She added a weary face emoji that made Austin smile. The smile didn’t last, though, because he got a call and didn’t recognize the number on the screen.
“Austin Jameson?” the caller asked the moment he answered.
“Yes,” he verified. “How can I help you?”
“I’m Alisha Lozano, Cody Joe’s mother.”
Austin silently groaned, but he held out hope that maybe Alisha was calling to tell him she’d managed to put a muzzle on her son.
“How can I help you?” he repeated.
“I’ve just had a chat with Cody Joe, and he told me what’s happened between McCall and him.”
His version of what happened, anyway. Austin doubted that Cody Joe had spun McCall in a positive light. Or Austin for that matter.
“Cody Joe told me about McCall owning that...club. And while I’m opposed to places like that, I understand she’s not an owner by choice. I can overlook it as long as it’s not made public.”
He nearly snapped, That’s big of you, but Austin figured that wouldn’t help this. Whatever this was. “What do you want?” Austin demanded.
The woman paused just a moment. “Cody Joe and McCall need to be together for the good of the foundation. And you’re preventing that from happening.”
Austin felt the slow, hot rise of his temper. “McCall doesn’t want your son,” he pointed out. “Cody Joe embarrassed her by screwing around with another woman. And FYI, that hurt the foundation.”
“Cody Joe made a mistake.” Her voice had a crisp, icy edge to it now. “But he’ll make up for it, and his name alone can restore donations to the foundation. My name, too. You, on the other hand, can only make things worse.”
Austin grumbled some profanity. “It’s McCall’s decision as to whether or not she’ll get back with Cody Joe, and the last I heard, she’s finished with him.”
“McCall will come to her senses when she realizes this is for the best,” Alisha said like gospel.
“Her senses?” He had to stop, take a breath. “From what I can see, the smartest thing she could have done was wash her hands of Cody Joe. Did you know he’s threatened to blackmail her, that he’ll spill her secret if she doesn’t get back together with him?”
Austin figured Cody Joe hadn’t mentioned that to his mother.
But he was wrong.
Alisha confirmed it with a simple, “He told me.”
“You’re okay with your son blackmailing the woman you want him to be with?” Austin snarled.
This time her pause was a lot longer. “In this case, the means justify the ends. My name is linked to McCall, and if her reputation suffers, so does mine. The best thing to do will be for Cody Joe and her to reconcile. Maybe even announce their engagement. That way, her secret will stay safe, and I’ll work behind the scenes to figure out a way for her to quietly get out of ownership of that horrible club.”
“It would be best to make sure McCall is happy. Cody Joe doesn’t make her happy,” Austin spelled out.
“Not at the moment, but he can if given another chance.” Again, that had a gospel-y tone to it. “Step away from this, Mr. Jameson. You’ll not only save yourself and your family an embarrassment, you’ll save McCall, too.”
Before Austin could say anything else, Alisha ended the call.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
WHEN THE RINGING of Granny Em’s landline phone shot through the kitchen—again—McCall had had enough. She pulled the connection plug. Of course, that wouldn’t stop Em’s and her cells from ringing and dinging, but it was a start.
Another start was talking to Sunny and Shaw to give them a heads-up about what was going on. McCall had also left a message for Hayes, too, just in case. She didn’t know if her brother still heard local gossip, but she went with the “better safe than sorry” approach especially since Hayes had recently helped her out with what could have been another bombshell.
Granny Em didn’t seem at all distressed that seemingly every adult in Lone Star Ridge had or was trying to get in touch with her, no doubt to hear any and all dirt to be dished about this fictional Ralphie Devane.
“The distraction’s working,” Em pointed out while she calmly sipped her coffee at the kitchen table.
“It’s working only because Cody Joe hasn’t told anyone that I own Peekaboo,” McCall reminded her.
Telling was something he would surely do, but waiting around for that to happen seemed just as hard as dealing with the fallout would be. While she appreciated her grandmother’s attempt to help, once Cody Joe spilled everything, it would only mean more people calling to get the scoop about what was going on.
