by Tonya Kappes
My phone rang and I pulled it out of my pocket. Mary Katherine Hardgrove was calling.
“Hello?” I quickly answered in case she decided to hang up on me before I could answer.
“You need to forget you talked to me.” Her voice was deep and low. “I’ll deny seeing you, and trust me when I say that your name will be erased from any file at Stevon’s. I can make that happen and will,” she threatened.
“Why the change of heart?” I asked.
“Let me tell you something.” She was going to tell me whether I wanted to hear it or not. “My husband did not kill your sister. The cops have already let him go and I’m sticking by him. Your two-bit sister is the one who seduced my man and she got what was coming to her so you leave me and my family out of it.”
“You wait one second, lady,” I warned. “Sammy Hardgrove has been chasing my sister around like a sniffing dog for years. He might not have killed her but I won’t stand by while you or any other Hardgrove try to drag her name through the mud because your husband couldn’t keep his hands off her.”
The phone clicked. I gripped the wheel wondering what had changed her mind. Who had changed her mind. Gina Marie Hardgrove.
Chapter 15
On my way back into Sleepy Hollow, I decided to stop by the Buy-N-Fly to get some cat food. I couldn’t figure out what the cat wanted from me and it never wanted to stay around. It’s not like I could talk to it like I could my other Betweener clients, so I couldn’t help but think some sort of food might keep it around.
Everett Atwood jumped out of the metal chair when he saw me pull in. He grabbed the old oily rag off the back of the chair and stuffed it in the back of his pocket. He pointed me to the side of the gas pump where he could access the gas tank. I didn’t need gas, but Everett took pride in his job of pumping gas, wiping the windows and making small talk.
“Mornin’, Emma Lee.” He opened the hearse door. He plucked the oily rag from his back pocket and snapped it. “Glad to see you didn’t jump the curb today.”
“You know that cat I saw?” I knew it was the ghost cat, but if I was buying cat food, he’d see it and this way I looked sane. He nodded and made circles with the cloth on my windshield. “I’m feeding it.”
“You are?” Everett looked at me with narrowed eyes.
“Yes. And I’m going to run inside to get some cat food.” I darted around the front of the hearse.
“You might want to get that salmon in gravy kind. Cats loves that stuff,” Everett said and went on about his job.
Within minutes I had paid for my can of cat food, salmon in gravy, and gone back out to the car.
“This sure is a nice hearse.” Everett wiped down the side. “You use it to carry people home?”
By home, I knew he meant to the cemetery.
“I do.” The tone in his voice told me he had some questions. “Everett, do you need to ask me something?”
“Well,” he tugged the ratty baseball hat off his head and tucked it up under his armpit. “I was wondering if I could talk to you about some funeral arrangements for me.”
“You mean pre-need arrangements?” I asked.
“Something like that.” He shuffled his feet around me and took the pump out of the gas tank and replaced it in the station.
“I thought you were a Burns man.” I gripped the can of cat food and remembered all the rumors swirling around about the Ridley man’s hat and Peggy’s pearls.
A car zoomed in the gas station and the tires rolled over the water hose dingy bell.
“I’ll have to talk to you later.” Everett rushed over to the car and plucked the oily rag out of his back pocket to begin on the customer.
“Well, you are just racking up the dead.” Charlotte was in the passenger side of the hearse. She was completely turned around in the seat looking back at Everett. “That was strange of him to ask all secret-like.”
“I don’t think so.” I looked both ways before I pulled the hearse back out on the old country road. “He’s very shy and if what you said about Burns getting all mixed up with clients and how you got Bea Allen’s clients . . .” My mind took over and it automatically came out of my mouth, “Then Bea Allen is mad at you and she could’ve possibly killed you.”
“Emma!” Charlotte squealed in delight, nearly causing me to hit a pedestrian that was crossing the sidewalk when I turned right, next to the town square.
My tires skidded to a stop. The person held his heart, and his eyes popped open.
Charlotte laughed and it was contagious. I started to laugh.
