“I don’t want those people to sleep on my air mattress.”
I opened my mouth to protest that his air mattress was latex, that whatever those people left on it would wash off.
But I couldn’t bring myself to say it. I understood how he felt.
“We’ll make sure Rickie or Grace sleeps on your mattress in the third bedroom. I just don’t want either of them to sleep on the sofa where they’ll be vulnerable if George or Howdy or somebody else breaks in.”
“Pity the somebody who breaks in on Rickie.” He sighed. “Very well. I’ll bring the twin bed and meet you over there.”
I crossed the street to Grace’s house.
When she answered the door this time, her smile was a little less perky but still determined. “Come in. We have some pizza left.”
My stomach grumbled. “That sounds good.” I followed Grace to the kitchen.
Plates with pizza remnants surrounded a large cardboard box in the middle of the table.
Edwina and Leon sat at that table. “Well, lookie who’s here,” Leon said. “Set yourself down. We got some pizza left. Edwina, get Linda a plate and a beer.”
I didn’t bother correcting him about my name. I was too busy being horrified that he was usurping the role of host in Grace’s home.
She sank meekly into her chair, letting him get away with it.
Edwina obediently rose and headed for the cabinet.
“I don’t drink beer, and I don’t need a plate.” I’d eat off the floor before I’d take a plate from that woman. She had no right passing out Grace’s plates.
I opened a folding chair and sat next to Rickie who was looking down as if he couldn’t stand the sight of the people intruding into his world.
Actually he was looking down at the game he was playing on the cell phone in his lap.
Edwina took a plate from Grace’s cabinet, ignoring me while obeying Leon.
I’d missed his coronation as king. Didn’t even receive an invitation to the event.
I snagged a piece of pizza with a napkin. “No plate. I’m good.”
She set the plate in front of me anyway and got a bottle of beer from the refrigerator.
Grace appeared to be okay with the situation.
I wasn’t.
Rickie never looked up from his game, but his ears flamed red. He wasn’t okay with the situation either.
I bit off the point of the pizza slice and shoved the beer toward Rickie. “Here, you can have this.”
That got Rickie’s attention…and Grace’s.
“No, he can’t!” She snatched the bottle away.
“Just kidding,” I said.
Rickie gave me a conspiratorial grin then turned back to his cell phone.
What had the world come to when Rickie and I were co-conspirators?
“We’re just trying to talk our new daughter into coming home with us for a visit,” Leon said.
There was that d word again.
Grace beamed. “Rickie and I would love to see your farm. Rickie can get out in the clean air and go fishing and see where his daddy grew up.”
Rickie stood abruptly and slammed his chair backward so hard it hit the wall. “I’m not going to your stupid farm, and that man was not my daddy. He was a liar and a cheat and he was married to a bunch of other women! I hate him!” Rickie shoved past me and ran out of the room.
No one spoke. No one even breathed loudly.
“What’s he talking about?” Leon asked.
Grace looked at me, her Bambi eyes pleading.
Leon and Edwina followed her lead and turned to me.
The position of Grace’s best friend was not an easy one to fill.
I folded my hands on the table. “Well, you see, it’s kind of a long story.”
A knock sounded on the front door.
I shot to my feet. “Fred’s bringing an air mattress. That’s probably him.”
It might be George or a late night insurance salesman or even my ex, but I was grateful for whoever had interrupted.
Grace and I headed for the living room. We squeezed through the kitchen doorway together. I beat her through the living room by a solid fourteen inches and flung open the door.
Fred stood there holding a small bag. Only he could compress an air mattress back into the original bag. Magic.
“Come in,” Grace and I invited at the same time.
Fred didn’t move.
I grabbed his free arm and tugged.
He stepped inside. “I don’t believe I’ve ever seen someone so excited about an air mattress.”
I held tightly to his arm. “Come to the kitchen. You need to meet Chuck’s parents.”
“No, I don’t. I need to leave this with you and go home.” He extended the bag to Grace.
