Lily Sprayberry Realtor Box Set

by Carolyn Ridder Aspenson

  What she said made sense, and I realized she was at least partially right. Dylan wasn’t entirely responsible for my problem. I did deserve part of that blame, but it wasn’t because I was afraid of being dependent on him. I was afraid of getting lost in him again, of losing myself to him. It took me a long time to become the woman I was, and I didn’t want to lose her, even for the love of my life.

  I explained that to my mom. “Oh honey, let me tell you something. Your pa is sweeter than a box of pralines, but when that man kicks the bucket, you can bet I’ll still make it to bowling night because that’s what us Sprayberry women do. We keep going, and that’s what you’ll do with that man of yours, you hear me?”

  “Yes, Momma, I hear you.”

  After she decided she’d settled my Dylan dilemma, I lamented on about my discord with Heather and my concerns about Austin’s possible innocence.

  “Now you know I’ve never been a fan of that Savannah, but I sure didn’t wish her dead, and I just don’t see little Heather Barrington being capable of killing someone. She might have changed a bit in college, but a murderer is always a murderer deep inside their soul honey, and Heather? Well, I just don’t see that in her.”

  “I don’t know, Momma. I don’t think we ever really know what a person is capable of.”

  “Maybe not, but I know in my heart that Heather Barrington isn’t the killer. I just know.”

  “Okay, Momma.”

  “I’ve got to say though, the good Lord seeks justice in His own way, and I don’t know what He’ll choose to do in this case, but whatever it is, He’ll do right by those that deserve His help. I think you should listen to that man of yours and stay out of it. You don’t mess with God, honey.”

  “I’m not involved, Momma, and I promise, I’m not messing with God.”

  “Well, I sure hope not. I pray every night I don’t have to bury one of my own. Heavens, I can only imagine what the Armstrong’s must be going through. And the cost of funerals these days? Goodness gracious, when it’s my time, just throw me in one of your pa’s old fishing boats, nail a piece of wood over it, and dig me a hole in your backyard. That’s all I need. Don’t even want a fancy tombstone or anything like that. I’ll be dead, so what will I care anyway?”

  “Momma, we’ll make sure you’re properly buried and cared for, I promise.”

  “Well, you might could get me some nice flowers, plant them around my grave. Maybe some white lilies. They’ll remind me of you.”

  I giggled. “But you’ll be dead, so you won’t care, remember?”

  “’Course I will be sweetie, but I’ll be with God, and we’ll both be watching.”

  “Oh. Well then, I’ll definitely get you those white lilies.”

  “Well, now that we’ve got that settled, I think you ought to go and make it right with Heather. You two have been friends for too long to let a little fit like that come between you.”

  I’d come to view it as more than a fit, but my mother always saw the brighter side to everything, which was one of the things I loved most about her. Heather threatening me though made it hard for me to want to make things right with her.

  Talking with my mother wore me out sometimes, and that conversation was one of those times, so I found a reason to end the call. “Hey, Momma, I’ve got to run. I’ve got a client calling about one of those condos on the Redbecker property. Got to earn a living! Love you.” I disconnected the call and fell onto my couch, exhausted from the emotional rollercoaster of the day and the added hills of talking with my amazing mother.

  Make it right. Her words echoed in my brain all afternoon. I’d wallowed in self-pity in the sanctity of my little bungalow under the guise of working from home while Belle handled things at the office before heading out to the city for a night on the town with Matthew.

  I pushed my self pity aside and searched for a reason to believe Heather didn’t murder Savannah, to find justification in my mother’s push for me to make it right between us. Or maybe I needed validation for the little part of me that believed Heather did wrap her arms around an old friend and choked the life out of her.

  No matter what the reason, I needed to find out what I needed to find out.

  I checked Facebook for the pledge group of my sorority to see who’d checked in at the last brunch. Several had promised to go but only a few actually checked in. That didn’t mean the others didn’t attend, but I knew I could talk to the ones that did check in and find out.

