Down Home and Deadly Read online

  I shook my head. “I’m sure that’s not why they sent you to boarding school. It’s just that they wanted the very best for you because they loved you so much.”

  “Is that what you think?” She shot me a pitying look, but I thought there was a hint of hope, as well. “They had an odd way of showing it, didn’t they? Actually, Daddy would’ve let me stay home, but Mother talked him out of it.”

  “Are you sure?”

  She nodded. “Positive. When I was little, it was okay. I wasn’t your typical cute toddler, but I was reasonably intelligent. But when I was about six, I hit a growth spurt and gained weight. From then on, I was an embarrassment to Mother. By the time I was a teenager, my weight problem had grown worse and was complicated by that common teen horror, acne. I spent several summers abroad with a nanny. Does that sound like my mother loved me?”

  “Teenage years are hard for everyone,” I answered, remembering the turmoil surrounding my parents and Carly. “Sometimes the best thing we can do about them is forgive and forget.”

  Tiffany ran her hand through her frizzy hair. “It’s not like I haven’t tried. A long time ago, I decided the best way to deal with her is to be myself, only more so. Hence, no makeup, no fancy clothes, no beauty salons. It kills her. And I’ll let you in on a little secret. I have a whole closet full of other clothes. When I go out of town, I dress and act like everyone else. I’ll never be beautiful like my mother, but I’m passable.”

  “Has Ricky seen you in your other guise?” I had to ask.

  She laughed. “Oh yes. On a few special occasions, I’ve pulled out my wardrobe stash and gotten fixed up before we’ve gone out. Only when we were going out of town, of course. I’ve been to Dallas on business several times since we’ve been dating. A couple of times, he let me get him a plane ticket and hotel room, though he wouldn’t stay at the fancy hotel I stayed at. He didn’t want to waste my money. And of course, we couldn’t travel down together. I don’t want Mother to have a heart attack, after all.”

  “That’s nice of you,” I said dryly.

  She smirked. “Anyway, I promised Ricky that when we get married, I’ll stop my little prank. But for now, he thinks it’s a good joke on Mother, too.”

  “You and Ricky must have the same sense of humor,” I commented. “Being able to laugh together is a good thing.”

  “Yes.” She frowned faintly. “Though sometimes he is a little flippant about things I feel are important.” She hurriedly added, “Not that I’m criticizing him.”

  “Nobody’s perfect,” I answered. I could almost feel Amelia at my elbow, urging me on. “Where did you and Ricky meet?”

  She rolled her eyes. “That’s a crazy story. I hadn’t been back in town long, and Mother insisted on buying me a new car. Of course, the little hybrid I wanted wasn’t good enough for her daughter, so she got me a gas-guzzling Hummer. Can you believe it? Anyhow, I was cruising through town when blue lights came on behind me. I pulled over to let the officer chase down whatever dangerous criminal he was after, but it was me. Ricky had just joined the force and didn’t realize who I was.”

  I noted that she was as arrogant as Amelia, though in a nicer way.

  “When I told him my name, he asked if I was any relation to the mayor. We had a good laugh when he discovered he’d pulled the mayor’s daughter over for speeding.”

  “You drive a Hummer?” I asked, remembering the little Toyota Prius she’d been driving the day of the basketball game. As different from a Hummer as. . .Tiffany from Amelia.

  “No, of course not. I drove that one a couple of weeks just to humor Mother then traded it for a hybrid. Going green is best for the earth, you know.”

  “So Ricky asked you out when he stopped you?”

  A hint of color flashed across her cheeks. “Actually, I asked him out. The Garden Society had a big do that weekend, and I had planned to go alone. He didn’t know many folks in town, so he was glad to go with me. We hit it off so well, we’ve dated ever since. And I think he may be the one for me. I’ve dated some real losers, but I have a good feeling about Ricky. And it will really tick Mother off if I marry a police officer.” She must have realized how that sounded, because she grimaced. “That’s just the icing on the cake.”

  “Be careful, though. Dressing to aggravate your mother is one thing, but marrying for that reason would be taking things a little too far.”

