by K C Hart
The Pig was a little crowded, but Katy wheeled her car in a spot just a couple of spaces from the buggy return. Hopefully, she could get in and out in less than an hour. She dug through her purse searching for her grocery list. Half of the time she forgot it at home, but today she’d remembered to put it back in her purse after taking inventory of the frig and cabinets.
She picked through the buggies until she found one that steered easily and didn’t squeak, then set out to the back of the store. She always shopped in the same order, starting with the canned goods and ending with the fresh produce. Occasionally, the store would decide to move stuff around, and she would spend an extra thirty minutes searching for what she needed. She read that stores did this on purpose so customers would have to go all over the place and discover new things to buy. All it did was aggravate the daylights out of Katy. Luckily, today isle four seemed to still have the canned vegetables and tomato sauce.
She pulled the items off shelves and marked them off her list with determination. She moved through canned goods, rice and noodles, and was turning the corner toward the breakfast isle when an alluring and vaguely familiar scent caught her attention. The smell reminded her of spring flowers and the clean crisp air after a shower, all at the same time. She followed the scent up the isle like a coon dog on a trail. The heavenly aroma grew stronger as she made her way to the lone woman on the aisle who was bent over intently studying the different brands of breakfast pastries.
“Excuse me, mam. Do you mind telling me the name of the perfume you’re wearing? That scent is gorgeous.”
The woman jerked the name brand blueberry and the off-brand strawberry boxes to her chest as she sucked in a breath of air. She stood up completely straight, startled out of her sugary breakfast debate.
“Gracious, I didn’t mean to scare you,” Katy said, squinting her eyes as she looked at the woman’s face. “Oh, hello Laney. I’m so sorry I startled you, but your perfume drew me over here like a moth to a flame. It’s heavenly.”
“That’s okay Mrs. Katy. Little Jake is at Momma’s with the chickenpox and I’m trying to pick up a few things to keep him happy. I took off half a day from the daycare to get everything he needs so he’ll be easier for her to deal with.”
“I heard the chickenpox was going around. I hope he doesn’t get a bad case.”
“I just found a few bumps on his arms and body this morning,” Laney said, pointing her finger to the body parts she was describing. “I think it’s too early to tell. I probably wouldn’t have known they were chickenpox, but a kid at the daycare came down with them this week too, so I was kind of expecting it.”
Laney lifted her wrist to her nose and sniffed. “I guess I have it on a little strong if you could smell it around the corner, but I love the smell too. It’s called Heart’s Desire. Jake started giving it to me when we began dating years ago, and it’s all I’ve ever worn since then. He always gets me a new bottle for my birthday.”
“I don’t think it’s too strong,” Katy said, smiling. “I think it’s wonderful. I love perfume, but I can’t wear it while working and I forget to put it on half the time on the days I’m off.”
“I’m glad you are enjoying mine,” Laney smiled back. “Some people don’t care for any perfume at all. I don’t wear but a very little dab to work at the daycare. Nobody has complained about it yet and I’ve been there for a couple of years.”
“Our agency has it in their policy that the field nurses cannot wear perfume.” Katy glanced down at her watch. “Well, speaking of home health, I’d better get back to my shopping. I have to be at a patient’s house after lunch.”
She left Laney with her pop tarts and moved on down the aisle to pick up a box of grits. That was the same perfume she had smelled on Jessa Williams. She was sure of it. Was Laney involved in Jessa’s murder? She’d been snooping around Jessa’s car that day. She hoped Laney had better sense than to kill a person over that puffed-up airbag coach.
Chapter Fifteen
“That’s perfect Mrs. Nelda. You’ve got this.” Katy watched as the sitter put the final piece of paper tape on the gauze dressing.
“I sure do appreciate you writing out those instructions for us. I was so scared I’d mess this up, but it wasn’t too bad with your steps written down for me to follow.”
“That’s just part of the job.” Katy turned her attention to Mrs. Tellman while the sitter put up the wound care supplies and went to wash her hands.