  I wrote down three names of the girls I knew liked to talk, tended to border on gossipy, but only dipped their toes in the water, never went full-throttle into the lake. The true gossipers were unreliable. I needed to hear the story from my sisters that wouldn’t put too much of their own personal spin on it, if that was even possible.

  I left messages for two of them and struck gold when my old friend Julia answered.

  “Hey girl, what’s up? I haven’t talked to you in ages.” Julia came from the deep south of Mississippi, and even though she lived in Atlanta, she spoke like she’d just hopped off the train from Biloxi.

  “Oh, I’m just doing my thing. Listen, I’m calling with some sad news.”

  “Oh, sweetie, I heard about Savannah, bless her heart. What a terrible way to die. Have you heard anything about her funeral? Of course us girls just have to do something. Maybe we’ll have a luncheon in her honor. What do you think?”

  “I haven’t talked to her parents about the funeral arrangements yet. I know they’re in town, but they’re keeping to themselves until everything is settled. I think the idea of doing something is lovely. Maybe we could contribute to a charity in her honor or something.” I paused to take a breath and ask her about Heather, but she started up again.

  “Oh, heavens no. Savannah would roll over in her grave if we gave money to charity. She did not believe in handouts. Why, every time we did a fundraiser, she pitched a fit, bless her heart. She was all, how can you expect people to learn to take care of themselves if you keep helping them? They might could get a job at the McDonalds and rent a room if they need to, she’d say. Oh, gosh.” She sniffled. “Oh, dear. Give me a second, honey.” She blew her nose. “I just can’t believe she’s dead. And Austin, arrested for her murder, bless his heart. Who would have thought he’d do that kind of thing? No sir, not me. Raised in a good home, with that kind of money? I can’t even imagine what happened to him. It just goes to show, you can provide the best things for your child, but you can’t guarantee they won’t grow up and be a serial killer, you know what I’m saying?”

  Austin wasn’t exactly a serial killer. In fact, I wasn’t sure he was a killer at all. “Julia, I’m not so sure Austin killed Savannah.”

  “Well yes, ma’am, of course he did. I heard he was arrested and everything. He is sure in the need of prayer, now, don’t you think? And arrested by your ex-boyfriend to bat. Bless your heart, it must be hard having Dylan back in town like that. When I spoke to Heather last, she said he looked mighty fine, like an angel straight from heaven. You know, Atlanta’s a big city, and I never did run into him around here. You’d think I would have, but I just didn’t.”

  Goodness, Julia definitely hadn’t lost her Biloxi speak. I used her bringing up Heather’s name as a segway into my question and to avoid discussing Dylan directly. “When did you talk to Heather last?”

  “She’s the one that told me about Savannah. Called me the day she discovered her body, bless her heart. She was all tore up about it, too, poor thing.”

  “Heather told you she found Savannah’s body?”

  “Yes, ma’am, she did. She told me the whole story. How you had that staging class, which, by the way, I think it just adorable. I’d love for you to come down to the city and give me some tips. My designer is great and all, but she’s in her forties and has an old lady vibe, bless her heart. It just doesn’t work for me. I’m more of a modernized city girl, you know what I’m saying?”

  “Sure, we can chat about that. So, what were you saying abo
ut Heather finding Savannah?”

  “Oh, yeah, that. She said you had that class and met at Savannah’s house, and she didn’t want to go, but you know how us girls are curious about that kind of stuff, so she went ahead and went and when she saw that trunk, the one that Savannah suggested her parents get? She has, or had I guess, one just like it. I was at her place two weeks ago and she showed me it. Just beautiful.” She made an emm hemm sound. “I wonder what’s going to happen to all those beautiful pieces now? Considering that Austin is probably going to spend the rest of his life in jail, bless his heart.”

  She rambled on, so I interrupted her and gently guided her back to the question I’d asked.

  “Anyway, when Heather saw the trunk, she just had to open it, she said, and low and behold, there was Savannah, stuffed in there like an old forgotten quilt.” She sighed. “She said she’d always kind of wished Savannah dead, but seeing her like that, it upset her right good.”