“I bet not many people have been almost hit by a hearse. I mean—” Charlotte stuttered through her giggles, as she pointed at the man. “People get hit by cars, but a hearse?”
When the man gave us the one finger salute, it made me laugh harder and my eyes teared from laughing. It took a minute for both of us to get our wits about us and for me to drive the few more feet to Eternal Slumber.
“This is so much fun.” Charlotte straightened back up. She adjusted herself to where she was sitting slightly facing me. “I really do regret not taking time to really get to know you.”
A lump formed in my throat. It was the opportunity I had been looking for. The perfect time to tell Charlotte exactly how I felt about how she’d treated me all my life. My heart pumped and the speech I had practiced so many times was on the tip of my tongue. I opened my mouth and it was just like something lifted off me. I closed my mouth and looked at her. The corners of her eyes dipped down, but her lips curled up.
“We have now.” Words that I never practiced or ever intended to say to her spewed out of me. “Besides, you are my big sister. Who on earth wants to hang out with their little sister?”
“You really are a class act, Emma Lee.” Charlotte ghosted out of the hearse and I got out.
Jack Henry was sitting in the family room of my apartment.
“Where have you been all day?” he asked while he tied up his tennis shoes. His baseball bag was sitting next to the couch. Whenever the Eternal Slumber softball team had practice and he had to work, he would put his bag in his cruiser and come to my house to change.
“Around.” I shrugged and put the can of cat food on the coffee table. “Since you put the kibosh on me about Charlotte, I figured I’d spend a little time with the ghost cat and figure out what he needs.”
“Did you ever think it just got hit by a car?” he asked.
“That’s mean.” My brows cocked. “And he seems to be looking for something or someone.”
The images of Cat running around sniffing the shoes of the people in the town square made me think he was looking for that scent he remembered. If I could gain his trust, then maybe he’d lead me to where he’d come from. I’d heard so many stories about how animals get lost and find their way home years later. Why not ghost cats?
“And the can of cat food?” He stood up. He had on tight blue baseball pants. My heart went pitter-patter and my toes tingled. “Eyes up here, Emma.”
I looked up and he was smiling.
“You are distracting.” I curled up on my toes and kissed him. I made a little kissy path along his jaw and around to his ear. I whispered, “Are you sure you can’t skip practice? Or be a few minutes late?”
An audible groan gurgled deep within him. I could tell he was thinking about it because of his pause.
“I think you need a nice rubdown so you will be ready for the game.” I continued my little kissing path down and across his neck to the other ear. I took a little nibble on his lobe, knowing it would send him over the edge.
“You know I can’t let the guys down,” he whispered back and picked me up in his arms. I wrapped my arms around his neck and continued to snuggle while he carried me to the bedroom. Gently he laid me down and looked deep into my eyes.
The next few minutes was time well spent with Jack. It helped relieve some of the stress brought on by the past few days.
“You be a good girl until I get back.” He pulled h
is shirt back over his head and stood up with an evil grin on his face.
“What?” I propped myself up on my elbows and watched him walk toward the door.
“Gotta go.” He grabbed the baseball bag on the floor. “Don’t forget our dinner date.”
“I won’t.” I grabbed my pillow and threw it at him when he disappeared into the hall. I curled the other pillow in my arms and smiled. No matter how crazy my life was, and the pain I knew was coming my way with the realization that I’d not see or talk to Charlotte after she crossed over, I was blessed to have Jack in my life.
The soft sound of the cat paws pitter-pattered on the bedroom hardwood floors. The cat jumped up on the bed and looked at me.
“Here, kitty, kitty.” I encouraged the cat to come closer. “I wish I knew your name.”
The cat cautiously eased up next to me and kneaded the bed while a deep purr roared through its little body.
“You are my first animal. And I have a can of food for you.” I sat up and called for the kitty. I was happy to see that it had followed me into the kitchen after I retrieved the can from the family room coffee table.
When I popped the can lid, the suction sound sent the cat on its paws, dancing around, its tail dancing in the air.
