Thirty and a Half Excuses (9 page)

“So tell me about last night.”

I told her everything, including the bit about the St. Jude’s necklace they’d found in Miss Dorothy’s backyard.

“Huh.”

“What? You know something?”

“Well, maybe. Maybe not. My grandma was close friends with Miss Laura. Several days after the funeral her daughters got together to start cleaning out the house. But they noticed all her jewelry was missing as well as a few silver pieces. They called Grandma to see if she knew what Miss Laura had done with her things. She didn’t have a clue. She suggested they call the police, but they told her they had a cousin who’d been hanging around Miss Laura, taking advantage of her kindness. They suspected she’d just given the jewelry to her, especially since there wasn’t any sign of a break-in.”

“We have to tell Mason.”

“Nuh uh,” Neely Kate groaned. “I ain’t gettin’ involved.”

“Neely Kate!”

“It’s a coincidence, Rose. I suspect Miss Laura’s niece stole the jewelry or convinced her aunt to give it to her. Everyone knows she’s addicted to meth. Which brings us back to your new employees.”

“They’re not addicted to meth. They simply have a fondness for pot.”

Neely Kate laughed. “Call it what you like, but an addiction is an addiction.” I heard someone in the background, then Neely Kate groaned. “I gotta get back to work, Rose. Call me if you find out anything else.”

“You too.” I hung up as Gary returned with the second load of flowers. We were halfway through unloading them when David pulled up in a beat-up yellow Pinto, with Bruce Wayne in the passenger seat. After they parked, they sauntered over to us, a wary look on their faces. In light of Neely Kate’s comment and the way they looked this morning—like they were coming off some sort of bender—I was having second thoughts about hiring them. They might be able-bodied men, but I wasn’t sure how
willing
they were.

“Thanks for showing up,” I said, handing a flat of burnt orange chrysanthemums to David.

He took the tray, acting like something was going to jump out and bite him.

I motioned over to a partially-filled bed on the east side of the church. “You can set it on the ground over there.”

David wandered off while I handed the next flat to Bruce Wayne.

He hesitated, looking down at the ground before peering up at me through his scraggly bangs. “I never got a chance to thank you.” He cleared his throat. “For what you done for me.”

My breath caught in surprise. “You’re welcome, Bruce Wayne.”

He didn’t move, and I waited. I’d learned he was a nervous guy and pushing him wouldn’t help.

“When David said you offered us a job…” He swallowed. “Thank you. I got one too many strikes against me in this town. I’ll try my best not to let you down.”

I’d never considered the fact Bruce Wayne might have difficulty finding a job with his history. One could argue he’d brought it upon himself, but he still had rent and bills to pay. “Well, that’s all I can ask. And you both are helping me out more than you know.”

“If you need anything, anything at all, Miss Rose, you just let me know. I’m your man.”

His words shocked me. First, he called me
Miss
Rose, a term usually reserved as a sign of respect for older women. Bruce Wayne was older than me, so I knew he used it with the utmost respect. Second, the conviction in his voice told me he meant it. If I needed help, he’d be there for me. But the problem with drug addicts is that unreliable is their middle name.

Nevertheless, a lump burned in my throat. I hadn’t expected anything in return when I sought to clear his name of murder charges. I had done it because it was the right thing to do. “Thank you, Bruce Wayne.”

He nodded and trudged after his friend.

Gary stood at the back of the truck, his hands on his hips, as he watched the guys setting the flowers next to the bed. “Be careful with those two.”

I wiped sweat from my brow, keeping my gaze on them. “They’re harmless.”

“They’re criminals.” His tone was harsh and unforgiving.

I suspected half the town’s attitude about me was harsh and unforgiving.
She’s strange. She’s a gossip
. They’d sure been willing to accept that I’d murdered Momma with little proof. Maybe that’s why I felt a new kinship with Bruce Wayne. We’d both been discounted by the townsfolk of Henryetta.

Gary left to get the last load of flowers as I told the guys what I needed them to do. David balked at the instructions, but Bruce Wayne bobbed his head. “Yes, ma’am. We’ll get it done.”

“Hard at work, I see,” Jonah drawled behind me.

Startled, I jumped. I hadn’t seen him pull up.

He rested his hand on my arm. “I didn’t mean to scare you, Rose.”