“We could maybe hire someone to make Cody Joe keep his mouth shut,” Boo suggested. She, too, was at the kitchen table and was playing a solo version of poker. “One of the former strippers at Peekaboo has a brother who does that sort of thing. Breaks legs, twists arms, busts faces.”
McCall scowled at her. “Let’s not make this worse than it already is.” Though she was pleased that Boo had said former stripper. McCall didn’t want to employ anyone who had body-maiming connections like that.
Unlike Boo and Granny Em, she couldn’t sit, so McCall started to pace across the kitchen. “Making up that story about Ralphie Devane wasn’t a good idea,” McCall muttered. It was about the thirtieth time she’d said a variation of that, but Granny Em only smiled as she’d done the other twenty-nine times.
“The name’s made up,” Em explained. “So is the part about him trying to get in touch with me. But I did have a boyfriend in the mob. It’s not really lying if a part of the story is true.”
Yes, it was lying, and McCall only hoped this didn’t come back to bite them in their butts. Especially since it was only a temporary smokescreen.
“Speaking of names,” Boo said, “my name change isn’t legal yet, but I could still tell everyone that I’m the McCall Dalton who owns the club.”
“Thanks, but no one will believe that.” Plus, it wouldn’t be that hard for anyone to check the club’s ownership and see that it was not only McCall’s name but her address, as well.
When McCall’s cell dinged with a call, she started to automatically hit the decline button, but then she saw Austin’s name on the screen. She answered it as fast as she could.
“Is Gracie all right?” McCall immediately asked. She certainly hadn’t forgotten about the little girl, but with everything else going on, she’d pushed it to the back burner.
“She’s fine,” Austin quickly assured her. “I’m here with her at Edith and Howie’s. How about you?”
McCall didn’t answer until she’d stepped out of the kitchen. “Not fine.” And she realized Austin was one of the few people outside of family that she could be honest with. “I feel as if I’m sitting on a time bomb.”
She heard the heavy sigh he made before he spoke. “I’m sorry about that.” Austin sighed, then paused. “This makes me feel a little like a tattletale, but I got a call from Alisha.”
“Alisha? Why would she—” McCall stopped when the answer to her own question came to her. “She’s trying to get Cody Joe and me back together.”
“Bingo. And she thinks I’m in the way.” Another pause. “Am I in the way?”
“No,” she blurted out, and then rethought that. “No,” McCall repeated. “I wouldn’t get back with Cody Joe even if you weren’t in the picture.”
“I’m in the picture,” he said, and she could practically see him smiling.
Not good. This wasn’t a smiling matter.
“Austin, you need to distance yourself from me,” she reminded him.
“Shouldn’t you let me decide that for myself?” he countered.
She wanted to shout, No! That it was only a matter of time before her toxic state rubbed off on him, but her phone beeped with a message from Sunny. At that same moment, she heard Granny Em’s
cell ring from the kitchen.
The rat Cody Joe ratted, Sunny had texted, and McCall read it aloud for Austin to hear.
“Yeah,” Austin verified. “I just got a text about it from my mom.”
Even though McCall had been steeling herself up for over an hour, it clearly hadn’t helped. Every muscle in her body tensed and filled with dread. She got a flash of all the calls and texts that were going on right now, and face-to-face gossip would soon follow.
“Cody Joe and Alisha didn’t waste any time,” Austin added. “I figure Alisha knew her call to me hadn’t worked, and she gave Cody Joe the green light to take a shot at you.”
Sadly, McCall could see it playing out just like that. From the kitchen, she heard Granny Em snarl, “Yeah, so what if McCall owns a place like that? Your husband’s making eyes at the new waitress at the Lickety Split. Seems to me you oughta be talking more about that than McCall owning a legal business that provides a service to husbands just like yours.”
Good grief. McCall didn’t want to get in a tit-for-tat match.