Leon emerged from the kitchen with Edwina close behind. “Who are you?” Leon demanded, as if he had the right to challenge Grace’s visitors.
Fred regarded the intruder with disdain. “I’m Fred Sommers. You must be Chuck’s father.”
Leon hesitated. “You knew my son?”
“Not really.”
“Fred’s my neighbor,” Grace said. “This is Leon Mayfield, Chuck’s daddy.”
“A pleasure to meet you,” Fred lied then tried to escape out the door. I held his arm.
“You have to show us how to set up this bed,” I said.
“You know how to set up this bed. You’ve borrowed it before.”
“You know how to set up the bed, and I know how to make chocolate chip cookies.” I sent him a telepathic message: And if you ever want to eat my cookies again, you will stay and help me.
He got my message.
“Grace, would you allow me to assist you in setting up this bed?” he asked.
Grace led us upstairs to the end of the hall. Boxes lined the walls of the small room leaving barely enough space for a bed.
Fred unfolded the twin size mattress on the floor then stood holding the cord to the internal pump. “We need an electrical outlet.”
I waited for him to use his x-ray vision to penetrate the boxes and find that outlet.
Grace pointed to the back wall. “I think there’s one on that side.”
Fred, Grace, and I began moving boxes.
I set a heavy one (books? rocks? meth crystals?) off to one side and noticed Leon and Edwina standing in the doorway. “We could use some help,” I said.
Leon put his hand to his lower back again. “I can’t lift anything over five pounds.”
“Makes it hard for him to go to the bathroom.” Edwina giggled.
Leon chuckled.
I fought the urge to vomit. I could not allow these people to stay with Grace.
We found the outlet and Fred plugged in the bed. The noise of the pump made conversation impossible. Thank goodness. One more word out of Leon’s mouth and I might lose control and zap it with my stun gun. Would his beard sizzle? Only one way to find out.
Too soon the bed was filled and Fred turned off the pump.
Grace pushed on the top. “Doesn’t that look comfortable? I’ll just get some bedding and be right back.” She left Fred and me alone with those people.
“What did the kid mean about Chuck being married to other women?” Leon asked.
Fred shrugged. “You know how kids are.”
“Yeah, I reckon we do.”
“You folks plan to be in town long?” Fred’s folksy accent was new.
“We want to get to know our new daughter and grandson,” Leon said.
“You have three daughters, four sons, two daughters-in-law, three sons-in-law, and twelve grandchildren already,” Fred said. “It’s really nice of you to spend so much time with Grace and Rickie.”
I could almost hear the rusty wheels trying to turn in Leon’s brain so he could figure out how to respond to Fred’s comment.
“They’re all we have left of Chuck,” Edwina said.
Interesting comment from someone who hadn’t noticed her son missing for a day or two.
&
nbsp; “Here we are!” Grace appeared with sheets, pillow, and blanket. “Let’s go back to the living room where we can sit down.” She tossed her load onto the bed. “I’ll make this up later. I’ll sleep in here tonight, and you all can have my room.”
Edwina walked over and hugged Grace. “You are just the sweetest daughter we’ve ever had.”
Gag.
Someone pounded on the front door.
It wasn’t Fred because even he couldn’t be two places at one time.
As far as I knew.
George?
Grace blanched.
Fred, Grace, and I charged downstairs to the living room.
Fred got there first and open the door.
“What are you doing here?” a screechy voice demanded.
“I might ask the same of you.” Fred held the door and blocked the opening, but, by craning around just right, I could see under his arm.
It was the wife with the scrunched up face and bowl haircut. Ellen? Lynn? Alinn.
Grace came up behind me. I tried to block her view. She didn’t need to meet this woman.
My efforts were futile. She was small and fast.
“Who are you?” Grace asked.
“Chuck’s real wife, and I’m here to rescue my husband’s parents from the woman who murdered him.”
“What the hell’s going on here?” Leon demanded.
