by Jessica Beck
“I’m his ex-wife. Why should that matter?”
I looked at the dresser where I’d seen a photo of Darlene and Kimmi together earlier. “It wasn’t Darlene Higgins who was killed, was it?”
“She was my best friend,” Kimmi said as she nodded.
I glanced at Grace, took a step closer to the bed so I’d be certain I’d hit it, then I let myself collapse.
“She’s fainted,” Grace said as she hovered over me. “Go get me some water. Quickly.”
As soon as Kimmi went after my water, Grace whispered, “What was in that box, anyway? We just have a few seconds.”
“Go look,” I said, refusing to move.
Grace grabbed the box, flipped it open, and then must have seen what I’d seen.
“It’s a picture of you,” Grace said. “What’s it doing in here?”
“You’re asking me? I almost fainted for real when I saw it. There’s five tattered old hundred-dollar bills in there too, and something that looks suspiciously like a lock of Max’s hair. What was she up to?”
“I don’t know,” Grace said, “but I’m taking this with us.” She emptied the box and slid the contents into her purse just as Kimmi arrived.
She handed Grace the water, then asked, “You’re not going to pour it on her, are you? I don’t want the bed to get soaked.”
Knowing Grace, that was exactly what she had in mind. It was time to end my part of the charade.
Letting my eyelids flutter, I pretended to come to. “What happened?”
“You fainted, Suzanne,” Grace said as she got close to my face.
“It was the shock of it all,” I said. “Suddenly I’m not comfortable staying here anymore. Can we leave?”
“I think that’s for the best,” Grace said as she helped me up.
“Are you going to be all right?” Kimmi asked me. There was genuine concern in her voice, and I felt bad about duping her, even if it was for a good cause.
“I’ll be fine. It was just the shock of it all, you know?”
“I guess so.” Kimmi turned to Grace. “What do you think? Would you like to move in here with me? I can have her things out of here by tomorrow.”
“I’m going to have to think about it,” Grace said. “I’m afraid there’s some kind of bad karma in here.”
“The car’s out in the garage,” Kimmi said, obviously misunderstanding. “I don’t know who to call about it, since it belonged to Darlene.”
“I wonder if it will be for sale,” Grace asked. “I’m looking for new transportation so I won’t have to continue relying on the kindness of strangers.”
Kimmi said, “It’s never been a problem for me. If I need a ride, I just call one of the guys I work with, and they come right over and pick me up.”
“What do you do?” I asked, not able to resist the question.
“I work for my dad. He’s a contractor, and he has lots of nice men working for him. I’m his secretary, and they all seem to like me.”
“I don’t doubt that for one second,” I said, knowing they would come running at her slightest whim, especially if they saw her dressed as she was at the moment.
“You’re sweeter than I thought you’d be,” Kimmi said to me. She must have realized how I might take that, because she quickly added, “Not that I didn’t think you’d be nice before. Sometimes hearing things from Darlene, I think she was really jealous of you.”
“Why on earth would she be jealous of me?” I asked, startled by the admission.
“Max loved you, and Darlene believed he always would. That’s something a lot of women would give anything to have.”
“I guess so,” I said. “I never really thought about it that way.”
“Well then, maybe you should,” she said. “Let’s see, her keys are around here somewhere. There’s her purse, I bet they’re in there.”
I felt my back stiffen as she reached for Darlene’s purse. Would she notice the missing business cards, or that the purse was more disheveled than normal from my impromptu search? Fortunately, she didn’t even bat an eye as she reached in and pulled out a heavy key ring that I’d examined and discarded earlier. As we walked outside, I saw that Darlene favored a black Trans Am, a particular favorite of some of the younger women in town.
Grace plucked the keys out of Kimmi’s hands, then said, “Why don’t you two chat while I have a quick look.”
As she ducked in through the driver’s side door, I asked Kimmi, “How long have you and Darlene known each other?”
“She used to babysit me, can you believe that? I never thought we’d get to be friends, but we did. When Dad finished redoing this house, he offered it to me rent-free for six months, and Darlene was thrilled to move in with me. She was living back home with her mother. Can you believe that? It’s too pathetic to think about. I mean come on, grow up and leave home already, you know?”
I felt my cheeks redden, and wondered if Kimmi was taking a shot at me, but there wasn’t an ounce of guile in the girl’s expression.
“I’m sure she had her reasons,” I said.
“I can’t imagine what they’d be,” Kimmi said.
We were both stranded at a loss for words when Grace handed Kimmi the keys. “Thanks for letting me look.”
“Aren’t you even going to start it? It runs great.”
“I’ll bet it does, but I need something with a little more room,” Grace said.
“I can see that. Maybe Daddy will buy it for me,” she said as she frowned at the car. To my credit, I withheld the sarcastic comments swirling around in my head, as she added, “I guess I could always learn to drive. How hard could it be?”
As we got back into the Jeep, I pulled away. “That was a great idea. Too bad it didn’t pan out, but it was worth checking, anyway,” I said.
“What are you talking about?”
“The Trans Am. I’m just saying, not every lead can have a clue.”