“You heard me right,” Em added, no doubt responding to some kind of denial or outrage from the person who’d called her. “Your Eddy always had a roving eye. Other roving parts, too, from what I’ve heard. I know plenty of other gossip about him and you, and if you pester McCall, you’d better grab a shovel to scoop up the crap.”
McCall groaned and pressed her fingers to her head to try to ease the throbbing. “I have to go,” McCall said to Austin. “I’ll call you when I can.”
She put her phone away, heading for the kitchen to do some damage control, but the knock at the door stopped her. McCall was certain it’d be someone she didn’t want to see, but when the knocking continued, she threw open the door and saw a surprise visitor.
Cait.
Austin’s sister was on the porch, not looking at McCall but rather at the two cars that had pulled up in the driveway. McCall recognized both drivers. One was Hattie Monroe, the biggest gossip in town, and Tandy Baker, the second biggest.
Cait made a circling motion with her index finger followed by a hitch of her thumb to indicate she wanted the women to turn around and leave. Both stayed put, and Hattie even opened her car door and stepped out. Without saying a word, Cait tapped her badge, put her hands on her hips and aimed a hard stare at her.
“I’m here to see Em,” Hattie protested. “She probably needs someone to lend her a shoulder and an ear.”
“Em’s already got two shoulders and two ears of her own,” Cait fired back. “I suspect that’s plenty enough.”
“I doubt that.” Hattie’s attention shifted to the doorway, and she gave McCall a serious dose of stink-eye. “Your poor grandmother must be devastated over what you’ve done. Of course, I guess it’s not really your fault what with the terrible upbringing you had.”
McCall suspected there wasn’t even a tiny smidge of real concern in Hattie’s tone. Or in her heart. The woman just wanted to dice up this savory topic and pass on to other gossips what she could learn from the horse’s mouth. And the grandmother of the horse’s mouth.
Cait made that get out of here waving motion again to Hattie and Tandy. “This house is under quarantine because Em found some black mold. It can cause a respiratory infection and some other nasty stuff. It’s got to be inspected before anyone can come in.”
Hattie pulled back her shoulder, scowled. “She’s in there,” she said, pointing to McCall.
McCall started coughing as if hacking up a lung. Yes, it was sort of lying to go along with Cait, but she really didn’t want to deal with Hattie and Tandy just yet. Nor did she want Em to have to see them. Considering Em’s already snarky mood, this could turn into an ugly scene.
Hattie must have at least believed the mold claim/McCall’s hacking, because she leaned back as if putting some distance between McCall and her. The woman also got back in her car, and she drove away with Tandy right behind her.
“Thank you,” McCall told Cait. She stopped coughing, drew in a normal breath.
Cait shrugged. “Glad to help. Those two have got enough tongue for ten rows of teeth. Do you really own a strip club?” Cait tacked on to that without pausing.
McCall sighed, nodded. “I do.”
“She inherited it,” Boo added, coming up behind them. “Hi, Cait.”
McCall wasn’t sure where or how Boo and Cait had met, but clearly they knew each other. Of course, in a town this small, Boo had likely already crossed paths with just about everyone.
Cait greeted Boo back and turned to make sure the gossips were leaving. They were. Maybe Tandy and Hattie would even spread the news of why they’d been turned away.
“Other nosy folks will come,” Cait pointed out. “That mold scare won’t hold them back for long. Heck, threat of Ebola or typhoid won’t keep them away once the gossip mill heats up.”
“No,” McCall agreed. “If I thought it’d do any good, I’d stand in the middle of Main Street, admit to being the owner of Peekaboo and answer any questions people wanted to ask.”
“Won’t do any good,” Cait immediately verified. “Tongues will just start wagging about you having gone bat-shit over the embarrassment of your secret being out.”
Yes, and that added another knot to McCall’s stomach. There was nothing she could do to stop this gossip avalanche. Well, nothing that would help her, anyway. She could maybe still keep Austin out of the fray. If she saw him in person, he might finally see how serious she was about this, but she didn’t want to bother him what with Gracie being sick.