“If the wound care gets too uncomfortable, remember that you can take a couple of regular strength Tylenol about thirty minutes before she starts to help ease the pain.”
“Oh, it wasn’t bad at all. Nelda has a real gentle touch. It would take a lot more than a scratch to make me pop a pill. I delivered Evelyn in my own bed with a little help from the doctor and not a drop of medicine.” She rolled her eyes. “People just want to take a pill for everything nowadays. It’s plumb ridiculous.”
“You’re definitely a trooper,” Katy said. She patted the elder lady’s hand with genuine affection. “How are you doing with the antibiotics? Are they causing any nausea?”
“Not a bit. I’m taking one with my breakfast and the other with my cookies and milk at bedtime. I have Evelyn break those bad boys in half so I can swallow them, but that’s the only problem we’ve run in to.”
“That’s great. You’re truly blessed to have a family to care for you so well.”
“Evelyn’s a good girl. Now I wouldn’t give you a plug nickel for that husband of hers and not much more for my grandson.” She shook her head. “Part of that is my fault. He was such a cute little fellow. We just spoiled him rotten, but once you get to be a teenager all that fit throwing and meanness needs to stop.” She shrugged her shoulders and reached over and patted Katy’s cheek. “That’s enough bellyaching. I need to do like you said. I need to remember how blessed I am.”
“That’s okay,” Katy smiled. “Sometimes we need to just talk about things that bother us. I don’t mind listening.”
“I imagine you hear all kinds of stuff from all kinds of people doing this job,” Mrs. Tellman said as she reached down and smoothed the tape on her bandage.
“Yes mam, I do. Sometimes it’s entertaining and I enjoy my patients.” Katy looked down at her laptop screen. “Let’s see, all we have left to do is record your blood sugar. Did you remember to check it before you ate breakfast this morning?”
“We did honey. I think it was seventy-eight but ask Nelda when she gets back in here. I was watching the weatherman while she was checking it, so seventy-eight might be my blood sugar, or it might be the low temperature for the week.”
“Okay,” Katy chuckled, “I’ll check. I just love your sense of humor.”
“Oh honey, you should have known me in my hay day. I was what my husband called ‘a force to be reckoned with.’” She turned in her chair and pointed to the large portrait above her bed. “That’s me and my husband and of course little Evelyn at my feet. I was in my late twenties or maybe thirty there. There are some smaller pictures of me along that wall from when I was in my young twenties and teens. That’s when I was at my best in some ways and my worst in other ways.”
Katy walked over to the bedroom wall covered in pictures. They were different sizes and in an assortment of frames. She walked slowly down the wall examining the photos attempting pick out the younger version of the elderly lady behind her. One black and white photo in an expensive-looking silver frame caught her attention. A very attractive young woman with long, black, curly hair was posed on the hood of a stretched out white car. She was propped on her elbows against the windshield of the vehicle and the way she was smiling made you think she was enjoying having her picture taken very much.
Katy turned to her patient who was watching her intently. “Is that you on the enormous white car?”
“That’s me,” Mrs. Tellman said, her eyes twinkling. “I was eighteen and had the world by the tail.”
“That’s a big ole
car,” Katy said, turning back to the photo.
“That was a nineteen-forty-one Packard. Amos had just bought it. Cost him about eight hundred dollars, the shirt off his back and one pants leg.” Mrs. Tellman’s eyes gazed lovingly into the past. “It was his very first car and we thought we were something.”
“Amos was your husband?” Katy asked.
“For sixty years, bless his sweet, patient soul. He was the most easy-going man that ever walked this earth. He had to be to put up with me.” She grabbed a tissue from the box in the side pouch of her recliner and blew her nose. Her eyes sparkled with the tears on her thin lashes. “He was too good for me.”
Katy walked back to the chair and sat down. “You have a lot of lovely pictures. Sounds like you and your husband had a good life.”
“We did,” she nodded. “Not always easy, but good.”
“Mrs. Tellman, can I ask you something?”
“Of course.”