“This one did,” Grace said as she smiled at me. “Yours wasn’t the only photo Darlene had in her possession. What do you think of this?”
She handed me a snapshot from her jacket pocket, and I saw that it was of Muriel Stevens, dressed in her signature multicolored jacket.
I frowned as I studied the photograph. “What does it mean, though?”
Grace shrugged. “I just find the clues. It’s your job to interpret them.”
“Well, okay, as long as I get the easy part,” I said.
As we drove back toward town, I asked, “Should I drop you off at your house?”
“If you don’t mind, I’d rather come with you,” she said.
“Grace, you’ve got to go home sometime.”
She bit her lip, then said, “I don’t know. I’m not so crazy about it anymore.” She tried to laugh, but it had a hollow ring to it as she added, “I guess if things get desperate, I could always live with Kimmi.”
“If it comes to that, you can stay with Momma and me, no matter how pathetic some people might find it.”
“I never said anything like that,” Grace protested.
“I’m not talking about you, you nit. Kimmi kept telling me how lame it was that I was living with my mother.”
“How’d she know that?”
“She didn’t. She was making fun of Darlene when she lived at home, but the barbs worked just as well on me. Funny thing is, I thought my hide was thicker than that, but if you hadn’t come out of that car when you did, Kimmi and I were about to have words, and there wasn’t going to be anything pleasant about them.”
“Suzanne, I’d take everything that girl said to you with a grain of salt. She doesn’t get it, and she may never understand, but I do. I think you’re doing the right thing living back at home.”
“I’m not planning to stay there forever,” I said, “but for the moment, it’s where I want to be.”
“In spite of the fact that your mother drives you crazy sometimes?”
I smiled as I drove toward home. “As long as I get to return
the favor every now and then.”
I drove another few minutes, then I asked, “Should we at least drop by your place to get some clean clothes?”
“No thanks, I’m good. I packed enough yesterday for a week.” She added quickly, “Not that I’m planning to stay with you that long.”
“Grace, as long as I’m welcome there, you are too. Okay? I’m not trying to push you out.”
“I appreciate that,” she said. “When I think I need a nudge, I’ll be sure to ask you for one.”
“That’s all I’m saying. Now let’s got home. I could use a nap before dinner.”
“Really? I’m as fresh as ever.”
“That’s because you already had your nap this morning,” I said. “Remember?”
“I just nodded off for a few minutes,” she protested.
I couldn’t let that go without a jab of my own. “Should we go by Emma’s place and ask her how long you were asleep?”
Grace laughed. “No, let’s spare me the embarrassment, shall we? Okay, you’ve earned your nap, and I’ll keep your mother company while you’re sleeping.”
“That’s a bargain I’ll never pass up,” I said as I pulled into our snow-crusted driveway. The precipitation had finally ended, apparently once and for all, but that didn’t mean the remnants from the storm were gone as well. Part of our driveway never saw the sun during winter, and the snow and ice were persistent visitors that often refused to leave until the very last second. I felt the Jeep slide a little sideways as I rounded the corner, and saw Grace’s hands bite onto her seatbelt.
“Relax, I haven’t hit anything in days, weeks even.”
“I just don’t want to be your passenger when the streak ends,” she said.
I pulled in behind Momma’s car and turned off the engine.
Grace asked, “Should you go in first and make sure it’s all right that I stay a little longer?”
“Can you honestly believe my mother would say no to you?”
She shook her head. “I guess not, but I still think we should check with her first. It’s the right thing to do.”
“Then wait right here,” I said as I turned the engine on again. “I’ll be back in a few minutes, but there’s no reason you have to freeze to death in the meantime.”
I walked in, and Momma instantly looked back at the door. “Where’s Grace? Why isn’t she with you? Suzanne, have you no manners at all? You shouldn’t let her stay in that house all by herself in the middle of a snowstorm.”
I raised one hand and started ticking off fingers as I made my points. “One, I didn’t leave her alone, she’s out in the Jeep. Two, I have plenty of manners. I just don’t always choose to use them when you’d like me to. And three, there hasn’t been a snowflake falling in all of April Springs today, so you can hardly call it a storm.”
“Are you quite finished?”
I nodded. “I think so.”
“Then go invite her in. She’ll catch her death of cold out there.”
“I don’t see how with the motor running.”
Momma asked, “Why didn’t she come in with you in the first place?”
“She wanted to make sure it was okay with you if she stayed with us for a few more days,” I explained.
Momma frowned, then reached for her jacket. “Stay here. I’ll be right back.”
“Where are you going?”
“I want to talk to Grace,” she said.
“Should I come with you?”
“Let me handle this,” she said. “Why don’t you take off that jacket and warm yourself by the fire.”
I thought about arguing with her, but her suggestion sounded so good, I decided to capitulate instead. At least I was sure to get some shock value out of my surrender.
If she was surprised by my sudden acquiescence, she didn’t show it.
I took off my boots and jacket, stretched out on the couch as I pulled a light afghan off the back, and lay down so I could watch the flames.
* * *
The next thing I knew, a hand was shaking me. “Suzanne? Wake up. Dinner’s ready.”
I sat up and rubbed my eyes, then looked at Grace. “I must have fallen asleep.”
