by C. L. Bevill
“Pinky swear,” she said.
“Pinky swear,” he affirmed. They shook pinkies, and then the pinkies stayed connected.
“Blake Landry confessed everything,” Willodean said. “I’m beginning to think that murderers are so stupid that they’re attracted to Pegram County. Why would he think that no one would notice that a bunch of people at the institute suddenly died? Why would he think he could frame you by framing David Beathard?” She rubbed her belly thoughtfully. “I just don’t understand criminals. Plus Landry is as loopy as a cross-eyed cowpoke’s lariat, just like his cousin. Must run on their mothers’ side.”
“I reckon David gave you the disc,” Bubba said.
“It takes 2nd place in the evil monologues category. I think Donna Hyatt’s monologue was better.” Willodean grinned crookedly. “At least it wasn’t me that hit you this time. No, it was a heavy oak door. Good thing you shut it behind you.”
“Constance Posey’s monologue wasn’t bad,” Bubba said, “but we dint get that one on something like video or digital. Mebe I should start wearing one of them body cameras. I could avoid a whole lot of this. And mebe a helmet.”
“I started looking for you right away,” she said.
“How did you find us?” Bubba asked.
“Lloyd Goshorn said he told Peyton where you were and then Miz Demetrice remembered what you said, but she said she thought you’d been joking.” Willodean smiled weakly. “Once we found the blocked road, I dragged the National Guard’s pilot out of a sleep-in and made him start up his Huey. You know the rest.”
Bubba laid his head against a mostly flat pillow and sighed. He could look at Willodean Gray all day long and never get tired of it. “I hope you weren’t too worried.”
“Of course, I was worried,” Willodean snapped. “You were missing, doofus. And you didn’t come home. Your truck was nowhere to be found. Your dog had vanished. I had visions of you driving off into a canal and us finding your skeleton and Precious’s in a rusted-out Chevy carcass one hot and dry summer twenty or thirty years from now. Then we’d say, ‘I knew he didn’t run away to Madagascar like all those people said he did.’ I was sick to my stomach. I drank milk straight from the carton. Miz Adelia nearly slapped my hand.”
“I love you,” he said.
Willodean leaned her head down and touched her forehead to his hand. He brushed his fingers across her silky flesh. “I love you, too. Stop doing this.”
“I dint…” Bubba stopped speaking and then wound up to try again. “I’ll do my best,” he promised.
“I know. I know,” she muttered. “Try to do better than your best.”
“Anyone else hurt?”
“Thelda got a little singed. The glass windows blew out and cut up her left arm, but it wasn’t anything that even needed stitches. I had no idea there were so many Shakespearean curse words. Somewhere Brownie is saying, ‘Hey!’ There was a lot of damage to the building. The administrator is having fits, saying he’s going to sue you, sue me, sue everyone who was there, but he doesn’t really have a leg to stand on since Nunngesser was so negligent with their explosives. Let him sue Nunngesser’s. They’ve got some serious whack jobs in their family, so I don’t think that’s going to be an issue.”
“Ma okay?”
“She’s around here somewhere,” Willodean said. “So is mine. This is suspiciously like the last time you woke up in the hospital, except that I didn’t put you in here this time.”
Bubba let his right hand drop over the side of the bed. A wet nose immediately brushed itself over his fingers, and a whine issued from the depths down under the bed. Precious licked his fingers and he sighed.
“I feel a little beat up,” Bubba said, “but don’t look like nothing is broken. I kin wiggle my toes and my fingers. Ain’t nothing wrong with you or…the baby?”
“We’re fine.” She stood up and let him touch her stomach with his fingers. He stroked it over the t-shirt she wore and sighed with relief.
“Wedding still on?” he asked hopefully.
“If you can get out of that bed, cowboy,” Willodean said. There was a return of the sauciness he enjoyed so much.
“It won’t be the only reason I get out of this bed,” he shot back with a smile that reminded him that the muscles on the sides of his head hurt, too. It was all bark and no bite, but it didn’t hurt to say the words.
“I have a strange longing for cookies covered with spaghetti sauce,” Willodean said. Bubba had an idea that she was serious. The problem was that cookies covered with spaghetti sauce sounded good to him, too. Should he tell her about the sympathetic pregnancy thing? Naw.