“Is that my father-in-law? Are you Leon Mayfield?” Alinn tried to shove past Fred.
I waited for him to toss her out the door, but he stepped back instead.
Alinn rushed inside.
Grace pushed her outside.
She came back.
I’d seen Grace in action in one cat fight when her opponent was twice her size. I’d put my money on Grace.
Fred intervened, holding them apart. “Stop!”
They stopped.
“Alinn, what are you doing here?” he asked.
She looked past him, her gaze focusing on Leon. “I’m your son’s wife, his first wife, his real wife, and I’m pregnant with his child.”
Chapter Fifteen
Grace gasped. Her hand flew to her mouth.
Leon’s jaw dropped so far his beard rested on his chest. He looked at Alinn then at Grace. “What the hell is she talking about?”
Grace turned to me, her eyes begging for help.
From me?
I turned to Fred.
“Alinn,” he said, “your presence here is inappropriate. You need to leave.”
“I’m not leaving without my husband’s parents. Are you Leon and Edwina Mayfield?”
Leon nodded uncertainly. “Yeah.”
She flung herself at him and wrapped her arms around him. “I’m so happy to finally meet you!” She released him and embraced Edwina. “Chuck told me so much about you two!”
And Chuck never lied.
Edwina tentatively returned the embrace. “He didn’t tell us nothing about you.”
Alinn took Edwina’s hand. “We was going to. He said whatever problems you all had in the past, he knew you’d be excited about the baby. But we never got to.” She pointed at Grace. “We never got to because that woman killed him.”
Grace lunged toward her. Fred stopped her in mid-lunge.
“I didn’t kill him!” Grace shouted. “I loved him and he loved me!”
Time for the best friend to step in. I planted myself in front of Alinn. “What are you doing here? How did you know Chuck’s parents would be here? Have you been stalking Grace?”
Alinn drew herself up defiantly. She was still several inches shorter than I am. I scowled menacingly down at her.
“I went to the farm where my poor, dead husband grew up,” she said. “I wanted to meet my in-laws so we could grieve together. The neighbors told me they’d gone to Pleasant Grove to see the woman who said she was married to their son. I got here as fast as I could to rescue my family before she could murder them too.”
“You lying witch!” Grace’s face flushed as she struggled to get free of Fred’s hold.
I sent Fred a telepathic message to turn her loose. If she had any trouble taking down Alinn…which I doubted…I’d help. I’d love to see Alinn convulsing from the effects of my stun gun.
He didn’t get the message or he ignored me.
Of course he got the message. He ignored me.
Alinn pulled a piece of paper from the back pocket of her faded slacks and handed it to Leon. “Here’s a copy of our marriage certificate dated seven years ago.”
Leon accepted the paper, unfolded it, and squinted at it for a long time. “You all get a divorce?”
Alinn put her hands on her hips and thrust out her belly. “No.”
Leon looked at Grace. “You got one of them marriage papers?”
Grace strained against Fred’s grasp. “Yes, I do.”
“Can I see it?”
Again Grace looked at me.
Again I looked at Fred.
“You have no reason to see Grace’s marriage documentation,” he said. “She and Chuck were married last August by a Justice of the Peace in Crappie Creek, Missouri. There are some complicated legal issues in this situation which will have to be decided in a court of law, but that’s not your concern.”
Bless Fred’s heart for trying to get Leon off Grace’s case. Even I knew how the complicated legal issues would turn out. If Alinn was the first wife, absent a divorce, she was the legal wife. Grace’s marriage license was of no consequence. And, as Fred so politely pointed out, none of Leon’s business.
Leon stroked his beard. “What the boy said about a bunch of other women, it was true?”
Rickie had been downgraded…or maybe upgraded…from grandson to the boy.
“Seven women,” Fred said.
Leon’s narrow gaze darted back and forth between Grace and Fred. “Why’d he do that?”
