Come Rain or Shine: Rose Gardner Investigations #5 (Rose Gardner Investigatons)

by Denise Grover Swank

  Until now.

  I could feel myself about to fall apart, but I couldn’t afford myself the luxury of a breakdown. Not yet. I’d crumble after.

  “All of that to say,” I pushed out past the lump in my throat, “Violet would be thrilled if you came.”

  “Are you sure it’s no imposition?”

  “None at all,” I said. “Carly’s cookin’ a big dinner, so I’ll just let her know there’s one more person comin’.” I grinned up at Neely Kate. “Two more since Witt’s comin’.” And since we’d already invited most of our friends, I glanced back at Anna. “Would you and Bruce Wayne like to come?”

  “It sounds fun,” she said with regret in her eyes. “But we have plans.”

  “I’m sure we’ll have more of these,” I said, then wondered why we hadn’t done this before now. Violet needed to be surrounded by people and laughter and love. “But Maeve, unless you have plans, I insist you come.”

  Maeve’s mouth lifted into a wobbly smile, and the loneliness in her eyes caught me by surprise. Why hadn’t I made sure she had people around her? “If you’re sure it’s okay,” she said, “I’d love to be included.”

  “How much time are you spendin’ with Mason?” Neely Kate asked, trying hard to keep the accusation out of her voice, but I could hear the hard edges of it. She must have seen her loneliness too.

  Maeve’s gaze shifted to my best friend, her shoulders stiffening. “He’s very busy with his work.”

  “When isn’t he busy with his work?” Neely Kate didn’t hide her animosity this time. Her loyalty to me was as strong as Violet’s.

  “Mason has a very difficult job,” I countered. “With very little budget.”

  “He’s called you to testify in front of a grand jury,” Neely Kate spat out with more venom than I would have expected from her given our conversation before I’d fainted. “How can you sit there and defend him?”

  “Yes, he called a grand jury,” I said in a level voice, “as he should. I was detained and nearly raped and killed by two officers of the law. I need to give an official statement so the state can determine if a further investigation needs to be done. I should welcome the opportunity to help stop corruption in this county. It’s rife with it.”

  But that was only partly true. Grand juries were about filing charges…who was Mason wanting to file charges against?

  Neely Kate started to say something else, but one look at Maeve clammed her up. She took a breath, then said in a more civil tone, “The timing is terrible. Violet is dyin’.”

  “Violet could be dyin’ for months.”

  But we all knew different, even if they had the grace to not call me out on my delusion.

  “I’m sorry,” Maeve said. “I’m just so, so sorry about all of this.”

  I squeezed her hand. “You hush. You have absolutely nothin’ to be sorry for. Now help me up.”

  Both Neely Kate and Maeve helped me to my feet, and I stood still as another wave of dizziness hit me.

  “Maybe you should go to the doctor for a checkup,” Maeve said, worry in her voice. “Obviously you’re stressed to the point of it affecting your health.”

  I gave her a teasing grin. “That sounds more like a task for Jonah than my doctor.”

  Maeve brushed a leaf off my upper back. “Perhaps you should see both.”

  “A new doctor took over for Dr. Arnold, and I have an appointment to see her this afternoon,” I said. “Apparently, Dr. Newton wants to meet with me before she’ll let me pick up Violet’s prescription.”

  “That’s weird,” Neely Kate said.

  “That’s what I thought,” I said, turning to glance at her. “Does anyone know what happened to Dr. Arnold? I got the sense that it wasn’t a simple matter of him retirin’.”

  “It all happened suddenly,” Maeve said. “I’d say I was surprised you hadn’t heard the gossip, but you’ve been preoccupied.”

  “He had an affair with one of his nurses,” Neely Kate said. “Rumor has it that poor Mrs. Arnold didn’t have a clue until the two of them ran off.”

  “How’d they replace him so quickly?” I asked.

  “He’s been plannin’ it,” Neely Kate said. “But no one in Henryetta knew until the new doctor showed up. He’d told his staff he was goin’ to a medical conference and he had a doctor fillin’ in, but he’d already sold his practice to Dr. Newton.”

