluegrass Winery bottle caught my eye as I passed her car on the way to my truck, and I shuddered. Rotgut was usually reserved for booze, but that bottle of grape grossness met all the criteria.
CHAPTER 15
FIVE MINUTES LATER, I was bouncing down the driveway in my truck, the AC blasting cold in my face. I needed to get somebody out to fill the holes, but it was one of those things I just kept forgetting about until my teeth were rattling together over the bumps.
The mail slid into the floor along with my open water bottle, and I scowled and stepped on the brakes. The last thing I needed when it was five degrees hotter than whatever melted asphalt was a wet floorboard; my truck would stink like mildew for a week.
The truck lurched to a stop, and I managed to grab the water before much leaked out. What little did, though, landed on the mail. I grabbed a couple fast-food napkins out of the glove box and sopped it up. When I did, a familiar letterhead caught my eye—I'd seen something like it in the pile of mail Shelby'd brought up a couple weeks ago. To be honest, I’d written it off at the time as junk mail and didn’t open it.
Forgetting about the water, I picked up the envelope. The letter was from some company named Georgia Investment Corp according to the return address. From my dirt-poor days, I was intimately familiar with collection agencies, and that sure sounded like the name of one to me.
I ripped it open to find a letter addressed to me, but it was more of a form letter, with no actual signature. They were interested in buying the farm. The offer was actually generous, but the fact there was no signature didn’t sit right with me.
I chewed my lip and tapped on the steering wheel, naturally suspicious because the last time somebody had wanted my farm, they'd almost killed me to get it. Since I liked breathing and casting a shadow, I preferred to avoid people who wanted to prevent those things, but the offer pissed me off. First, the tone was a little insulting even though the offer wasn’t, and second, I was getting sick and tired of people trying to buy my damned farm. If I wanted to sell it, I'd list it. Rude is what it was.
Scanning the letter again, I looked to see if they'd put a contact number on there, and they had. I'd be giving them a call, but I didn't want to be in a bad mood when I picked up Justin, so I tossed it back to the floor, screwed the lid on my water bottle, and started moving again.
When I was almost to the end of the drive, Kristen, the new boarder pulled in. Waving at her as she passed, I was a little sorry to be leaving; I would have liked to spend some time getting to know her better. It seemed that lately I had no time to do what I wanted, though if you asked Erol, that's all I ever did.
The interior of the truck cooled a little and Cheri Lynn materialized over the course of several seconds beside me in the passenger seat, saying hello as she did. She’d mastered the art of not scaring the bejezus out of me when she popped in, unlike other rude ghosts who shall remain nameless. CoughAddyCough.
“Hey, Noelle. How you doin’ sugar?” She had her dark hair down and was dressed for a day at the lake, Cheri Lynn style. That meant a crop top, Daisy Dukes, cork sandals, and a big, floppy hat. I’d asked her once how she changed her outfits, and she’d said she just thought about what she wanted to wear and what she had on shifted into what she’d imagined. That would be damned handy.
“Hey yourself,” I said, smiling.
She raised her sunglasses and took a closer look at me. “No offense, but you look like you’ve been put through the wringer.”
I pulled in a deep breath and let it out, yawning. “I haven’t been sleeping well the last couple nights.”
She gave me a naughty grin. “Do I need to pop in and tell Hunter you need your beauty sleep?”
“Absolutely not,” I said, rolling my eyes. “Though I wish he was the reason I haven’t gotten any rest.”
A frown creased her smooth forehead. “So if it’s not him, then what?”
I shook my head. “Just weird, disjointed dreams, is all.” I paused. “I’ve dreamed of my dad two nights in a row, and I never do that.”
“Aw, sweetie. I’m sorry.” Compassion filled her eyes. She knew what I’d gone through, and she’d had the same thing happen to her. Her daddy had walked out when she was little, too.
Shrugging it off, I said, “Thanks. Nothin’ to be done for it, I guess. It’s probably just all the junk that’s been goin’ on.”
“You’re probably right, but still. It sucks you haven’t been sleepin’ well,” she said.
“So what are you doing today?” I asked.
“We’re havin’ a beach party on the French Riviera with some of the folks Rupert met while he was on the cruise ship,” she answered, “but I wanted to stop in and say hi. I hadn’t talked to you in a couple days.”
“I’m glad you did,” I said. Since she’d died, we’d become good friends and I missed her when she didn’t pop in every day. “Isn’t Rupert going to notice you’re gone?”
Rupert was a nice, gentlemanly ghost she’d met when all of us girls had gone on a cruise right after Hank died. It was Anna Mae’s final screw you to him, because we went on his dime and had a blast. I was glad she’d found somebody post-life, because she sure had been dealt one crappy hand after another while she’d been living.
“Oh, you know it. It’s around water, and that’s one of his favorite places to be, plus he’s got his friends. I told him I was gonna pop back in just to check on things. Where you goin’?”
“Just down to Bobbie Sue’s to pick up Justin. With school about ready to start, he wants to spend a day at the farm.”