  A flash of irritation crossed her face.

  Had I overstepped the bounds? After all, this was my boss I was giving advice to.

  “That wouldn’t be the reason. Like I said, it would just be a plus.”

  “I don’t know. It seems like it would be a good idea to come to terms with your mother before you make permanent plans with anyone else.”

  “Is that Dear Pru speaking?” Sarcasm dripped from her voice.

  “I’ve just seen too much unhappiness because of unresolved problems,” I answered soberly. “Dear Pru sees a lot of sorrow. I’ve learned plenty from my readers.”

  “I’ll think about it.” She stood abruptly, and I followed her down the hall past the restrooms and break room. Tiffany pointed to a room near the door. “Do you realize that every newspaper Uncle Hank put out is in that room? If we were as up-to-date as most cities, it would all be on computer by now.” She sighed. “But we’re not.”

  I knew she was just trying to dispel the awkwardness my unwelcome advice had left between us, but I was curious. I pushed the door open and glanced inside at the rows of newspapers. “Wow. That’s a lot of information.”

  “Yeah, probably forty years’ worth at least. And all filed by date.”

  Wouldn’t it be easy to solve a murder if I could organize my mind like this room?

  While I was still daydreaming about that, Tiffany cleared her throat. “I’ve got to run.”

  As we exited the building, I thought about what I’d learned. Amelia’s whole theory about her daughter not being able to attract men was skewed by her faulty perception of Tiffany. Sometimes I felt the same way about solving J.D.’s murder. Like there was a piece of the puzzle in plain sight that we just weren’t seeing.

  *****

  Dear Pru,

  I am nearing thirty, and not to be cliché or anything, but my biological clock is ticking. I have met a man I really care for and am considering marrying him. He loves me, but I’m not sure if what I feel for him is love or if I am just settling so that I can have a family.

  Not Sure

  *****

  Not Sure,

  If you aren’t sure, there’s a good chance you aren’t in love. Only you can decide if marrying a man you “like” in order to have a family is worth giving up on the real thing.

  *****

  “Is this my favorite attorney?” I grinned as I imagined Alex on the other end of the phone line.

  “It depends. Who’s this?” he asked playfully.

  “Your favorite waitress.”

  “Debbie?”

  “Very funny.”

  “Oh wait! I recognize that sarcasm. This is Jenna, isn’t it? Then, yes, this is your favorite attorney.”

  “Good, because I’m about to do something I’ve never done before and ask a man out on a date.”

  “Anyone I know?”

  I snickered. “You’re in rare form today, Counselor. Carly called, and she and Elliott want us to ride to Jonesboro with them to get some restaurant supplies.” Before he could make a smart remark about how exciting that would be, I rushed on, “And eat at El Acapulco while we’re there.”

  “That sounds good,” Alex said.

  An hour later, the four of us were on the road in Elliott’s SUV and deep in discussion. With Elliott and Carly in the front seat and Alex and me in the middle seat, we covered everything from religion to politics, all those subjects you were supposed to avoid. How cool that we shared similar points of view on most things.

  Halfway to Jonesboro, we started dissecting a Will Smith movie we had rented and watched together. Ell
iott glanced at Carly. “Keeping his identity a secret was what got him in trouble.”

  Carly jerked her head around to look at him. “He didn’t do it on purpose at the beginning. And if she had known, she never would have gone out with him.”

  Elliott shrugged. “Still, keeping secrets like that keeps relationships from growing.”

  “Humph.” Carly crossed her arms. “Shows how much you know. They ended up together, didn’t they?”

  Elliott kept his eyes on the road, but his knuckles were white on the steering wheel. Carly turned and looked out the passenger window.

  Alex and I stared at each other in bewilderment. I shrugged. Elliott was just the brother-in-law I wanted. And I was pretty sure he was the husband Carly wanted. So what was the problem with these two lately? Sometimes they seemed thrilled to be together; other times they got upset with each other at the drop of a hat.

  “So who do you think killed J.D. Finley?” I asked, more to break the silence than any real hope that my three traveling companions would know.