  “That seems really fishy.”

  “Even fishier when you take into account the rumors that he was sellin’ opiate prescriptions.”

  “Do you think that’s why the new doctor wants to see you?” Anna asked. “Isn’t Vi taking narcotics for pain?”

  “Yeah,” I said, now worried she’d cut Violet off.

  “I wouldn’t worry about it,” Anna said. “If Dr. Arnold was prescribing opiates willy-nilly, it makes sense that Dr. Newton would crack down on the abuse. Vi obviously needs it.”

  Through this new lens, Wendy’s situation this morning made a whole lot more sense. I glanced up at Neely Kate. “Has Jed heard anything about it?”

  “I’ve never asked. He tries to keep that part of his previous life from me.”

  “I guess we should ask him about that too,” I said. “Maeve, would you mind if I stole Neely Kate from you for the rest of the day? We’ll finish the pumpkins first.”

  Maeve gave me a stern look. “She’s your employee. You loaned her to me. And don’t you dare think about moving those pumpkins around. You need rest. I hope you’re planning on taking the rest of the day off.”

  Not likely. I had too much work to do, and half of it had nothing to do with landscaping. I wanted to know more about Dr. Arnold.

  CHAPTER 6

  N eely Kate finished stacking the pumpkins before we left. No one would hear of me helping, and to ensure I didn’t try, Maeve dragged me inside under the pretext of showing me some of the seasonal merchandise that had just come in for the upcoming holidays.

  When Neely Kate finished, we loaded up in her new baby—the new car Jed had bought in a junkyard and refurbished for her. I was exhausted after my morning from hell and leaned my head back on the seat.

  “I know you had a vision of me,” she said as soon as we pulled out of the parking lot. “What did you see?”

  Well, crap. I’d hoped my panic attack would distract her.

  I sat up straight. “Maybe we should pick up some lunch to take out to Jed and Witt.”

  “I packed Jed a lunch and sent one for Witt too. I tried out a new recipe for dinner last night, only Jed didn’t seem to be very hungry and there were plenty of leftovers.”

  “Then how about you and I go to lunch?” I suggested. “That’s why I swung by in the first place. If you’d like, I’ll tell you all about my encounter with Dena and Margi this morning.”

  Her mouth parted and she turned to me in shock. “This morning? Good heavens. You have had a busy morning.”

  “You don’t know the half of it. Wait until I tell you about the cat on a leash at the doctor’s office.” I launched into the story about Wendy, the purse, and the wrestling match.

  Wearing a huge grin, Neely Kate shook her head. “Oh my word. I would have loved to see that.”

  “It was frightening.”

  “Speakin’ of frightening, I want to know more about Denny Carmichael’s guy tearing up the office.”

  “He didn’t tear up the office. He got pissed and threw a chair out the window. I didn’t have time to mess with it before the meeting. I texted Denny saying that he better take care of it, otherwise people would be asking questions.”

  “You just left?” she asked in disbelief. “If the window was broken, anyone could have gone in and stolen the computers.”

  She was right, of course. Leaving it like that had been beyond stupid, but in the moment, it had felt right, which made me question my own judgment. “I have no excuse,” I said, my voice breaking. “All I knew was that we really needed that job and I had to get to the presentation.”

 
“Why didn’t you tell Jed when you called him? He could have run over and started cleanin’ it up.”

  I turned to her, close to tears. “I couldn’t talk about it until after the presentation. I know it was foolish. I’m sorry.”

  She reached over and grabbed my hand. “Rose. It’s okay. We’re all just worried about you.”

  “And you’ve been worried pretty much since you’ve met me. I’m so tired of people havin’ to worry about me. I have to stand on my own two feet. I need to take care of my own problems.”

  “Where is this comin’ from?” she asked, squeezing my hand.

  “I don’t know,” I said, starting to cry. “I just need to learn how to be alone.”