“Oh, you like this food.” I was happy that I had something to connect me with the ghost cat. “There is plenty more where this came from if you continue to stay around or lead me to places that will help me help you cross over.”
I dumped the contents of the can on a paper plate and put it on the floor like it was going to eat it up. I was banking on the trust connection that might bring us together. Cats were a little skittish and the ghost cat was no different.
“What is that smell?” Mary Anna Hardy walked into the kitchen with her Marilyn Monroe coffee cup dangling from her finger. Her hair was short, curled and styled just like her favorite movie star icon. The black wrap dress was wrapped so tight around her, the girls bounced with each breath she took.
“It’s cat food.” I pointed to the plate. If I’d known someone was still here, I would’ve put the cat food in my apartment.
She pinched her nose with her fingers and waved her other hand in front of her to get the stink away. “Why?” Her voice nasal as she continued to plug her nose.
“I’m doing a sort of experiment,” I lied. I was getting pretty good at covering up the Betweener gig. At first I admit I wasn’t so good and was all willy-nilly when I spoke in public to my ghost clients and didn’t realize how crazy I looked. “I have a client request to have cat food stuck in the casket along with ashes of a cat. It’s a pre-need arrangement.” My nose curled. The smell was awful.
“Who?” Mary Anna’s excitement rushed up from the tips of her high heels and, like a wave, swooshed up her body and lit her face up. “I bet it’s Dottie Kramer. She’s got all them damn cats in that barn of hers. Is it?”
“I can’t tell you.” Happily the cat was still there. Normally, it would have darted off when Mary Anna walked in. I watched as the ghost cat danced and purred around the food. “But I’m not sure if I would agree to have the food at the funeral. Very foul.” I waved my hand in front of my nose for more of an effect. “What are you doing here?”
“I left my good shears here from Sissy’s funeral and I need to get them for work tomorrow. I also left my cup down there.” She sighed. No matter how long I have lived, all my life, I still couldn’t drink or eat anything down in the morgue. Not my Granny—she’d host a full buffet using her china down there if she could. “You want to go grab a beer at The Watering Hole?”
“No wonder you are all dolled up.” I couldn’t resist bringing attention to her outfit.
“I’m tired of being alone,” she said. The sadness in her eyes spoke to me. “But you can’t worry about that, honey.”
I wasn’t sure what to say. I’d never seen Mary Anna react this way to her single life. When I got my hair done, which was not on a regular basis, she always said how she was a strong woman, didn’t need a man, wasn’t looking for a man, just liked to love ’em and leave ’em.
“How are your mama and them?” she asked and stuck her cup on the counter.
“They don’t know about Charlotte yet.” I tried not to laugh as the cat rubbed his tail along Mary Anna’s legs.
“What?” Her brows furrowed.
“They retired and lost their minds. They’ve been traveling the world and now they are in Africa on some safari where there is no human contact. They should be making a stop today at some internet café and the person who booked their tour said they would get the message to them.” I wondered how Mom was going to react. When it did hit her, I was sure she’d act like one of them tigers she’d be seeing on her safari and claw her way to get home as fast as she could. “Then it will take her at least a couple of days to get to an airport and then God knows how long to get here.”
“Is that why we haven’t gotten started on her yet?” Mary Anna asked.
“No way in hell is she touching me.” Charlotte appeared. “She puts on that music and shimmy shakes all over the place when she’s doing a body. I just want minimal makeup and my hot-pink suit that’s in my office at Hardgrove’s.”
“I’m sure we will get her soon.” I forced a thin-lined grin on my face. I had meant to ask Jack to call since I’d been banned from Hardgrove’s. Now that Charlotte’s death was officially a homicide, then hopefully we could get her home soon.
Mary Anna’s phone chirped and I gave Charlotte the big eyes to shut her up. It was hard to be present and listen to the living when the dead were always interrupting.
Charlotte bent down and picked up the cat.