She smiled. “He’s really comin’ along, isn’t he?”
“He sure is, and I’m glad to see it. Not that I had any doubt, but I was worried about him because he was worried during the adoption process.” Justin’s mom had died of cancer, and his father had been killed in an equipment accident a little over a year ago, leaving him an orphan at the mercy of the foster-care system. Unfortunately, there hadn’t been any mercy involved. His was a case of all’s well that ends well.
I remembered what Peggy had told me about Jim Simpson at the courthouse and knew it would send Cheri Lynn over the moon because she’d been the victim of his emotional abuse and oppression for most of her adult life.
“By the way,” I said, casting her a sideways glance, “I thought you might like to know Jim Simpson’s about to lose all he holds near and dear to taxes. House, businesses—the whole nine yards.”
Her face lit up. “No shit! It’s nice to see Karma in action!” She furrowed her brow. “I wonder what’ll happen to the girls at Tassels, though.” Tassels was the gentleman’s club she used to work at. “Most of ’em won’t have anywhere else to go.”
I hadn’t thought of that, and sent a request for
a little extra consideration for them into the universe.
“I’m sure they’ll come through,” I told her, hoping to take the troubled expression from her face. “Things always work out the way they’re supposed to.”
“I know,” she sighed, “but it took me dyin’ for things to come around for me. I’d rather they get their happy endings before that happens to them.”
Cheri had the heart of an angel regardless of how tough she tried to come off, and I had mixed emotions for even mentioning it. The cat was already out of the bag, and if I knew her, she’d work to make sure something good came of it or at least warn the girls so they could start making plans.
By the time I pulled into Bobbie Sue's Barbecue, I was starving. The smell of smoked meat made my stomach growl, and I could practically taste the seasoned fries from the parking lot. Justin was already there and had me a pulled pork sandwich, slaw, and fries ready.
I ruffled his hair and he ducked away from me, scrunching his nose.
"I make you your favorite lunch and you mess my hair up," he said. "Ingrate."
I grinned and pulled him into a side hug, then slid into the booth where my food was waiting. I swear he’d grown three inches over the summer. Bobbie Sue came from the kitchen carrying a slice of pecan pie right as I popped the first fry into my mouth.
She plunked it down beside my plate, then squished Justin over so she could sit down. She dropped her chin in her hand and worry lines creased her forehead.
"You okay?" I asked around a mouthful of sandwich.
"I reckon," she said, though she didn't sound like she meant it.
Justin rolled his eyes. "Aunt Sandra's comin' for a visit and Bobbie Sue's all worried the house isn't good enough, or that Sandra will be upset if she can't take off the whole time. Me and Earl have both told her she's bein' nuttier than squirrel poop." The words sounded harsh, but he leaned over and bumped shoulders with her, taking the sting out.
"Well," she said, twisting my straw paper then rolling it into a ball, "what if things ain't up to snuff? I mean, I work a lot. The house is a wreck, and I have no idea what to do to keep her entertained."
Until just a few months ago, Bobbie Sue hadn't even known she had a sister. When her dad died, he put them in contact with each other via his will, though it was bit of a cluster in the beginning because of a paperwork snafu. Anyway, they were identical twins, but about as different as day and night in the way they carried themselves.
Sandra seemed smooth and sophisticated, and Bobbie Sue ... wasn't. She was a country girl. She got the work done, and loved to fish and ride her quads and mess around in the dirt.
In truth, I think she felt a little awkward because Sandra was so put together. The ironic part was that from what I could tell, Sandra had sort of the same insecurities in reverse. Bobbie Sue lived. To her, every day was a blessing, and whatever was going to happen tomorrow would be dealt with then. Sandra, on the other hand, was a planner. Everything had a time and place, and I think she envied Bobbie's organized chaos.
To be fair, Bobbie Sue wasn't irresponsible—she had a retirement plan and goals, but she set it all into a loose framework. And Sandra wasn't all work and no play—she appreciated each day, but chose to live it with much more structure. It was just a matter of extremes that I had no doubt was due to the different ways they were raised.
Regardless of how they got there, both of them were survivors, and I knew they'd end up with a great relationship once they were finished being awkward around each other. That would come with time.
I dragged a fry through my ketchup and pointed it at her. "Knock it off. I've been to your house a thousand times and have never seen it dirty. I've actually used your toaster to check to see if I had food in my teeth. I'm pretty sure your idea of a wreck is vastly different than most people's, and even if it weren't, she's coming to see you, not your house. And she knows you work."
"Yeah, you're probably right." She pulled in a breath and let out a huge sigh. "It's just, all Earl's family lives here, so I ain't never had company like that before, and I want her to have a good time."
"And she will. When's she coming?"
"This weekend," Justin said. "I tried to convince her to bring one of my cousins with her, but she said next time, since school’s just starting up there."
Bobbie looked a little less anxious. "You really think the house'll suit her?"