“I can put up a quarantine sign at the end of the road,” Cait said, glancing around. “Maybe set up a spike strip on the driveway that’ll flatten the tires of anyone who goes past the sign.”
It was tempting, but McCall shook her head. Damaged tires would only add to the gossip and create a whole lot of ill will for Granny Em. Her grandmother lived in this town and would therefore have to live with anything that followed the Peekaboo scandal.
“The way I see it, I have two options,” McCall said. “I can hide out here at Granny Em’s, which will only cause more and more people to come looking for dirt.” She had to pause and gather her breath because the second option was going to hurt. “Or Boo and I can leave and go back to Dallas.”
Silence. Both Boo and Cait stared at her for a long time, and McCall could practically see them working through that. Leaving meant her giving up on Austin. The thought of that felt like a fist gripping her heart, but staying would do more than a fist-grip. It could crush both of them.
Cait was the first to break the silence. “You plan on talking to Austin about that?”
McCall nodded. “I can explain to him that my leaving will make the gossip die down faster.”
Boo made a sound as if she wasn’t buying that. McCall didn’t buy it, either, but this way the gossips might leave Austin alone. Might. Of course, the gossips might zoom in on Austin and Granny Em if she wasn’t around to deflect the chatter.
McCall was still mulling that over when there was the sound of another approaching car engine. Not Hattie or Tandy this time, but it was someone she hadn’t wanted to see.
Edith.
Since Austin hadn’t given her a heads-up call, it likely meant he hadn’t known Edith would be making this trip. Maybe because Austin had already taken the girls back to their house. Or Edith could have stormed out. If so, then Austin might be right behind her.
Edith’s car practically screeched to a stop in front of the house, and the woman barreled out. “Is it true?” Edith asked, her attention zooming in on McCall.
“Want me to arrest her?” Cait muttered to McCall. “I’m sure I can come up with something. Disturbing the peace, a traffic violation or two.”
“No, but thanks,” McCall whispered back. She dragged in a couple of long breaths and came out of the house and down the porch steps to fac
e Edith.
“Is it true?” Edith repeated before McCall could say anything.
“It’s true,” McCall verified.
“She inherited the club,” Boo called out.
McCall made a sound of agreement to indicate that was true, but she doubted it would soften this with Edith. And she was right. Edith’s iron expression got even harder.
“You own a strip club,” Edith ground out like profanity. “You own a strip club, and yet you spent time with Austin and my grandbabies.”
McCall wanted to point out that she hadn’t stripped in front of them. Nor had she even talked about it so the girls would hear. Even if she had, McCall doubted Avery and Gracie were old enough to understand. Still, they would certainly grasp that something was wrong, and McCall hated putting them through even one moment of uncertainty.
“McCall inherited Peekaboo!” Boo repeated, a little louder this time. “She can’t sell it or give it away. I’m just as much the owner as she is.”
Along with the second part not even being true, that clearly didn’t help because it caused Edith’s eyes to narrow even more. The woman’s face also started to turn red. “Does Austin know?” Edith demanded.
Oh, this was shaky ground. Since McCall didn’t want Cait getting in on this and because Edith looked ready to implode, McCall gently took hold of Edith’s arm and led her to the shade tree. She had Edith sit in the swing.
“Does Austin know you’re here?” McCall asked.
“No. Austin and Howie are with the girls, and I sneaked out. I told them I had a headache and needed a lie-down.” Edith groaned, rubbed her hands over her face. “How could you do this?” she pled, obviously forgetting her previous question about Austin knowing. “And here I was about to give you the card from Zoey.”
McCall froze, then shook her head. “Zoey left me a card?”
Edith’s mouth twisted as if annoyed with herself for mentioning that. “Zoey didn’t specifically leave it to you, but she was certain that Austin would end up seeing someone else after he got past his grief. I thought that someone else might be you.”
Chasing Trouble in Texas Page 16