“Oh, that’s how you play this. I get no say in what I wear.” She rubbed her hand down the cat. “Good, baby. We will find your mommy.”
“Mommy?” I asked out loud and bit my lip when I realized I said it out loud.
Mary Anna hooked the bottom of her phone around her chin. “No, Bea Allen,” she whispered.
“Bea Allen?” The cat leapt out of Charlotte’s arms before she folded them in front of her. “That’s weird. Why would Bea Allen be calling Mary Anna?” Her brows rose an inch.
I patiently waited until Mary Anna hung up.
“What was that about?” I asked.
“She’s going to meet me at The Watering Hole.” She avoided looking at me.
“Spill it,” I spat. “I know better than that.”
It wasn’t that Mary Anna and Bea Allen were enemies, they weren’t, but they definitely weren’t friends. Mary Anna’s mama, Leotta Hardy, and Bea were friends, which made this so much more interesting.
“Fine.” Mary Anna stomped. “It’s a favor for Mama. Bea Allen is having a hard time at Burns.”
“Hard time?” I questioned.
“Oh, don’t seem so smug.” Mary Anna smiled. “Only if Charlotte was here to see this.” She winked. I gulped. Charlotte about shit her pants.
“What?” Charlotte’s mouth fell open. I wanted to take my finger and push it closed and tell her it wasn’t polite to stand with your mouth open. Bad manners. “What does she mean?”
“I’m sure Charlotte is looking down on us.” I looked up to the heavens and smiled.
“After how she treated you like a second-rate citizen in your own business, it has to feel good that your only competition in town has pretty much screwed up every single funeral she’s done since O’Dell became mayor.” Mary Anna shrugged.
“It was my understanding that most of those people went to Lexington to Hardgrove’s.” I told her what Charlotte told us not to say to anyone, but she was dead and it wasn’t like her gossiping was going to overshadow the fact she was sleeping with a married man.
“Nothing against Charlotte, but I heard at the shop that Charlotte was just too expensive and she wasn’t going to give a friend discount like y’all do around here. People appreciate that, Emma Lee.” Mary always got the good gossip at her salon.
I swear, I think
there was something hair stylists used to pump through their shops because as soon as your butt hit the plastic styling chairs, mouths flew open and puked out gossip whether it was true or not. Then it got twisted even more.
“It’s a business.” Charlotte threw her hands up in the air. “I’m not the owner there.” Suddenly as if Charlotte’s brain stopped, she looked at me, the skin between her eyes creased. She pointed at me. “Is that why we hardly made any money? Were you giving people discounts?”
I tucked my hand in the crook of Mary Anna’s arm and started to walk her out of the kitchen and down the hall. It was time for her to leave because I had to talk to the cat while he was there, and Charlotte was getting madder.
“I had heard that Ridley had on Peggy Wayne’s pearls and she had on his hat.” I shook my head. “How do you mess that up?”
“You mean like the pin on Sissy?” Mary Anna threw it back in my face. She waved her hand in front of her as if she could just push her comment aside. “She said that she’s ready for a drink because she’s recovered a lot of the clients back and then some.”
“Then some?” Charlotte questioned and eyed me suspiciously.
I opened the door. “Have fun.”
“I will.” She drummed her fingertips in the air behind her shoulder as she skipped down the front steps of the funeral home.
I turned around and Charlotte was sitting on top of the sideboard. She ran her hand across the top.
“I guess I won’t get my hands on this.” She lightly patted the top.
My phone chirped in my back pocket. I took it out. It was a text from Arley Burgin apologizing for texting me and that he’d gotten my number from John Howard. He wanted to know if I could make it out to the field to get their order that I had promised. I quickly texted back that I’d be out there before practice ended.
“Are you listening to me about this sideboard?” Charlotte swung her legs back and forth. Her elbows were stiff, and her shoulders curled up to her ears from where she had her hands planted next to her.
“It doesn’t matter now.” I wasn’t going to go there with her. “I wonder what Bea Allen meant when she told Mary Anna ‘and then some’?”
