“Nah, we were talking about your buddy who by the way I think you’ve got the serious hots for.”
“Why would you say that?”
“I can see it all over your face. That night at the bar, you only talked to me because he was on the phone with the other one. Then the day you two were getting out of the balloon. You looked like a giant black cloud had just opened up on your parade when you saw his girl. Telling him she’s screwing around on him ain’t gonna make you no points. You got it going on…just use what nature gave you girl and go after what you want.”
“Thanks,” Eva said, abruptly, “But I really don’t need your advice when it comes to my love life.”
Justin grinned and said, “Well, if you need anything else when it comes to your love life, just let me know. I’d be more than happy to oblige.”
They were back at the house, so instead of humoring him with a response, Eva just went inside and left him standing in the yard. She nearly ran head-on into Billy.
“Hey there! Did you see a ghost?”
“What?”
“You’re a little pale, are you okay?”
Am I okay? Did I just find out that Simone is cheating on Marshall? What the hell am I supposed to do with that information? “Yeah, I’m good,” she told him. “Just came in from a walk and I’m hungry.”
Billy pat his stomach and said, “It was delicious. I have a side job to get to, if the guy shows up.”
“RV guy?” she asked him.
“Yeah, how…?”
“He’s waiting out front,” she told him.
“Thanks!” Billy left to meet Justin and Eva made her way to the dining room. Marshall and Simone were already there.
“Good morning,” Marshall said when he looked up and saw her, “Are you okay?”
Damned expressive face! “Yeah, I’m fine. Just hungry. Good morning.” Then she forced herself to look to his right and said, “Simone,” with a little nod.
Simone forced one of her fake smiles and said, “Eva.”
“Guess who I just ran into?” she asked as she broke her fat, buttermilk biscuit up in her plate.
“Who?” Marshall asked. Simone was daintily wiping the sides of her mouth. She didn’t look interested until Eva looked right at her and said,
“Justin, the RV guy.” Simone dropped her napkin and suddenly Eva wasn’t the only one at the table who was pale.
* * *
They thankfully missed Justin on the way out. Just the mention of his name had put Marshall in a foul mood and Simone in a strange, subdued one. Eva was pretty sure that Justin had told her in a roundabout way he and Simone slept together, but she still wasn’t sure what to do with that information. She hated that she was taking anything Justin said with more than a grain of salt, but it had actually made sense to her that Marshall might not appreciate that information as much as one might think. For one thing, she had no proof and Simone was just likely to deny it.
They showed up to get on the bus for their historical homes tour just in time. The tour guide was in the middle of her talk already about the homes and as they found a seat she was saying that the roll call of historical homes in Mississippi was almost too long to list. She told them about a few they were going to be seeing and gave them a mini-history on each one and then they got on their way.
The homes all had names, most of them after the original owners. The first one they stopped at was called Melrose house. The first thing Eva noticed about it was its huge white doors. The tour guide told them the house had thirty six of them, made of solid cypress, but hand painted to make them look like white oak. They were beautiful, Eva thought, if not a little grandiose. The walk through netted them ten Italian marble fireplaces, a handful of what the tour guide said were “rare” French gilt and the coolest thing, Eva thought was the French Zuber wallpaper. It was made of original wood blocks the tour guide told them, carved in 1843. Eva had never seen anything like it. Of course, if it hadn’t been for Granddad’s home, Eva probably wouldn’t ever have known that people decorate in anything other than classic yard sale or thrift store. Their guide told them that the bronze and brass lighting fixtures had all been shipped from Philadelphia and the furniture was all made and hand carved out of rosewood.
After seeing the interior which Eva had been very impressed by, they were taken behind the house. There were several original structures there and although Simone was still in her funk, Marshall seemed to enjoy this part of the tour. There was a two storied kitchen and dairy building, a smoke house, slave quarters, a barn and carriage house and latticed octagonal cistern houses as well. Marshall loved horses, and he was particularly interested in the history the guide gave them regarding the stables that used to sit behind the carriage house and what breed of horses the people that originally lived in the house were fond of. Another really beautiful part of the home were the large columns that anchored the mighty Mississippi river.
Their day was full, moving on from Melrose to tour a Greek Revival mansion that spread out over an entire block, a house called Rosalie that sat high on a bluff and overlooked the river and Eva’s personal favorite on the tour a house with an octagonal design with unfinished interiors that towered up over the centuries old trees that sat around it as if reaching for the sky. The guide said the original builder, a man named Haller Nutt had been worth an estimated three million dollars. After the war he was left penniless thanks to the Union Army who had confiscated almost all of his cotton plantations and destroyed much of his real estate holdings.