  “Because Violet’s dyin’ and leavin’ you alone? But we’re here for you, Rose. Just like you’ve always been there for all of us.” She made a face. “What are you gonna tell Joe? You know he’s liable to be upset that you didn’t tell him. He moved to the farm to protect you from Denny, and the first time something happened, you didn’t call him.”

  “I know. You’re right, but I need to figure out what I’m going to do tomorrow first.” I looked up at her, my eyes burning with tears. “How many times can I hurt that man before he walks away from me completely?”

  She squeezed my hand. “I don’t know, Rose, but I know he cares about you.”

  “I know.” I wasn’t being fair to him, and once again, I wondered if I should encourage him to move out.

  We were silent for a moment before Neely Kate said, “Let’s go get some lunch. You still need to fill me in on what happened with Dena and Margi Romano.”

  I’d finished the story by the time we pulled into the drive-thru of the Chuck and Cluck, several cars back from the speaker. Neely Kate put the car in park and shook her head. “I still can’t believe Dena was such a biatch to you.”

  “I’m not. She hates me. She still thinks I stole Joe from her.”

  “As if.”

  I shrugged. “That’s what she believes, and we haven’t exactly tried to dissuade people from thinkin’ we’re together.”

  A grin lit up her face. “Can you even imagine her with Mason?”

  “It might work. He likes pie,” I teased.

  “I’m no fan of Mason, but I wouldn’t wish Dena on him.” She made a face. “What do you make of Margi bein’ so nice?”

  “She seems lonely, but I think her niceness has more to do with her needing a place to put emergency rescue horses and less to do with needin’ a friend. That’s okay. I understand.”

  “So are you gonna have coffee with her?”

  “We’re gonna have coffee with her. But I think she’s comin’ out to look at the pasture and barn tomorrow.”

  “But your grand jury testimony is tomorrow.”

  I grimaced. “Crap. You’re right. Well, when she calls, I’ll just tell her we’ll have to postpone it.”

  “Unless you have Carly show her around.”

  “And let Margi hoodwink her into agreein’ to something? No, thanks. Plus Carly’s got her hands full with Vi.”

  “She really was a godsend,” Neely Kate said.

  “I couldn’t agree with you more.” And although I didn’t like to think about what would happen after Violet died, I had to admit I was relieved to know I wouldn’t be all alone at the house.

  When we pulled up to the menu board, Neely Kate ordered a three-piece meal and I ordered a family bucket and a quart of mashed potatoes and gravy with a side of green beans.

  Neely Kate narrowed her eyes. “You got something for Witt and Jed too. I told you they already had lunch.”

  “I know,” I said, “but it didn’t seem right eatin’ fried chicken in front of them. Maybe we can all share like a potluck.”

  Her face lit up. “Good idea. Then you can try my lamb, turnip, and ketchup turnovers.”

  I tried hard not to show a reaction, especially when my stomach flip-flopped at the thought. “Can’t wait.”

  We split the cost and headed out to the garage. I got Neely Kate to fill me in on what she’d been doing to the house Jed had recently purchased. He’d encouraged her to put her own stamp on it, and given the way he kept encouraging her to see what was his as hers, I couldn’t help wondering if he wanted to marry her. Her marriage to Ronnie would put a damper on that, and while I knew Jed and Joe both were searching for him, neither of them had caught wind of him since Joe had seen him in New Orleans boarding a bus bound for Memphis with another woman and a wedding ring.

  Except I knew Neely Kate would cross paths with him again, if my vision came to pass. I knew I had to tell her—she deserved to know—but I wanted Jed to be there when I shared the news. If anyone could keep my best friend safe, it was my former bodyguard.

  Since the day was so nice for mid-October, the garage doors were up and all three bays had cars, one of them up on a lift. Considering the shop was pretty new and Witt and Jed didn’t have any other employees, I took that as a good sign. Witt had worked in a garage south of town, and a few of his customers had followed him to their new establishment on the west side of town. He was a great mechanic, and although Jed needed more experience, he’d worked on cars in his youth and was a quick learner.

  “Looks like they’re busy,” I said. “That’s great!”

  “Business has been pickin’ up,” she said as she pulled into a parking space. “In fact, they just hired a new mechanic in trainin’.” Her eyes sparkled with mischief. “You might know him.”

