"You're going to be sorry for that," she muttered as she walked past him to the front door.
"Wait. I forgot the hat."
"Too late now. Just try not to let her see the top of your head."
"I forgot the sunglasses too."
Kelly gave him an exasperated look. "And here I thought you were trying to distract me!"
He was almost embarrassed but not quite. "So it backfired a little. What do you want—" The front door opened, ending any last minute change of plans.
"Good afternoon."
Kelly smiled at the petite, silver-haired woman in the doorway. She was smartly dressed and had the hair and complexion of a mature woman but didn't look old enough to be Mary Beth. A nod from Jack told her otherwise. Money was such a miraculous preservative. Walking quickly to the door, Kelly shifted her notebook and purse to her left hand and held out her right. "Mrs. Johnson? I'm—" She was cut off by Mary Beth's audible gasp and shocked expression as she gaped at Kelly then Jack and back to Kelly. She began to sway and Jack hurried to catch her.
"You..." She stared at Jack and shook her head. "You cannot possibly be him." Then her gaze darted to Kelly and her eyes filled with fear. "And you certainly cannot be her." She shrugged off Jack's support. "Is this some kind of prank?"
Kelly opened her mouth to protest or at least explain who they were but Jack was faster. "I'm very sorry we've upset you, Mrs. Johnson. Kelly was afraid if she explained over the phone, you wouldn't agree to see us. My name is Duke McCoy. My great uncle was Jack Templeton. I'm told I strongly resemble him."
Mary Beth nodded slowly as she continued to stare suspiciously at him. "Strongly resemble does not begin to describe the likeness. For a moment there, I thought I was looking at a ghost. Except for the hair. It is different than I remember. It might not have been such a shock if I had not been looking at old photographs only last night."
Kelly thought the speech pattern seemed oddly stilted, as though she had taken elocution lessons to lose her southern accent but they didn't quite take.
As though she heard that supposition, Mrs. Johnson abruptly shifted her attention to Kelly. "But that does not explain you."
Again Jack replied before Kelly could get a word out. "This is a good friend of mine, Kelly Kirkwood. The author. I'm sure you've seen her books."
Mary Beth's expression altered instantly as though she suddenly remembered their phone conversation. Now she was anxious to shake hands with her. "Oh my, yes. Of course I have seen her books. I have a few of them inside. I hope you would not mind autographing them for me. But I must say, your photo does not quite, I mean, you look different in person. Oh my. All my friends are going to be absolutely pea-green when they hear that you really did visit me personally."
Kelly kept her smile fixed as she tried to figure out how to get beyond the front porch. "I'd be happy to autograph—"
"Why are we still standing out here in this heat?" Mary Beth suddenly asked and stepped aside. "Please come in and let me get you a cold drink." As she led them into a contemporary yet formal living room, she said, "It is not quite the cocktail hour but those stuffy old board meetings get me so thirsty, I suppose we do not truly need to pay attention to the clock now, do we?"
Kelly glanced at Jack, in hopes that he understood what that meant. Alcohol could help loosen the woman's tongue.
"A beer would be great if you have one," he said with a broad smile. "If not—"
"Oh, I have anything you could possibly think of," she said and touched a button on the wall. A mirrored panel slid away and revealed a completely stocked bar. "What can I get for you, Miss Kirkwood? I could whip up a pitcher of strawberry daiquiris for us girls."
It was Jack's turn to give her a meaningful look and, though she really would have liked a diet soda, she said, "That sounds wonderful but please call me Kelly."
"Only if you will call me Mary Beth." It was clear a moment later that Mary Beth had already "whipped up" the pitcher of daiquiris and had a taste or two before they arrived. She brought the half-full pitcher of daiquiris, glasses and Jack's beer to the coffee table on a silver serving tray. As she poured for her and Kelly, she took another hard look at each of their faces. "I just remembered this very exciting romance novel I read not long ago. The man and woman had known each other before, when they were other people. They called it re... re... something."
"Reincarnation?" Kelly offered.