They stopped for lunch in town and Eva heard Marshall asking Simone what was wrong. She told him she was “fine,” but he didn’t seem to believe her. She kept shooting furtive glances at Eva all day, like she was waiting for her to say more about Justin. Eva had more of less decided that she wasn’t going to say anything to Marshall, but what she had to say to Simone whenever she got her alone would be a different story.
The second part of their tour was to a place where the history went even deeper. They got to visit a place called Emerald Mound. It was a ceremonial mound that was built by the Natchez Indians in 1400 AD. It spreads out over eight acres and has a trail that leads up thirty five feet. They were able to walk up to the top with Simone griping and sighing most of the way, to a gorgeous view at the top. Eva took a lot of pictures; she was even magnanimous enough to snap a few of Simone and Marshall.
The mound was the last thing they had time to do that day. They had tickets for the following day’s tour as well if they chose to go. Simone was pouting by the time they got back to Magnolia house and Eva suspected that she would do her best to talk Marshall out of tomorrow’s tour.
Miss Addie had dinner ready when they got back to the house and they were treated to a catfish dinner with all the southern trimmings. After dinner, Marshall and Simone went up to the room and Eva found a book in the parlor and took it out on the porch to enjoy the pleasant evening. She was beginning to think that she wouldn’t ever get a chance to talk with Simone alone. She hung on Marshall like she was afraid he’d disappear if she let him out of her sight. Eva had decided that before she told Marshall something that might possibly only be a rumor; she would give Simone a chance to explain herself. Eva doubted that she’d do anything but get angry and deny it, but she felt like she owed Marshall at least that much.
As she sat enjoying the warm night and the fresh air, she listened to the sounds of soft jazz music off in the distance and she remembered that Justin told her there was a festival going on in town tonight. She went inside and found that Billy had appeared at the desk.
“Hello, have you seen any ghosts yet?” he asked her with a grin.
“Not yet,” she said, “And I’m hoping my luck will hold out. How far away is the festival?”
“It’s about five blocks north of us,” he said. If you head up this street out here along the side of us, you’ll run into it. Are you thinking about going down that way?”
“I was thinking about it. It’s early yet and I’m not quite
ready for bed.”
“You’re not going down there alone are you? It’s a lot of fun and a lot of families go early in the evening, but if you go down there at this time, you’ll run into quite a few locals who have already hit the moonshine and a few tourists that have imbibed of a bit too much of the local flavor.”
“I think I’ll be okay,” she said.
Billy made a face like he didn’t agree, but he didn’t argue with her. Eva changed into a comfortable pair of jeans and tank top and headed out. She followed the directions that Billy had given her and was soon upon a raucous festival. There were food and craft booths, but it seemed that like Billy had indicated, the wine garden in front of where the live band was playing seemed to be of biggest interest to the people still there.
Eva started looking around at some of the booths and shrugged off a few mild advances but nothing worrisome. She was having fun chatting with the locals and she taste tested a few desserts at one of the booths and even did a little wine tasting. She had been there about an hour before Marshall and Simone showed up.
“Hey Eva, why didn’t you tell us you were coming down here?” Marshall asked her, a line of worry drawn once again between his eyebrows.
“I thought you’d already turned in for the night,” she said. It wasn’t really true, but she hadn’t wanted to chance standing at the door and hearing the sounds that make her feel like she has a knife protruding from her chest.
“You shouldn’t be at a place like this by yourself at night in a strange town,” Marshall told her.
“Oh dear God, Marshall, she’s not twelve,” Simone said in an annoyed voice.
“I don’t think she’s twelve, but stuff happens to women all the time when they’re out alone. She doesn’t know anyone here….”
“I know Justin,” Eva said, with a pointed look in Simone’s direction. “I think I saw him over at the beer and wine garden.”
“You just bring him up to irritate me, don’t you?” Marshall said.
“Kind of, I am curious why he irritates you so badly.”
“He just does, stop it,” he told her. “You girls want something to drink? I could use a beer.”
“A glass of Bordeaux sounds wonderful,” Simone said.
Eva tried not to roll her eyes as she said, “I’ll take a beer, thanks.”