  “Who?” I asked in confusion. Despite what I’d said to the Sonder Tech folk, I didn’t know anyone currently looking for a job.

  Her eyes twinkled. “You’ll see.”

  We grabbed the takeout bags and Neely Kate headed straight for Jed, who had stopped working and stood waiting for us at the rear of the car in the middle bay.

  “This is a surprise,” he said, glancing from Neely Kate to me. “Or maybe not considering your phone call this morning and the fact someone busted the window of the landscaping office.”

  “You heard about that too, huh?” I asked, resisting the urge to squirm underneath his gaze.

  “Yep. Surely you know I’m not the only person watchin’ your comin’s and goin’s.”

  “I haven’t seen any sign of James’s guys watchin’ me for over a month, but I didn’t know you were watching me too.”

  “Not me,” he said, tilting his head with a smug look. “There’s plenty of others to feed the grapevine.”

  “Are you okay, Miss Rose?” a familiar male voice said. I gasped when I saw him walk around the car in the third bay, wiping his hands on a towel.

  “Marshall.” I turned to Neely Kate, my eyes wide in shock.

  Marshall had sought out my help a few months ago, after he’d been shot. I’d declared my land neutral and he’d taken my word for it. I’d had to fend off Kip Wagner to protect him, which had caused a rift between James and I, but my word was the only thing I had going for me. That and the gun in my purse and the shotgun in my hall closet.

  “What are you doin’ here?” I asked in disbelief, then motioned to him. “Well, obviously you’re workin’ here, but how’d that come about?”

  “Jed,” he said with a bashful smile. “He told me if I ever needed help to let him know, so I did and now I’m workin’ in their garage.” He shot a nervous look at Jed. “I’m still in my training period, but I aim to prove I’m worth keepin’.”

  “He’s green,” I heard Witt call out from the back of the garage, “but he’s showin’ promise.”

  Marshall beamed with pride.

  Witt walked around the cars to join us, his gaze homing in on the bags in our hands. “Whatcha got there?”

  “We brought chicken and fixin’s from Chuck and Cluck,” I said, lifting the bag to show them. “I hope y’all haven’t had lunch.”

  All three men stammered, and finally Jed spat out, “We haven’t had time to take our lunch break yet.”

  “I’m starving!” Marshall said.


  “Well, that’s fortuitous,” I said with a big smile. “I heard Neely Kate sent lunch for y’all, but I figured we could share. Sounds like I’ll get to try out her lamb, spinach, and mustard turnovers.”

  Witt held my gaze. “That would be lamb, turnip, and ketchup turnovers.”

  I could feel him telegraph, God bless you.

  My smile wobbled. “Even better.”

  Marshall snorted, and Jed jabbed him in the gut with an elbow. Marshall bent over clutching his stomach.

  “Are you okay?” Neely Kate asked, sounding concerned.

  “Yep,” he wheezed out. “Just the thought of those turnovers is making my stomach rumble with hunger.”

  A huge smile spread across her face. “I’ll go in and start heating them up.”

  She gathered the two bags I was carrying and headed into the office.

  As soon as she walked inside, Witt said, “Someone is gonna have to tell her that her cooking sucks. And soon. I swear to God, I nearly went to the ER with gas a couple of nights ago after eating her jalapeño and tuna poppers.”

  Jed shot him a glare. “She loves creatin’ recipes.”

  “That’s all fine and good,” Witt said, “but why do the rest of us have to suffer with you?”

  Jed rammed his right elbow into Witt’s gut, even harder than he had with Marshall.

  “Jesus Christ, man,” Witt grunted, doubling over. “Lay off at the gym.”

  I had to wonder if Witt had a point. “You know, at some point she’s gonna figure out we hate her creations,” I said quietly, watching the door to make sure Neely Kate didn’t overhear. “It’s so bad that even Carly mentioned it this morning.”

  “It should be somebody she loves and trusts,” Witt said, rubbing his stomach as he straightened. “Someone who’s known her for a while.”