  I made a decision on the fly to let Heather’s story be. It didn’t benefit me to tell Julia the truth. “So, you’re saying she was upset? Even after what happened at the last brunch?”

  “Oh, well, yes, ma’am, that was terrible, and I know Heather was just a mess because of that. Why, she even said so on the phone. But yes, she told me flat out she was tore up about Savannah’s death. Said she hadn’t had a chance to apologize to her about the brunch incident, but she was planning to. It’s just terrible. Come to think of it, I don’t know what’s worse. Having to live with the guilt of knowing you can’t make amends like that or dying without being forgiven.”

  “I’m pretty sure just dying in general is worse.”

  She laughed. “Well, of course dyin’s worse, but you know what I mean.”

  I didn’t really, but I just let it go. I’d learned to let a lot go with the girls in my sorority, especially the ones that moved up and on. Their world was far different than mine. “Can you tell me what happened at that brunch?”

  “Oh, honey, it was B. A. D. Bad. Let me tell you, if I had done what Savannah did to Heather and Caroline, I sure as heck wouldn’t be brunching with them now, or even ten years from now. Some things a woman just can’t forget, and one of them is stealing your boyfriend, or doing something your momma wouldn’t approve of behind closed doors. You know what I mean?”

  “I do.”

  “We just got to consider ourselves lucky that Savannah never set her sights on our men, or else who knows where we’d be right now. Bless her heart, that girl was easier than learning the alphabet.”

  I figured I’d still be single and right where I was, on the phone with a sorority sister. “Who was the problem at brunch, Heather or Savannah?”

  “God bless Heather, she tried to keep her sense about her, but that Savannah, you know how she was. She just wouldn’t let it go. She kept pokin’ the bear, and pokin’ the bear and soon enough, that bear came out fighting, and then food was flying and we were all ducking, and I got eggs benedict on my brand new five-hundred-dollar Donna Karan tunic. Do you know how hard it is to get eggs benedict out of Donna Karan? According to my dry cleaner, it’s nearly impossible. Cost me almost one-hundred dollars. I cried like a little girl when I dropped it off. Cried.”

  I couldn’t imagine paying five hundred bucks for a shirt, let alone wearing a tunic, or paying close to a hundred bucks to clean it, but the thought of a food fight did make me smile, until I remembered what it was about. “I was under the assumption Heather started it.”

  “Oh, no ma’am, she did not. Savannah did. She brought Caroline into it, too. Had her all up in a tizzy about William, she did. It got so bad both of them threatened her. That’s when we had to make the decision to not allow them all back. It just wouldn’t work, and none of us wanted to pay that kind of money for dry cleaning just one item.”

  I had no idea Caroline had been involved. “Caroline threatened Savannah?”

  “Yes, ma’am, she did. She said if Savannah ever came near William, why it would be the last thing she’d do. Even went as far to say that if any of us came near her husband she’d put us in an early grave. I don’t know how much time you spend with her, but she’s not the same girl she was at Georgia. Something’s broken in that girl now, bless her heart. If I was you, I’d keep your distance. I know Heather had been. She said she’d barely spent any time with Caroline anymore, and if she did, it was only because she felt an obligation to.

  “You know, all this talk has me thinking, you’ve got a whole lot of crazy going on near you, bless your heart. Why don’t you come out to the city for a few days? You can stay with me in one of my guest rooms, and we can do a little quick remodel like thing in at my place. You know, spend a little time catching up, and you can work your magic. My husband knows a few movie producers. Maybe he can introduce you to one of them, and you can get your own reality TV show on that do it yourself network or something? You might could be famous.”

  The last thing I wanted was fame. I liked my anonymous life just fine. “That sounds great, Julia, but I really can’t right now. My schedule is full at the moment. How about I call you back later next week and chat again?”

  “Oh, sweetie, I would love that. It’s been so wonderful catching up with you. We really miss you and Belle at the brunches. Y’all just have to come next time, you hear?”

  “Well, do our best. I’ll talk to you soon, okay?”

  “Okay, sweetie. Ta ta.”