"Why, yes, I do believe that was the word. Not that I believe in that sort of thing, mind you, but seeing how much you two look like people who are passed on... So, how did the two of you meet?"
Though the question was totally irrelevant to why they were there, Kelly wanted this woman to think of them as friends, so she smiled and turned to Jack. "Why don't you tell her, honey? You always tell that story so much better than I do."
She pretended to share a confidence with Mary Beth. "I'm the writer but he's the talker. Does it for a living."
"Really? What is it you do, Duke?"
Jack gave Kelly another look that she had no trouble translating and she fluttered her lashes at him.
"I... uh... I'm a... radio show host. In Michigan." Kelly choked on the first sip of her drink and he solicitously patted her on the back. "I didn't know Kelly was anybody special when I met her at a political fundraiser. Just thought she was one of those women who go to those things to meet wealthy men. You know the sort."
Mary Beth thought that was very humorous. Kelly aimed a mental dart between his eyes.
"Anyway, to make a long story short, she finally made her way through the crowd to meet me and somebody bumped into her. She spilled her champagne down the front of my pants and, without thinking, tried to wipe it off with a cocktail napkin."
By that time, Mary Beth was giggling like a schoolgirl with her first crush. "When she realized what she was doing, she looked up at me with the pinkest cheeks you've ever seen and, I've got to tell you, it was like I was hit with 2000 volts of electricity." He affectionately stroked Kelly's cheek and it was all she could do to keep from smacking his hand. "When I found out how famous she was, I convinced her to let me interview her on my show and we haven't been apart for more than a few hours since."
"Oh, how romantic," Mary Beth said. "It reminds me of how your uncle and my friend, Ginger, met. It is truly bewildering how much she looks like her. Of course, nothing like you resemble Jack but when I saw the two of you together, I truly did fear that I was seeing ghosts."
Kelly blinked at her. "Did you just say I look like... your friend?" The sip of daiquiri turned a bit more sour in her stomach.
"Not one hundred percent identical, mind you, but very, very similar. I think you might be taller than she was but she also had a very... womanly figure. I was always so skinny." She looked down at her flat chest and gave a little shrug. "Fortunately, Jimmy Joe never minded. Would you like to see the pictures I was talking about?"
"I'd like that very much," Kelly said with a smile that evaporated as soon as Mary Beth left the room.
"I talk for a living?" Jack whispered. "That was the best you could do? You really put me—"
"Shut up."
He jerked back from her snarl. "You can't be mad about that story I made up. Details are what make lies believable. It was no worse than the one you—"
"I don't care about the story. Why didn't you tell me—" Mary Beth's reappearance forced her to smile again.
She set the open album on the table in front of Kelly and Jack scooted close to be able to see at the same time. He took advantage of the opportunity to put his arm around her but a glare from Kelly made him withdraw.
"I have lots of pictures with her but only this one of the two of them. The three of us had gone to the beach that day an' we had so much fun. I remember takin' a lot of pictures but I only have this one. Maybe I gave the rest to her. They had to be discreet, you know. Had I known at the time..." She sighed and drained her daiquiri glass. As she refilled it and topped off Kelly's, she said, "I b
elieve you said you were writing an article about Jimmy Joe?"
Kelly's mind was busy digesting the fact that the woman wasn't mistaken. She and Ginger O'Neill had more than a little in common. They could have been sisters. Even more freaky was that she had seen that woman before—in her dreams. Jack had to give her knee a pat to get her back on track.
"Oh, yes." She quickly reached into her purse and extracted a small pad on which she had written several believable questions about being the wife of a successful local businessman. With each answer and each swallow of her drink, Mary Beth's words got a bit less clear and her Georgia accent became a little more evident.
Jack sat quietly through several phony questions but after a few minutes, he gave Kelly another affectionate pat.