To have more access to decongestants? To establish contact with more prison ministries? Because he liked variety? For once, I kept my mouth shut.
Alinn dropped her head. “I think it was because he wanted so bad to give you a grandbaby. We tried really hard, but it took me seven years to get pregnant. As soon as I told him about our baby, he said he was going to get rid of all those other women.”
Grace’s face fell and she slumped in Fred’s arms.
I was married to the King of BS. I know BS when I hear it, and Alinn was rolling it out.
She also appeared to be under the influence of it. She still believed at least one of Chuck’s lies, that her son would inherit from the wealthy parents who were desperate for a grandchild. She didn’t seem to know they already had enough grandkids for a football team. Or maybe it was baseball. Whatever. They were not likely to be impressed with another grandbaby, and instead of being wealthy, they had been dependent on Chuck for money.
I had to get Alinn to take the Mayfields and run before she discovered the truth and left them to sponge off Grace.
How could I tactfully do that?
Alinn, please take these vermin and leave.
Tact is not my strong point.
“You’ve had a long day, Alinn, driving all over Oklahoma and—” Which state did she live in? We were in Missouri, so I couldn’t go wrong with that one. “Driving through Oklahoma and Missouri and all those places. In your condition, you probably need to get home early. It’s already nine o’clock. I can suggest some good motels close by.”
She spun on me, squinchy eyes blazing. “It’s only an hour to Leavenworth where I have a nice home.” She looked disparagingly around Grace’s living room. “I have pretty carpet, not this ugly, dirty old stuff. Chuck painted our walls so they’re not dingy and nasty like yours, and I have a beautiful guest room already set up for my husband’s family.” She turned to the family in question. “Are you ready to get away from the woman who murdered your son?”
Anger replaced sadness on Grace’s face and again she struggled to free herself. Fred held her with no show of effort. “I did not!” sh
e shouted. “Maybe you killed him because he was leaving you to be with me!”
Alinn took a step toward Grace, and I groped in my purse for my purple stun gun.
“Which one of you’s telling the truth?” Leon demanded.
Alinn went back to wrap an arm around his waist. “Ask her,” she said. “Ask her if she’s his legal wife. Ask her if he told her he was leaving her and all those other women because I’m pregnant.”
Was she really pregnant? A small belly protruded from her scrawny frame, but it wasn’t enough to say if she was pregnant or just didn’t do sit-ups.
I didn’t know, didn’t care. Only wanted her and the Mayfields gone.
“Alinn’s his legal wife,” I said.
Grace’s eyes widened in pain and shock at my betrayal.
“Grace is the love of his life,” I hastily added. “They didn’t need the laws of the land to bind their hearts because they were joined in love.”
Alinn started toward me, fists and lips clenched. I was bigger than her, but she looked a lot meaner.
I held my stun gun toward her and zapped the air in a warning surge of power.
She stopped in her tracks.
“What the hell is that thing?” Leon asked.
“You don’t want to get close enough to find out.” I sent another electrical charge zinging through the air. “The three of you are trespassing in Grace’s house. Leave now or I’ll use this on you!”
Alinn took Edwina’s arm. “Let’s get out of this trashy place.”
The trio started toward the door, but Leon stopped and shot Grace a scathing look. “You lied to us!”
“I did not!”
I zapped the stun gun again. “Get out of here! Go! Now!”
They went.
Grace burst into tears.
Fred guided her to a chair.
I knelt beside the chair and placed a hand on her arm.
“Go away!” She slapped my hand. “You took up for that woman! Now Chuck’s family hates me, and they’re gone forever.”
Fred shrugged helplessly. Fred can take down an armed villain with a swift kick. He can outwit murderers and con them into confessing. But when it comes to a crying woman, he’s helpless.
“Grace, the truth was bound to come out,” I said.
She cried harder.
“Trust me, you’re better off without those people. They thought you would take up where Chuck left off, sending them money. They were going to take advantage of you.”
Guns, Wives and Chocolate Page 12