“I see all kinds of pictures, old and recent people on your wall, but I notice you don’t have a single picture of Jessa Williams.”
“No, I don’t.” Mrs. Tellman’s tone suddenly turned sharp. “There’s no reason why I should and plenty of reasons why I shouldn’t.”
“Mrs. Katy,” Nelda said as she walked into the room, “did I hear you ask about her blood sugar? It was seventy-eight. I’m going to keep track of them in this little book.” She handed Katy a small pink notebook. “I wrote down the date, the blood sugar results, and how much she ate. Mrs. Evelyn wants me to start making little notes about how she’s doing every day so we can look back on them if we need to.”
“That’s a good idea. I kind of expected Mrs. Evelyn to be here today so I could check her off on the wound care too.”
“She had to run down to the dealership.” Nelda took the notebook back from Katy. “They are short a person now until someone is hired, and Tripp said they needed her help.”
“I didn’t realize she ever worked there,” Katy said as she typed the blood sugar results into her computer. “That’s where I get my car serviced and I’ve never seen her there.”
“She hasn’t in a long time,” Nelda said. “She only does it now when they’re in a big pinch, but she used to work there pretty often before Mrs. Tellman moved downstairs.”
“Just go ahead and say it Nelda,” Mrs. Tellman snorted. “She used to work down there before her mother almost broke her neck on that ridiculous staircase. After that happened, they moved me downstairs and Evelyn wouldn’t leave me alone anymore. It was the beginning of the end of my freedom.”
“Now Mrs. Tellman, it’s not that bad,” Nelda patted Mrs. Tellman’s shoulder. “Me and you get out and go for a ride whenever you want to if the weather permits. I don’t think Mrs. Evelyn minds not having to work at the car place one bit either.”
“No Nelda, it’s not bad at all.” Mrs. Tellman reached up and put her hand on top of the sitter’s. “I’m just mourning the loss of my youth today. Anyway, Katy, I don’t imagine Evelyn will be doing any wound care. She’s pretty squeamish.”
“That’s right,” Nelda said, “I’m going to be doing it all. I think I have got it down, so you don’t worry about that place on her leg.”
“Oh, I’m sure it’s going to heal just fine,” Katy said. “I don’t imagine I’ll be seeing yaw very long.”
She wrapped up the visit and was soon back home pulling out her clue book. What had Mrs. Tellman meant about not having a reason to put Jessa’s picture on her wall? If she could be alone with her for just a few minutes she could probably find out how Jessa was related to the Browns and why they were keeping her relationship hush-hush. Nelda had stepped in like a protective momma bear and steered the conversation away from that topic just when it was getting interesting.
Chapter Sixteen
“You sound like you’re straining a little when we get to the chorus Sarah,” Katy said as the band finished the first verse of “Wayfaring Stranger”. “Why don’t we drop down a key and try it again in D minor?”
“That will probably work,” Sarah said. “It’s a little high in some parts.”
The band started the song again on the second verse, but this time in the lower key which worked well, and the different harmonies blended in perfectly.
“Let’s call it a night, Vickie said laying down her mandolin. “Mrs. Katy, you look kind of tired.”
“I feel a little worn around the edges,” Katy said with a yawn. “Yaw don’t forget that the party is still on for tomorrow night.”
“We won’t forget,” Sarah said. “You just go home and get some rest.”
“You were right about the chickenpox spreading through the daycare,” Misty said as they walked to their cars. “Brittney came by to pick up her check today and said over half of the kids were absent. There are already a few cases at the elementary.”
“I’m not a bit surprised.” Katy clicked her car fob and opened her back door. “I saw Laney Finch at the grocery store today and one of her kids is home with it. I imagine his older siblings who are in school will have it by the weekend. It’s probably that way with a lot of the daycare kids.”
“I had the chickenpox at six. Have you had them?” Misty asked.
“Yeah,” Katy nodded. “I was three. I don’t remember them, but I had them.”
“Aren’t you glad that you don’t have to deal with those problems anymore? Poor Brittney looked kind of frazzled.”