  Goodness. Julia had good intentions, but I needed a nap after that conversation.

  I wandered around the house thinking about that conversation. Not only did I wonder more about Heather’s role in Savannah’s death, but I considered how Julia portrayed Caroline as even more unstable than she’d appeared, and worried that I should have focused more on her than Heather or William.

  As I paced the rooms of my bungalow, I heard each step, the soft smoosh of my bare foot hitting the carpet, the firmer smack of it rolling onto the wood floor of the kitchen. I didn’t step on any soggy, slimy dog toys, and I hadn’t once been drooled on, or slipped on any wet spots on the floor. No one yelped for my attention. The quiet screamed like a silent alarm, and I realized my little bungalow just didn’t feel like home without my crazy little monster crashing around in it. Halfway through the end of the day I threw on a pair of leggings and a t-shirt and walked to doggy daycare.

  Two minutes into the walk, I immediately regretted not pulling my hair up into a ponytail. Thick with moisture, the pre-rain air had me set to win first prize in a llama look-alike contest. My blonde curls frizzed out like an 80s southern girl with an Aqua Net addiction. I walked with the lion’s mane of frizz wrapped into a ball and held it on the top of my head. When I got onto the main strip in town, I popped into the drug store and picked up a box of hair bands. Sans wallet, I promised to pay for them on my way to work the next day.

  One of the best things about living in a small town was the ability to do just that. Pay on my word. They knew I was good for it, and I was. I twisted my hair into the band and went on my way.

  I texted Heather as I walked. “I don’t like the way we ended our conversation. I’m sorry for my part in it. I’d like to make things right. Can we meet?”

  The text was honest. I did feel badly for my part in what happened but given what Austin had told me and all the things Julia said, I needed to see her again and decide if I believed Heather truly was capable of murdering Savannah, or maybe, if Caroline was instead.

  I grabbed Bo, and we headed to the dog park. Even though he was tired, he still had enough energy to bounce around the park with his friends, and it amazed me that he didn’t just collapse right there and sleep like the dead.

  I checked my phone every few minutes, but Heather hadn’t responded. I replayed the conversations over in my head, and that led me to rethinking the events of the last few days, back to when Savannah made her grand entrance into the first day of class.

  I focused first on Heather. The hatred in her eyes when Savannah walked into the
library conference room, the bitterness in her voice when she spoke. The near pleasure she got when she saw Savannah stuffed into the trunk. The red paint on the sticky notes in the Armstrong’s house. Their fight at the pledge class quarterly brunch. Her subtle threat to keep my nose out of her business.

  Heather wasn’t as sweet as she wanted people to believe, and the way she’d altered her story to Julia made that obvious. She’d carried this hate for Savannah inside of her for so long it grew from a grenade to a cannonball and whether she started it or not, last month at the brunch, it finally exploded.

  Yes, Julia said Savannah started it, and while I could see that, I also knew Heather was passive aggressive enough to set the event in motion, and it was quite possible Julia and the rest of the girls just hadn’t noticed.

  If Julia did call it right, and Heather was the victim, Savannah could have pushed her past her limit, and when given the opportunity, Heather sought true revenge, and that revenge landed poor Savannah inside the trunk at her parent’s house.

  According to Austin, William cheated on Caroline in college. Austin wasn’t the most credible source, but if he was telling the truth, that could end William’s marriage. Caroline’s behavior toward Savannah was over the top, and I had no idea what went on behind their closed doors. Had she gone home the first day of class and told William what happened? Did he worry Savannah would spill the beans and tell his wife about their relationship? Could he have killed her because of that?

  Seeing William sneaking around town with Heather gave me the willies. Were they doing something behind Caroline’s back, too? Did Caroline know? Did she know about Savannah? If she did, was she the one who killed her?

  I realized then I had more questions than answers, and the only way to get those answers was to start asking people other than myself those questions.

  * * *

  I walked Bo around town for another thirty minutes hoping to hear back from Heather. When I didn’t, I decided to drop Bo at home, feed him, and then make a quick run to her house.