Marshall went to get their drinks. The line in the beer garden was long and as Simone and Eva took a seat at one of the folding tables just inside the garden Eva decided that now was her chance. Simone was looking around at everyone except Eva, doing her best to ignore the other woman. Eva finally cleared her throat and said,
“Can I ask you a question, Simone?” Simone looked at her like she’d rather she didn’t, but said,
“What?”
“Did you have sex with Justin?” There, she’d done it. She’d not really meant to just blurt it out like that, but at least now her cards were on the table. She’d have to wait now and see if Simone played hers, or tried to bluff her way out of it. The look on Simone’s face told Eva right off the bat that she was both shocked and angry at the question.
“Why would you ask me that?”
“Because Justin more or less said that you did.”
“More or less? Wow! I’ve been caught red-handed. I’m surprised you haven’t run to Marshall with this yet. Saint Eva to the rescue.”
“I just don’t want to see my best friend get hurt, Simone. If you slept with that surfer, Marshall does have a right to know.”
“You need to stay out of my relationship with Marshall. You’re always sticking your nose in just like that crazy old man used to do. If it weren’t for the two of you, Marshall and I would be married by now and on our honeymoon in some exotic place instead of this stinking backwoods town on our way to spread some crazy old coot’s ashes.”
“You think Granddad and I are what has kept Marshall from proposing? Personally, I think Marshall can see right through you, Simone, not that it’s hard since you’ve only got one layer…two at the most. But, you’ve changed the subject. Did you sleep with Justin?”
“No! Not that it would be your business if I did. That’s what I was saying.”
Eva rolled her eyes and said, “I knew you wouldn’t be a big enough woman to admit it.”
“You’re so fucking holier than thou,” Simone told her. “But the truth is that you come from trash, and trash begets trash…You can moon over Marshall the rest of your life, but he’d never be stupid enough to allow garbage into his bloodlines.”
“First of all, I do not “moon” over Marshall. He’s my friend. Second of all, you think because you had a little more money than me growing up that you’re so much better? You use people, Simone to get what you want. You’ve been using Marshall for years and he’s either too nice, or too blinded by your silicone implants to notice.”
“Marshall loves me…not you and that’s why you hate me. You’re either lying, or fooling yourself. I can clearly see the way you look at my boyfriend. It’s one of the major reasons I can’t stand you.”
“You’re wrong about why I despise Simone. I have a whole list of reasons, but none of them have anything to do with Marshall loving you. Unlike you, I want him to be happy. Why do you think I haven’t told him about you and Justin yet?”
“Because you have no proof and he won’t believe you,” Simone spat out.
“You think when it comes down to it, Simone, that he’ll believe you over me?”
Simone laughed and grabbed her boobs and said, “I’ve got the silicone, remember…and he loves them.”
“You think he’s that shallow? Sometimes I don’t think you know him at all.”
“He’s addicted to me. You saw how fast he forgave me after the little…mishap with the urn? All I had to do was let him worship my body all night long…it’s like a miracle cure for whatever ails him.”
Eva knew she was right about that. He was addicted to her. Eva actually thought he stayed with her more because of that and less because he really loved her. But she also knew that loyalty meant a lot to Marshall. Eva looked up and saw Marshall headed in their direction. Simone’s back was to him and in a rare display of hatefulness that only Simone can bring out in her Eva said, loudly,
“So you’re saying that even though you slept with Justin all you have to do is show Marshall your tits and he’ll forgive you?”
“I’m saying all it takes to get Marshall to do anything is one look at my tits….”
“You slept with Justin?” The look on Simone’s face was priceless, but the look on Marshall’s instantly broke Eva’s heart. She suddenly despised not only Simone, but herself as well.
* * *
TO BE CONTINUED
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Harper Whitmore is the author of Hot Romance. She loves a good story, having read romance novels for much of her life. Sometimes she collaborates with her husband Jack who writes books of his own. With her love of travel, she is inspired by the people she meets and the places she goes.
She loves nothing better than to relax at the beach or by the pool thinking about the plot of her next sexy story.
A glass of wine
, a good book, a sunny day and the sound of her favorite music playing softly in the background is the picture of peace that helps to inspire the next steamy romance.
Reading books you love is all about taking time out to relax and enjoy your moment of peace. A place where you can drift off into another world that you can become a part of through the characters and events as the story unfolds. If you enjoyed reading this book, please recommend it, review it and ask your friends to download their copy.
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The author acknowledges the trademarked status owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without their permission. The publication and use of the trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.
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