  Nobody spoke for at least thirty seconds, then Elliott’s death grip on the steering wheel slowly relaxed. “Well, I don’t really know any of these folks very well. Lisa took a few lessons at the country club, and she struck me as a lady who knew what she wanted and how to get it.” He kept his eyes on the road.

  Carly glanced toward him. “That doesn’t mean she’d kill someone, though. Lots of folks look out for number one. And they don’t kill whoever gets in their way.”

  Oh boy. To think I’d been trying to smooth things over. “You’re both right,” I said. “And the suspect list is pretty sparsely populated. The only other person I’ve thought of so far is Larry.”

  “Who’s Larry?” Elliott asked.

  I told them about Larry and the way he had acted when he nearly ran me down at the gym. And how he’d yelled at Lisa.

  “Sounds like a rough character,” Elliott agreed. “And you think his motive would be jealousy? If he did it, I mean.”

  “I guess so. If we knew the motive, I think we could figure out who did it.” I glanced at Carly. “Unless it was a stranger like Carly hopes.”

  He nodded. “I agree with Carly. I don’t like the thought of someone from Lake View being a cold-blooded killer.”

  I smiled at Alex. Finally, I’d found something they agreed on. He gave me a discreet thumbs-up.

  At Sam’s Club, Alex and I left Elliott and Carly to gather restaurant supplies while we wandered among the books and CDs. Before too long, Alex met a fellow lawyer, and they were soon engrossed in the intricacies of trout fishing: fly fishing versus live bait.

  I listened for a while, but finally my attention span reached its limit.

  “I’m going to go help Carly,” I whispered and received an absent nod in response. “I’ll call when we’re done.”

  My stomach was growling, and I figured the sooner we got supplies taken care of, the sooner we could eat. A fajita was calling my name. I headed toward the back and had flipped my phone open to call Carly, when I heard her voice, strangely agitated. I closed the phone but could still hear her loud and clear. Apparently from the next aisle.

  “I can’t help it, Elliott. I don’t think it’s the right thing to do.”

  “You think keeping secrets is the right thing? Come on, Carly. I think you’re avoiding the issue. Your family is so close. How will they feel when you finally tell them? Someone, probably Jenna, will want to know when you found out. Then what?”

  *****

  *****

  Chapter Nine

  Barkin’ up the wrong tree

  I stayed out of sight but waited for my sister to answer. What was going on?

  “I think I know my family better than you,” Carly answered tartly.

  “Fine.” Elliott sounded more resigned than angry.

  My curiosity meter was on full alert. Secrets? From the family? Did this have to do with the whole Travis situation? Or was there something else? And what was that ‘probably Jenna’ crack about? I retraced my steps to Alex. I’d lost my desire to help gather supplies, as well as my appetite.

  I was thankful Alex was alone when I found him. I quietly told him what I’d heard.

  He put his arm around me, and I stood for a few seconds listening to his steady heartbeat. “I know it’s hard,” he said softly. “But maybe this is something personal between the two of them. And that’s really a good thing, isn’t it? You are hoping that they’re getting serious, right?”

  “You mean like maybe they’re about to get engaged and she isn’t ready to tell us yet?”

  He shrugged. “I don’t know if that’s it or not. But she’ll tell you when she gets ready.”

  I nodded. “How do you do that?”

  He raised an eyebrow. “What?”

  “Make me feel better.”

  His dimple flashed. “It’s a gift. Now let’s find the secret-keeping couple and go eat.”

  I kissed him on the cheek. “Thanks.”

  “Anytime.”

  We met Elliott and Carly rolling two loaded carts toward the checkout. “Did you buy out the store?” Alex called, and they laughed. Any awkwardness I felt vanished. Alex was right. Carly would tell me when she was ready.

  At the Mexican restaurant, my appetite returned with a vengeance. The swarthy young waiter brought chips and white cheese dip then took our order. He repeated each thing we said as he wrote it down and waited for a nod.

  “He wants to be sure he gets it right, doesn’t he?” I said after he left. As a newly minted waitress, I couldn’t imagine how hard it must be to have a language barrier in addition to all of the other difficulties of the job.