“So did Laney, but at least she smelled nice.” Katy propped against the door of her car. “By the way, have you ever heard of a perfume called Heart’s Desire? It smells wonderful.”
“Heart’s Desire,” Misty let out a low whistle. “That’s the good stuff. You’re going to give over a hundred bucks for a little bottle of that.”
“Oh well, that’s too rich for my blood,” Katy said, shrugging her shoulders. “No wonder I’ve only smelled it on a couple of people.”
“It does smell nice” Misty agreed. “I’ve sampled it at the Macey’s counter when Momma and I were Christmas shopping at the mall in Baton Rouge. I’d love to have a bottle, but it’s like wearing liquid gold.”
“Laney Finch says she’s been wearing it ever since Coach Finch bought her a bottle when they first met. She must not mind spending the money on it.” Katy puckered her lips. “That seems kind of odd though. She doesn’t look like the type that would blow a lot of money on something so frivolous.”
“You never know Katy.” Misty swatted at a June bug trying to land in her hair. “Everybody seems to have their own ideas about what’s important and what’s worth splurging on. Mike’s about as tight as a person can get but he only wears these expensive socks that I have to buy online because the seams don’t bother his toes. He’ll wear the same pair of khakis until there’s a hole in the seat, or I sneak around and throw them away, but he makes sure he has plenty of them seamless socks.”
“I guess you’re right,” Katy said. “We only eat Blue Plate mayonnaise and Heinz Ketchup. Heaven knows they cost a little more, but John can tell when I buy anything else and acts like he’s having to eat prison food if his sandwich is made with any other brands.”
“That’s probably how Laney is about the perfume. That might be her one big splurge. You know they can’t afford too many over the top things on their salaries. Who else wears it?”
“I’m pretty sure I smelled it on Jessa Williams Saturday night under the flatbed,” Katy said. “I remember thinking how bizarre it was that she looked so morbid but smelled so good.”
“Now I can see her spending that kind of money on perfume. She always dressed over the top and seemed to have plenty of money. She probably didn’t think a thing about spending big bucks on something for herself.”
“No, I imagine she didn’t.” Katy swatted at a lone mosquito. “I’ll have to settle for some other kind, you know like they sell at Friends Pharmacy or the Pig.”
“Hey, don’t be knocking the drug store perfume,” Misty grinned. “
That’s where I get my stuff, and I smell alright.”
“Girl, I think I have something in my bathroom from the Dollar Tree,” Katy laughed, “and it’s about five years old. Friends Pharmacy will be uptown for me. I just never put the stuff on. I do like it on other people though.”
“Well, maybe Santa will treat you right this year. You never know.”
“That’s true.” Katy raised her hand to her mouth stifling a yawn. “Are you ready for the party tomorrow night?”
“Sure am,” Misty drew in air through her nose and pursed her lips stopping her own yawn. “I have the house clean and I bought the snacks. All I have to do is throw everything together and wait for yaw to show up. Have you thought about what you want to ask Emma?”
“Not really. I’d like to find out anything she might know about the relationship between Jessa and all the band members. I’m pretty certain there was bad blood between Jessa and Marissa. Of course, I want to see if they really did have a knockdown drag-out fight last Friday night.”
“I bet she can tell us too. I’m going to try to figure out a way to bring up Jessa’s love life. I’m curious about her and Coach Finch.” Misty smirked, “It’s going to be funny if we try to pick this girl’s bones for information and she doesn’t know a thing.”
“I know,” Katy said, stretching her tired eyes. “Do you think she’ll be able to help us find anything out?”
“Don’t you worry none. I feel certain she knows a lot about what was going on with Jessa and everybody else in that band. Shoot, probably everybody else in the town. I promise you Mike is always complaining about how she comes in with new tales to tell about everybody in Skeeterville.”
“I hope you’re right,” Katy said. “The one thing I would like to know is how Jessa is related to the Browns. It’s probably not important at all, but the Browns seem to be very careful about keeping it hush-hush.”