I backed up, searching his face. “Sorry. I was just concentrating so hard, I didn’t hear you walk up.”

“I love that kind of dedication.” He eyed the guys next to me.

“Jonah, this is David and Bruce Wayne. They’re going to be doin’ most of the manual labor.”

To my surprise, Jonah reached out to shake their dirty hands. “Nice to meet you boys. Welcome to the New Living Hope Revival Church. I hope you feel at home here.”

Bruce Wayne, who was used to scorn, latched onto Jonah’s warmth. “Thank you.”

“Do either of you boys have church homes?”

David snickered, but Bruce Wayne shook his head, looking Jonah in the eye. “No, sir.”

“I’d be honored if you’d consider attending my church. We welcome everyone here.” He paused to let his full meaning sink in.

Bruce Wayne bobbed his head, looking down. “Thank you.”

Jonah clasped his hands together. “Well, I’ve got to get to work before Rhonda takes me to task. It’s gonna be another hot one today. You boys don’t be shy. Be sure to come inside and cool off or get some cold water. We can’t have you coming down with a heat stroke. You make yourselves at home.”

As Jonah walked off, I glared at David. “Don’t you be goin’ in there and taking a nap.”

He scrunched his nose. “Who said I was gonna?” But he didn’t look like a man who’d been wrongfully accused.

“Don’t worry, Miss Rose,” Bruce Wayne said. “I’ll keep him in line.”

I had serious doubts about that. What little I’d learned about their friendship dynamic during Bruce Wayne’s trial was that David was the leader. Nevertheless, I didn’t have time to stay here all day supervising. “Bruce Wayne, I’m gonna leave you in charge. I’ve got to run back to the nursery, but I’ll stop by after lunch to check on your progress.”

“You bringin’ us lunch?” David asked.

I sighed. “I’ll bring you something, but you have to get the beds on this side of the building cleaned out and pruned before you can eat it. I’ll be back in about three hours.” I had serious doubts they could do it, but maybe the incentive would work.

When I got back to the nursery, Violet was talking to a customer about azaleas. She looked up and smiled. She seemed unusually happy today, but then again, she had reason to be: Business was going well, and she had a date.

She pulled me aside. “I haven’t had time to get started on the pots for Reverend Jonah. Can you? Besides, I don’t want to get too dirty. Brody is picking me up from here to go on our date.”

“Oh.” I still had a hard time imagining her with someone besides Mike. “You know I love making planters.” And we both knew that she’d be better at dealing with the customers. It was an unspoken agreement between us. “Where are you two going?”

A smile softened her face, and I was surprised how shy she looked. “He said he was taking me out to dinner.”

“I’m happy for you, Violet.”

Tears filled her eyes. “Really?” Her chin trembled. “I know how hard this is for you and everyone else. It’s gonna be an adjustment.”

I pulled her into a hug. “This is your life, Violet. You deserve to be happy.”

“Thank you, Rose. I’ve been so envious watching you and Joe together.”

My lips parted. “Envious of
me
?”

“You two are just so happy and in love. You have no idea how much I wanted that. I’m so happy to have found it too.”

I narrowed my eyes. “But you and Brody just met.”

Fear and guilt slid over her face, and then it was replaced by a mask of fake happiness. How had I never noticed that either? How long had my sister been hiding behind the masquerade of her life? I missed the Violet who’d been my confidant and best friend. When had I lost her? I suppressed a sigh. In some ways, I had lost her when Momma died. When I decided to start taking control of my own life.

Violet wiped imaginary dirt off the counter and scrunched up her nose. “How’s it looking out at the church?”

She was hiding something, but I decided to let it go for now. “They were just getting started when I left, but Bruce Wayne seems determined to repay me for helping exonerate him by doin’ a good job.”

“And the other guy?”

I shrugged, unwilling to admit to my doubts. “Jonah seemed pleased to meet them, and he welcomed them to come inside to cool off when they get too hot.”

She scowled. “They’ll end up spending most of the day inside that church.”

I could see why she might think so, but I decided to trust Bruce Wayne.

The next several hours flew by as I did what I loved. Working with flowers. I’d been so busy with the chaos of life lately—Momma’s murder, dating Joe, being picked for Bruce Wayne’s jury, opening the nursery—I hadn’t had much time for my hobby, now my business. But putting my hands in the cool soil and transferring the plants to new containers—to new lives—I experienced a peace I’d never found with people, not that I’d had many people in my life before Momma’s murder.