  “That reminds me of Marco,” I said.

  Carly nodded. “Speaking of Marco,” she drawled, “I wonder if he has problems with his roommates or something. He acts like he never wants to go home.”

  “Yeah, I’ve noticed that, too. But he does a really good job,” I said.

  “I think because English isn’t his native language, he pays close attention to all his orders. He makes fewer mistakes than. . .” She put her hand over her mouth and looked at me.

  “What?” I looked right back. “I know you don’t mean me.”

  “Of course I don’t,” Carly said. “I just realized it might be unprofessional to discuss my employees.”

  “So, who do you want to discuss?” Alex asked, and we all laughed.

  I cleared my throat. “We could talk about employers.”

  “Now wait a minute,” Carly drawled.

  “I mean ex-employers, silly. I was just going to say that even though I’m sorry that it took Lisa getting in trouble to do it, I’m relieved that I’ve kind of made peace with Bob.”

  “Funny you should mention Bob and peace in the same sentence.” Elliott dipped a chip in the cheese dip.

  I frowned. “Why?”

  He shrugged. “Just that I heard something weird out on the links this week.” He stuck the chip in his mouth.

  “About Bob?” Alex said.

  Elliott nodded then chewed the chip for what seemed like forever. Maybe I was wrong about him being the perfect guy for Carly. Didn’t he know I was dying of curiosity over here?

  He swallowed. Finally. “I heard he and Wilma were full-fledged hippies back in the day. You know, peace, love, flower power. All that stuff.”

  “Like when they were teenagers?” Carly asked.

  Elliott shook his head. “I honestly just heard bits and pieces, but I think it was more recent than that. Maybe when they were our age.”

  “So they were old hippies,” Alex murmured.

  “Speak for yourself,” Carly and I said at the same time.

  We grinned.

  “Wonder what changed him?” I mused.

  Elliott took a drink. “From what I heard, something big.”

  “What?” Carly pushed a jalapeño over to the side of her plate. “He got arrested for smoking pot?”

  “I really don’t know
. More than one group of older men have alluded to it during golf games this week for some reason. But still, all I know is that apparently something bad happened out at Bob’s place back then. And whatever it was, it put him on the straight and narrow.” Elliott took the napkin off his lap and laid it beside his plate.

  “I wonder why people are talking about that now,” Carly said.

  “Because Lisa’s a suspect in a murder?” I suggested.

  “Everything comes back to the murder with you, doesn’t it, water girl?” Alex teased.

  *****

  “I’m so glad you’re feeling better, Mrs. Hanley,” I hugged the tiny, elderly woman gently. “We’ve missed you the last couple of weeks.”

  “It’s good to be here,” she beamed up at me. “When you’re ninety-six, it’s good to be anywhere.” She laughed as much as I did over her joke. As I moved aside so others could welcome our congregation’s oldest member back, I scanned the crowd for Alex.

  Finally, I spotted him in the corner, in an earnest discussion with Mr. Foshee, the elder who taught Sunday morning Bible class. I sent up a silent but fervent prayer of thanks that the man I loved loved God.

  “Jenna?” Mama appeared beside me. “You and Alex are coming to lunch, aren’t you?”

  My brows drew together, and I nodded. Didn’t we always? Sunday afternoon at Stafford Cabins was a tradition since Carly and I’d moved back to town. I usually contributed green beans or corn, and Carly always brought some elaborate recipe she’d whipped up in her spare time.

  “I’ve got a roast in the oven, but I don’t have a salad. Since Carly’s not going to be there, do you want to bring green beans and corn?”

  “Sure I will. But what do you mean Carly’s not going to be there?” Alex and I had playfully spent the ride to church guessing what culinary delight Carly might have cooked up for lunch today.

  “Didn’t she tell you?”

  “I’m pretty sure she didn’t.” I’d been overworked and tired lately, but my mind hadn’t quite gone on vacation yet.

  Mama smiled. “I guess if she had, you’d have known. She and Elliott are eating together today. But the kids are coming to the house. Zac’s taking them home to change out of church clothes and then bringing them on.”