She didn't really need his prompt. It was obvious that the daiquiris were having a deteriorating effect on Mary Beth's focus. The fact that her gaze kept returning to the photo also suggested that it was time to move on to the real interview. "Thank you so much, Mary Beth. This should turn out to be a very interesting article." She turned to the next page on the pad. "But seeing this photo album makes me think you might be able to help me with a bigger project... a new book I'm working on."
Mary Beth's eyes lit up. "Oh my. Ah do love your books. Did Ah tell you Ah have several in mah library? Maybe y'all could autograph one for me?"
"I'd be happy—" She had to wait to continue as Mary Beth scurried off. When she returned with two of Kelly's hardcover books, she seemed to be completely alert again.
As Kelly autographed the books, she started over. "As I was saying, I'm working on a new book and you might be able to help. Actually, it was Duke's idea." She gave him a big smile.
He returned her smile with an added squeeze to her knee then turned all his charm on Mary Beth. "When I told Kelly about my having an uncle who had been electrocuted for a crime that he swore he didn't commit, it gave her an idea for her next book. I have to admit, I've always been a little curious about the family skeleton."
Kelly took back the lead. "Naturally, the final version would be fictional but I thought it might help if I did a little research about the actual case. Of course, I was able to get all the basic facts from old newspapers but, as you know, the romance is very important in my books. Since Ginger was your friend, I thought you might be able to give me some personal insight for Ginger's and Jack's characters."
Mary Beth frowned and glanced at the photo again before responding. "Well, Ah don't know. It has been a very long time. Water under the bridge and all."
"Yes, I understand. But I'm not going to be quoting you or anything like that. No one would ever know I spoke to you. In fact, no one will even be able to tell who the story is based on by the time I'm finished with it. I'm just looking for some general impressions from you... to develop my fictional characters. Like, do you think they were really in love or was Jack just taking advantage of a young, confused girl?" Jack's posture stiffened but she ignored him.
Mary Beth's eyes glazed a bit as she called up old memories. Before she answered, she finished another glass and refilled it. "Ginger was young. We all were then. But Ah really don't think she was ever confused about anything. Just because she was mah friend doesn't mean Ah was blind to her faults. She wanted to get out from under her parents' rules and marriage was the only solution in those days. Oh, she could have had any number of young men but she wanted financial security. When Reid O'Neill offered his hand and promised her the world, she grabbed it like it was the brass ring at a carnival.
"The only problem was, she was bored with him in a month and had trapped herself in a town too small to get away with any, ahem, outside activities, if ya know what Ah mean. Ah understood why she did it though. Everyone considered Reid the most eligible bachelor in the county. However, as she put it, all those people didn't have to live with the old stick-in-the-mud. It was a shame really. If she had just waited a few years, she would have had enough money of her own to marry for love and live wherever she wanted."
Kelly leaned forward. She was about to get the answer to one of the big questions on their list. "Why would she have had money if she had waited?"
Mary Beth took another swallow. "She had a trust fund. Ah think it was from her paternal grandmother. About a half million dollars or so, which was an awful lot of money back then. Anyhow, she couldn't touch it 'til she was twenty-one, unless she got married."
"So, let me see if I understand correctly. Ginger inherited a fortune when she got married. Then she met Jack, who must have been pretty exciting compared to her husband. Could Jack have known she was wealthy and purposefully tried to seduce her away from her husband?"
Mary Beth laughed out loud. "Ah really don't think Jack knew anythin' 'bout the money an' if anybody did any seducin', it was Ginger. The first time she saw him, she started makin' plans for a new future. Besides, even if he did know about the money, Ah don't think money was ever as important to him as it was to her."
"I gather you liked him," Jack said, clearly trying to add more positive light to the interview.
"Oh my, yes. He was handsome and funny and had such strong opinions on so many different subjects. Ah'd really hoped he woulda asked her ta git hitched but Ginger just couldn't pin him down. Think he was one o' them confirmed bachelors."
Kelly noticed that the not-quite-refined diction was rapidly slipping farther and farther into the backwoods again and she hurried along. "Was there any truth to his claim that he didn't know she was married?"