Joe had changed all of that.

I missed him more than I cared to admit. How could I live twenty-four years without a man, and then find myself so attached to him after four months that I found it difficult to breathe when I wasn’t sure he was safe? Worry for his safety was a constant, anxious current beneath the surface of my skin. But Mason’s revelation that he knew about Joe’s secret, along with what Joe himself had said, raised it to a higher level. Everyone was ashamed of something in their past. Lord knew I had plenty of regrets. But I’d shared all my painful secrets with Joe. There was hardly any part of me he didn’t know, yet I couldn’t say the same about him.

Mason’s suggestion that Joe should have told me was nipping at my faith.

But wasn’t faith believing in something even when you didn’t have irrefutable proof? What was I doubting? Joe’s love for me? No, I was as sure of Joe’s love as I was that the sun would rise in the morning. The scary realization was that I wasn’t sure who Joe really was. It was no secret that his job was pretending to be someone else. What if Mason was right? What if the Joe I knew wasn’t really the Joe I thought I knew?

Nausea bubbled in my stomach. I needed to stop this and focus on what I
did
know. Joe loved me for all he was worth. What did it matter if something had happened in his past? The truth was, I was a totally different person before Momma’s murder, and he wasn’t holding
that
against me. I needed to give him the same trust.

After I prepared six pots, I decided to take them to the church when I went back with the guys’ lunch. But fitting them in my old Chevy Nova proved to be a challenge. There was no doubt a few of them could fit on the back seat, the question was how to fit them in the door without ripping off the blooms. I put a hand on my hip, staring at the car. I was sure this wouldn’t be the only time we had this issue, and we couldn’t count on Violet’s father-in-law to help us out every time. Especially if she was gonna start dating again.

Joe had been after me to sell the Nova for months, but it had been Daddy’s car, and I’d gotten it by default when he died my freshman year in college. Violet was already married and had a car of her own, and Momma had quit driving by then. I loved the car, despite its size and gas-guzzling ways, mostly because it had been Daddy’s and was full of happy memories. But the few times I’d driven to Little Rock to see Joe, he’d been a nervous wreck, worried the car wouldn’t make it there and home. Maybe it was time to consider getting something else. Not a sedan like Joe had been not-so-subtly implying that I should buy (he e-mailed me links to local used car lots daily), but a pickup truck. We needed one for our business anyway.

When I went inside and mentioned the idea to Violet, she rolled her eyes. “What do you know about driving a pickup?”

“What’s there to know? It drives like a car.”

She dismissed me with a wave. “It’s bigger than a car. You could run something over.”

Something rose up in my chest and overflowed into my head, filling me with an overwhelming urge to stand up for myself. “You know this isn’t the last time we’re gonna need a truck. I’ll buy one and put the business name on the side. It will be like free advertising.” The more I thought about the idea, the more I liked it, despite the fact that it would mean spending even more money on the nursery. I’d already invested so many hundreds of thousands of dollars that I couldn’t think about it without hyperventilating.

“You don’t know the first thing about buying a truck.”

“You’re buying a truck?” Mason asked, coming through the doorway at just that moment.

I turned around and smiled. After not seeing him for weeks, I’d seen plenty of him in the last couple of days. “I’m considering it.”

Violet rolled her eyes. “Mr. Deveraux, tell her what a ridiculous idea it is.”

Mason kept his eyes on me, a teasing glint in them. “I don’t know. I can see you driving a truck. A shotgun in the window for when you get into trouble.” He winked.

Violet’s eyes widened.

“Driving a truck isn’t hard. It’s just bigger and higher up,” Mason added.

“She doesn’t know the first thing about buying a car,” Violet laughed, taking a new angle. “Or a truck, as the case might be. She thinks she’s just going to waltz in there and negotiate a deal.”

Why was she trying to make me look like a fool? And why was I just now seeing what she was doing? This was far from the first time she’d pulled a stunt like this, and it had always infuriated Joe to no end. He claimed Violet was jealous of me. I’d always told him the idea was preposterous, but now I wasn’t so sure. Well, starting the nursery might have boosted Violet’s confidence, but it had boosted mine too.