Barbara McMahon – Truth Be Told (страница 6)

“Yeah, I know that feeling. Eliza’s a great cook, and she’s always asking me over, but then it’s always the two couples and me.”

“Well, if I’m here next time you’re invited, you know you won’t be the only odd man out.”

“Staying long?” he asked again. She wasn’t coming on to him, was she?

“I wasn’t sure how Maddie was. I thought she was at death’s door. So I planned a flying visit to say I’m sorry. Now they want me to stay for the fund-raiser and to tell anyone who asks that Maddie never beat me. Then for April’s wedding. Sheesh, I could end up staying more than two weeks.”

“If you’re saying Maddie didn’t do it, who did?” Sam asked.

Jo wasn’t surprised at the question. He’d want to know. Everyone else would, too. Not that they’d likely believe her. Maddie hadn’t twelve years ago, and she knew Jo better than anyone.

“I have no problem telling everyone. But I want to talk with Maddie first. I wish the authorities had believed me twelve years ago. The bastard got away with criminal assault and I’m the one who got the shaft.”

“From what I can tell about my predecessor, he had trouble finding the office every day. Not a sterling example of law enforcement. But you can set the record straight with a name.”

She laughed softly. Sam liked hearing it.

The trip to the house on Poppin Hill ended too soon. One place wasn’t far from any other in Maraville. He stopped near the front porch, still occupied by April and Jack.

“Come up for a minute,” Jo invited.

“I’ll see if Jack wants a ride home. He’s staying with me, you know.”

“I didn’t know that.”

“We go way back. When he was injured by a land mine a few months ago, in the Middle East, he came here to convalesce. Said his folks were driving him crazy.”

“Funny how a Parisian model and a world-class journalist met in Maraville, Mississippi,” Jo said. “I wondered how he got that limp.”

“Just goes to show if something is meant to be, it will be.” He tried to tell himself that whenever he thought about Patty’s death. It didn’t make things easier, but he kept hoping one day it would.

“Thanks for the lift.”

“Anytime, Detective.”

She nodded and got out of the car.

Sam stepped out and leaned on the door. “Jack, want a lift?”

“Sure. Give me a few.”

Sam watched Jo pass the couple on the porch and go into the house. He climbed back in the car and waited, trying not to watch as his friend kissed his fiancée. He remembered kissing Patty, the long, slow, hot kisses that inevitably led to making love. He envied Jack that pleasure. Patty had been dead for three years, but sometimes it felt as if she’d just stepped out of the room. Other times, he could hardly remember being married, being in love. Until the pain hit.

God, he missed his wife.

“RISE AND SHINE,” April said, coming into Jo’s room the next morning early with a steaming cup of coffee.

“Is there a fire?” Jo grumbled, and rolled over, pulling the pillow over her head.

“No, but the construction crew arrives at seven and it’s chaos after that. Sometimes there’s no water all day, so if you want a shower, you’d best get up now. Here. Take the coffee. It’ll help.”

Jo didn’t want to get up. She liked the dream she was having. But it was too late, it was gone. Just as well; she didn’t think she should be fantasizing about a man she’d just met. It probably was because of all the engaged couples she was hanging around. She sat up, leaning against the headboard. “Thanks,” she said, reaching for the coffee cup.

April sat in the chair already dressed in another floaty sundress. Makeup on, hair just so, she looked prettier than anyone else Jo knew.

“I like your clothes,” Jo said with a smile. “I guess you’re as clothes crazy as ever. Maybe more so now, given your work.”

April nodded. “And in Paris I get to see everything when it’s first designed. But my days are numbered. I’m thinking of other things I could be doing.”

“Like what?”

“We didn’t go into a lot of detail about the home Cade’s establishing last night, but one of the things we’re thinking of offering is classes for the residents, such as cooking, meal planning and fashion hints. I might find I’m back here sooner than I expect.”

“I assume Eliza is doing the cooking bit,” Jo said.

“It looks like she and Cade will settle here in Maraville. His construction company can be run from here, with him going into New Orleans when needed. Plus, there’s more and more growth in this direction. I’m sure he’ll get plenty of work. She wants to be near Maddie.”

“And you?”

“If you’d asked me a month ago, I’d have said Maraville was the last place I’d want to visit, much less live. But now I’m back, it’s kind of growing on me. My job and Jack’s prevent us from settling here when we’re married, but we’ve already discussed visiting often, and finally ending up living here when circumstances permit.”

“I’m surprised,” Jo said. And a bit nostalgic and envious, she didn’t add. She and Eliza and April had always done things together when they lived here. Now it seemed as if the other two had picked right up where they left off. Jo felt left out.

It was her own fault, she knew. But that didn’t make it any easier.

“Get up and come help me plan the logistics of the fund-raiser. We have a fashion show planned. Jack has a couple of New Orleans Saints football players coming, which has lots of people excited, why I don’t know.”

Jo laughed. April was such a girlie girl. “I’ll be right down.”

April headed for the door, turning to say, “Please don’t wear black. It’s depressing.”

“It’s all I have.”

April rolled her eyes. “We have to go shopping.”

Jo remembered how much April loved to shop. “Later. I still have to see Maddie.”

“You didn’t see her last night? I meant to ask you when you got home how things had gone, but Jack was still here and—”

“I didn’t make it in,” Jo said.

“Ran into Sam first, I bet,” April said. “He’s the one who found your phone number for us. And helped a bit when I was looking for my birth parents. I like him.”

“You still haven’t told me all the details about learning Maddie’s your grandmother and how exactly you found out,” Jo said.

“We have time. See you downstairs soon. Those workmen are prompt.”

ELIZA HAD BREAKFAST ready when Jo arrived in the kitchen.

“Sit, eat,” she said, dishing up eggs, grits and bacon.

“I’ve gained five pounds since I’ve been here,” April said, pouring another cup of coffee. “But I never say no.”

“When we finish, we’ll all go see Maddie,” Eliza said firmly, pulling out a chair and sitting with her own plate.

“I can go on my own,” Jo said.

“Maybe, but you’re not,” she said. “We’ve decided.”

“Bossy.”

Eliza grinned. “You better believe it. But after that, you’re April’s slave for the day. She has to figure out where she wants everything so Cade’s crew can build the runway for the models.”

“And,” April added, “we also need a changing area and makeup area, and then the chairs and all for the paying customers.”

“We have a huge awning ordered that we’ll use to keep the sun off the models,” Eliza said. “It’s going to be a big undertaking. Cops are good for crowd control, so you can make yourself useful.”

Jo swallowed hard. “It’s good to be back,” she said.

BY NINE, THEY HAD cleaned up the kitchen. April insisted Jo drive them so she could ride through town in a flashy convertible. Eliza then insisted on sitting in the front, to allow April royal status in the back.

When they set off down the driveway, Eliza turned back to April. “Aren’t you going to wave like the queen does?”