“That’s good to know, because if you were awake and snoring like that, we’d have to call the paramedics.”
“Did you and Momma have a nice talk?” I asked as I stretched me arms high over my head.
“We did,” she said simply.
“Sorry to leave you hanging like that,” I said softly. “But she insisted she talk to you alone.”
“Don’t worry about it. Everything’s settled,” Grace said.
My mother called out from the dining room, “Girls, are you going to stay in there chatting while our dinner gets cold?”
“No, ma’am,” we said in perfect unison, something that made us both laugh.
Grace offered me a hand, which I took, and she helped pull me off the couch.
“That nap felt great,” I said as we walked in.
“I’m glad, dear,” Momma said. “Now let’s eat, shall we?”
“It smells wonderful,” Grace said. “What are we having?”
“It’s nothing special. I made stuffed peppers, cooked some peas I froze from the farmer’s market last spring, and threw a salad together.”
“That all sounds great to me,” Grace said, and I nodded my agreement.
As we ate, I kept avoiding telling Momma about our robbery, and I nearly made it through the meal when the phone rang.
As she got up to answer it, I asked, “What happened about our rule of no telephone calls at meals?”
“This is important, Suzanne. I’m expecting to hear from your aunt Patty.”
She answered the phone, frowned, then said, “I’m sure you’re mistaken.”
Another long pause, then an abrupt “Thank you” and she hung up.
“You didn’t talk very long. What’s going on with Aunt Patty?”
“That was Shelly Rice. She said something about a robbery at your place today. Surely she was mistaken.”
“It was more a theft than a robbery,” I said. “We made the mistake of leaving the front unattended for a few seconds, and someone took advantage of the situation and cleaned out our cash register.”
Momma started to say something, but I cut her off before she could. “I know we should have been more careful, but we weren’t, and we’re paying the price for it. No lectures tonight, okay, Momma?”
“I was just going to say that I was glad no one was hurt,” she said.
“And no more?” I asked.
“No more.”
“Good,” I said as I pushed my empty plate away. “Because I’d just as soon forget about it, if it’s all right with you.”
There was a knock on the front door, and I stood quickly to get it. “Maybe this is what I need, some kind of distraction.”
It wasn’t. When I answered the door, I found Emma standing there, but she wasn’t alone. Her father was behind her, and from the scowl on his face, I knew this wasn’t going to be pleasant for any of us.
* * *
Ray Blake said, “Suzanne, we need to talk.”
“It’s been a long day, Ray, and Emma and I are both worn out. Can’t it wait until another time?”
“It can’t,” he said as he nudged his daughter toward me. I had no choice but to step aside or she would have run me over.
As we all walked into the living room, Ray nodded toward Momma and Grace, and then told Emma, “Go on. Say what you need to say.”
“Suzanne, I’m sorry about what happened today, and I’ve come to make things right with you.” She held out a wad of bills that I knew would add up to exactly what we’d lost that morning.
I steadfastly refused to take it as I said, “Put that away, Emma. We’ve already resolved this.”
“That’s what I told him, but he wouldn’t listen,” Emma said, her glance going furtively back to her father.
I said, “Ray, you want your daughter
to be a grownup, don’t you?”
“That’s why we’re here,” he said stubbornly.
“No, you’re here to impose your sense of how this should be handled, not Emma’s or mine. I won’t take her money. It was just as much my fault as it was hers. She’s a levelheaded, responsible, hard-working young woman. What more do you expect from her, Ray?”
He frowned. “I want her to do what’s right.”
“She already has,” I said, my voice getting louder than it should have. I couldn’t help it.
“Suzanne, watch your tone of voice,” my mother said.
“Momma, I love you with all my heart, and you know it, but this doesn’t concern you. Let me handle it.”
She looked taken aback, then nodded. “Grace, I believe we have a table of dishes to clear. If you all will excuse us, we’ll get to them.”
Grace followed her back into the dining room, and as soon as they were gone, Ray said, “I have to say that I’m not surprised you talk to your own mother that way.”
I had to do something shocking to get his attention, or he wouldn’t hear anything else I had to say. “I was hoping you’d get the point. You’re trying to dictate Emma’s actions just like my mother’s been trying to do to me for years. And if I were Emma, I’d treat you the same way. That’s exactly what you deserve at the moment.”
I saw his jaw jut out, so I eased the harshness of my tone as I added, “Ray, you two didn’t need to come here. Do you honestly think Emma hasn’t already apologized for what happened? She feels bad enough about it without you rubbing her nose in it. She’s not nine years old anymore.”
Ray started to say something, then bit it back. He tugged at his daughter’s arm and said, “Come on, Emma. We’re leaving.”
“In a second,” she said as she lunged forward and hugged me. “Thank you,” she whispered in my ear. “Nobody’s ever stood up to him for me before.”
“Then it’s high time somebody did,” I said softly. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“If he lets me come to work,” Emma said before she caught up with him at their car.
I closed the door and found Grace standing in the doorway. She said, “What was that about? Or do I even need to ask?”
“Ray still thinks Emma’s a little girl, and I had to spank him pretty hard to get him to see that she’s not.”