They heard voices from the hallway. Miz Demetrice wailed mournfully, “Poor, poor Bubba!” Peyton waited for Miz Demetrice to pause before asking loudly about wedding photographers and how would Bubba look if they made him wear a hat and makeup. David Beathard said, “Quiet, you. Dr. Watson needs his rest. He’s bound to be abominably knackered. All this rubbish has likely knocked him arse-over-tit.” There was a pause and then David said, “Oww. You didn’t need to smack my head, Thelda. You knocked my deerstalker cap on the ground.” Jesus said, “Iiii will heeeal Bubba!”
“We’re about to be swarmed,” Willodean warned.
“I kin take it.” Bubba paused. “Brownie dint visit?” He touched his face. “Last time, it took a week to get all the Sharpies off.”
“No, it’s just bruised.” Willodean smiled down at him. “Hey, I brought you something.”
Bubba was instantly suspicious. “You dint bake again, did you? Baking’s prolly bad for the baby. You should be sitting down with your feet up or something. Mebe I need a pry bar to get my feet out of my mouth.”
“Haha,” Willodean said dryly. “No, it was something David brought yesterday. This is Monday, by the way, in case you were wondering.”
“It was on my list of things to ask.”
Willodean reached beside the bed and brought out a small plate. One item sat on it all by its lonesome covered with a swatch of plastic wrap.
It was a single cupcake. It was the last cupcake Leeza had made. A chocolate zucchini carrot cupcake. The last one of twelve which Precious apparently had not eaten. The rhyme that Peyton had sung came to his mind and he smiled, unable to help himself, singing the words that slipped into his head. “One little Indian livin’ all alone. He got married and then there were none.”
– THE END –
Note from the Author: I have been fortunate in my indie work to be successful enough to be happy. I cannot thank enough the people who help me out. My husband and daughter top the list. Thanks to Mary E. Bates, freelance proofreader of ebooks and printed material. Contact her at [email protected]. Sometimes when I get the corrections back from her, and I see what I have done and done and done a few more times, I don’t quite understand why she hasn’t ripped all her hair out in frustration. Any mistakes made are mine, however, not hers. Thanks to all the readers who keep buying my books. You rule! I can’t say enough that I really appreciate your support.
Finally, I need to say that I played around with wedding invitations for Bubba and Willodean and then posted them on Facebook to see what people thought. However, it dawned on me that people thought this book would be about the wedding, and it is, kind of, but it isn’t. The wedding is definitely next, I swear. Would I lie to you? Besides all ya’ll are invited to the big event.
In other bat news see me at www.clbevill.com or on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/pages/CL-Bevill/135805749827314?ref=hl or email me at [email protected].
Sincerely,
Caren
C.L. Bevill has lived in Texas, Virginia, Arizona, and Oregon. She once was in the U.S. Army and a graphic illustrator. She holds degrees in social psychology and counseling. She is the author of Bubba and the Dead Woman, Bubba and the 12 Deadly Days of Christmas, Bubba and the Missing Woman, Bayou Moon, and Shadow People, among others. Presently she lives with her husband and her daughter and continues to co
nstantly write. She can be reached at www.clbevill.com or you can read her blog at www.carwoo.blogspot.com.
Other Novels by C.L. Bevill
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Mysteries:
Bubba and the Dead Woman
Bubba and the 12 Deadly Days of Christmas
Bubba and the Missing Woman
Brownie and the Dame (3.5)
Bubba and the Mysterious Murder Note
The Ransom of Brownie (4.5)
Bubba and the Zigzaggery Zombies
Bubba and the Ten Little Loonies
Bayou Moon
Crimson Bayou
Paranormal Romance:
Veiled Eyes (Lake People)
Disembodied Bones (Lake People)
Arcanorum (Lake People)
The Moon Trilogy (Novellas):
Black Moon (The Moon Trilogy 1)
Amber Moon (The Moon Trilogy 2)
Silver Moon (The Moon Trilogy 3)
Cat Clan Novellas:
Harvest Moon
Blood Moon
Crescent Moon
Hunter’s Moon
Shadow People
Sea of Dreams
Mountains of Dreams (Dreams 2)
Suspense:
The Flight of the Scarlet Tanager
Black Comedy:
The Life and Death of Bayou Billy
Missile Rats
Chicklet:
Dial ‘M’ For Mascara
Urban Fantasy:
Deadsville