I scoffed. "I know it will." Earl had built her a beautiful ranch-style log cabin that was every inch of two thousand square feet, and they'd gussied it up outside, too. It was a great place, but rustic rather than fancy, which I'm sure was what was bugging her. "Now quit worrying and start looking forward to spending time with your sister."
After mulling it over for a minute, she grinned, and the confident, vibrant woman I knew was back.
"You're a good girl," she said, winking at me. "I don't care what anybody else says about you."
"Thanks," I said. "Back atcha."
We talked for a few minutes about the murder.
Justin was starting to get antsy, so I stuffed that last bite of pie in my mouth and stood up.
"You ready to blow this Popsicle stand, brat?"
"Am I ever. Let's go ride!" He was out the door and to the truck before I could even clean up my mess and get a to-go tea.
As I snapped the lid onto my cup, Bobbie came out carrying a pie box and bottle of Glenlivit.
"Here," she said, handing them to me. "I know you're like me. Sometimes it's nice to eat somethin' you didn't have to make, and Earl bet Max a bottle of scotch on chess, then went and lost. That donkey of yours has expensive taste in booze."
She wasn't telling me anything I didn't already know. I'd never bought myself a bottle of liquor that expensive, but even when I was dirt poor, I'd factored it in as a household expense when I could. Fortunately, on the many, many months when there were more expenses than money, Earl would always come through for him.
I glanced out the glass front doors. Justin was standing by the truck bouncing on the balls of his feet, impatient.
"Yeah," I said, "and it looks like somebody’s already had too much pie."
She grinned. "I didn't see any harm in letting him have a second slice with his lunch."
"I just bet you didn't," I said, giving her the stink eye. "Seein' as how his sugar rush is gonna be my problem for the afternoon."
Lifting a shoulder and pasting on an innocent expression, she said, "A boy's gotta eat."
I snorted. "You're lucky I love your pecan pie, else I'd feed him half of this one right before I brought him home."
"But you won't," she replied, swatting me. "Get your hiney on out there before he explodes. Y'all have fun, and I'll see you later."
As I pushed through the doors and back into the heat, I smiled. My family was a mixed-up mess, but I wouldn't trade them for the world.
CHAPTER 16
THE PLAN FOR THE DAY, before somebody up and killed Ida, was that we were going to go for a group ride down to the cabin, then swim and picnic for lunch. That was still the plan, but I didn't know if Hunter was going to be able to make it. Justin and I made a quick stop at Walmart then headed back to the farm.
I was surprised that Rose's car was still in the yard when I got there, and I hoped Gabi had invited her to ride with us. Unlike when I'd come home alone, Max trotted over to the truck to greet Justin, his long ears bouncing and his fuzzy lips pulled back in a donkey grin. I shook my head. For someone who claimed to dislike kids, he sure did get excited when they were around. Of course, Justin always fed him junk the entire time he was here, so that may have had something to do with it.
"C'mon inside and meet a friend of mine, kiddo," I told Justin after he'd greeted Max.
He wrinkled his nose, but complied. "Is it somebody cool like Matt or Hunter, or just another girl?"
"Hey!" I protested, grabbing the mail and the pie Bobbie Sue had boxed up for me. "Grab that sugar from the back. I was plenty cool when you first started h
angin’ out with me. What's changed?"
"Oh, I didn't mean you," he said. "Or Shelby. I meant more like Camille, or new boarders and stuff, where I have to be all mannerly."
"You should be mannerly all the time."
He rolled his eyes. "You know what I mean."
I did, but I enjoyed giving him a hard time.
"It happens to be a girl I went to high school with, so she's not ancient.” I ignored his eye-roll, trying to keep in mind that to a ten-year-old, anybody over twenty was old as dirt. “And be nice, because her mama just died."
The bratty look left his face, and compassion filled his eyes. That was a feeling he knew all too well.
"We'll invite her to ride with us, then," he said. "That'll help cheer her up." He paused and glanced at me sideways as we climbed the porch steps. "She does ride, right?"
"She does," I confirmed, "or at least she used to. We can ask her though. She's had rough couple days."
Max bumped Justin with his nose. "After you're done with the requisite introductions, come back outside and we'll play a quick game of chess."
I'd had a special extra-large chess set made for Max. The huge board was sprawled on the porch, and the pieces were lightweight, waist-high to me, and had large bases, so he could move them by himself by nudging them.
Justin gave him his best evil grin. "We're goin' to the lake, remember? And don't you mean I'll beat you at a game of chess?"
I elbowed Justin as Max glared at him from beneath his furry brows. "You've only beat him once, and I'm pretty sure that was because he'd had half a bottle of scotch. If you remember, he fell off the porch right after you declared checkmate. I wouldn't go gettin' too big for your britches just yet. He's had centuries to master his strategy, so there’s a good chance your win was a fluke."
"Maybe so," he said, grinning as he opened the screen door for me, "but it still happened."
"It did," I agreed, then figured some advice was in order. "But don't go getting cocky, and don't get upset if it doesn't happen again for a while."