"He absolutely did not know about that," Mary Beth stated flatly. "Ah only saw him a couple times but Ginger always made me swear not to tell him until she had him completely hooked. But with all her shenanigans, she couldn't even get him to say he loved her."
Jack cut in again. "So, do you think that's why she went back to her husband? Because she got tired of waiting for me-my uncle to get off the fence?"
She laughed again. "Oh lawdy, no. Ginger would have continued her affair with Jack indefinitely... at least until another man came along who would marry her. Her husband couldn't, um, how should Ah say this, um, make her happy when the lights went out. Apparently Jack was quite talented in that department."
Recalling one of her theories, Kelly asked, "Did someone threaten her or Jack's life if she didn't break it off with him?"
Mary Beth cocked her head. "What a strange question. Ah don't believe so. It was the trust fund she went back for. There was a clause in it that she hadn't been aware of before. If she was found to be behavin' in an illegal or immoral manner prior to her thirtieth birthday, the monies reverted to the estate, which her father controlled.
"Did Ah mention that her daddy and Reid were lodge brothers? Well, they were and good friends too. So, Ah suppose in a way, Ginger was threatened because her daddy told her if she didn't stop her nonsense and be a dutiful wife, she would end up penniless. No matter how handsome or talented Jack was in the dark, he didn't have much money nor prospects. She made her choice and money won."
"What happened to the money when she died?" Kelly asked, trying not to appear too anxious for the answer.
"Her husband inherited it, though that was hardly comfortin'. Poor man was devastated over losin' her before ever gettin' an heir."
"So devastated that he ran right out and built an empire," Jack muttered. "It was all about money then."
Mary Beth squinted at him. "Pardon me?"
"Nothing," Kelly replied. "We just had some theories. Tell me, in one article, it sounded like you didn't believe Jack was guilty. What made you change your mind?"
Mary Beth's alcohol consumption was becoming more of a hindrance than a help. Kelly had to repeat the question before the woman could answer.
"Ah didn't change mah mind. Ah don' know who did that terrible thing to Ginger but Ah was never convinced that Jack did it... no matter what that jury decided."
She put her finger to her lips and leaned forward. "But don' tell Jimmy Joe Ah said that. He'd have a conniption."
/> Kelly leaned toward her and spoke in a conspiratorial voice as well. "Why is that?"
"Because of the trouble Ah almost caused when we got back from our honeymoon. It was the only time in all our years o' bein' together that we had such a terrible fight."
"They changed your deposition, didn't they?" Jack interjected.
Worry filled her eyes. "Ah did not say that."
"It's all right, Mary Beth," Kelly said in a soothing tone. "No one will ever know we talked to you. We were just very confused about why you left the country prior to the trial."
She fussed with her hair and put on a phony smile. "Why, Ah thought everyone knew 'bout how Jimmy Joe's daddy won that fabulous trip around the world, an' he wanted us ta have it as a weddin' present but the departure date couldn't be changed. We had ta git married and go right then. Jimmy Joe simply would not wait no longer for me ta be his wife. An' everybody promised me mah deposition would be as good as if Ah was in court mahself."
The words were barely coherent and Kelly had to prompt her to go on. "And by the time you came back..."
"They had executed that poor man. Ah wasn't supposed to know that they changed mah words but Ah found out by accident and when Ah tried to say somethin' 'bout it, well, like Ah said, Jimmy Joe went kinda crazy on me."
She looked pleadingly at Jack. "Y'all do understand, don't ya? There weren't nothin' Ah could do that would have made a difference. They said the evidence against him was overwhelmin'. They would have found him guilty whether Ah'd testified in person or not."
Kelly focused on how often she kept using the collective word "they".
"You could have contacted his parents," Jack said in a frigid tone. "It might have helped them to know that someone believed in his innocence."
She hung her head and shook it. "Wouldn't have made no difference. He was already gone. Water under the bridge and all."
Out of Time (Lovers in Time Series, Book 1): Time Travel Romance Page 19
