Deadly Neighbors (2 page)

Chapter Two

“Mom? I’m home.”

“In here, Marsha.”

I
dropped my purse and car keys on the marble-topped table in the foyer. The aroma of pot roast greeted me at the door of the kitchen. Lindsey glanced up from the book she read at the kitchen table, and smiled. I ran my hand along her back before going to greet my mother.

“Smells good.” I gave
Mom a one-armed hug.

“How was work?”
She leaned into me.

“Fine.
The people of River Valley, Arkansas, do love the doughnuts, cookies, and coffee. Good thing or we might be out of business.”

Mom shook her head. “Never.
They don’t come just for the doughnuts. We’re a community icon. Like the Dairy Queen, or that stuffed cow at Wanda’s Cafe.”

Not likely.
I glanced back at Lindsey. “How’d the delivery to Ms. Weiss go? She said I gave her cookies and that you entered her house uninvited.”

My daughter’s eyes narrowed. “She
only gave me a dollar for delivery and had crumbs hanging off her chin, but she didn’t get them from our bag. Gross. She looked like I woke her up. Unless she has a twin we don’t know about, she answered the door.”

“Huh. She said
the cookies made her ill. Maybe she’s thinking of the stale doughnut she ate at the store.”

“We don’t serve stale doughnuts.”
Mom lifted the Dutch oven pan and poured out the meat juices. “If she started in on cookies after a jelly-filled, it’s no wonder she got sick. You know what they say about gluttons.”

I smiled at Lindsey who rolled her eyes. “Are you coming in to help me tomorrow, Mom?”

“Most likely.” Her gaze searched mine, and her voice lowered. “How are you doing, really? I heard who just got back to town.”

I reached
in the cabinet above her head for my bag of dark chocolate M & M’s. My sure-fired feel good in the moment and be riddled with guilt later method of dealing with stress.

“The fact you’re reaching for those tells me all I need to know.” Mom turned back to her roast. “Lindsey, set the table, please.”

“He wants to get to know his niece,” I said around a mouthful of candy.

“
Don’t talk with your mouth full. The man wants to get reacquainted with you.” Mom raised her eyebrows. “Don’t tell me anything different.” She waved a wooden spoon at me. “I know there was some hanky-panky going on between the two of you. Once upon a time. Things no mother wants to know about her baby girl. If you want me to go into detail—”

“Stop please.”
I ripped the bag down the side trying to grab another handful of heaven and colorful discs scattered across the faded linoleum. “No one’s heard from him in ten years. He’s barking up the wrong tree.”

“Yep
, sure he is. You keep telling yourself that.” Mom tossed a couple of potholders onto the table, then hefted the pan. “Put the candy away, and sweep the floor, then let’s eat. You can have him over for dinner tomorrow.”

I choked on a
n M&M. “I don’t want him over.” Lindsey pounded my back on her way to the cabinet for plates.

“Uh
-huh.” Mom planted fists on ample hips. “I know my little girl. And you ain’t over that boy. Doubt you ever will be. We only get one true love in this lifetime. One soul mate, and I think Duane is it for you.”

“Mom’s got a thing for Uncle Duane?
Eww. That’s like dating your brother or something.” A wicked grin split my pretty daughter’s face as giggles erupted.

I scowled. “I do not
have a
thing
for Uncle Duane. It was during high school. Your grandmother’s insane. I’m committing her to the funny farm first thing tomorrow.” Gritting my teeth, I shot my mother a warning look.

She
flung her arms wide then pulled out her chair. “Fine. I won’t say another word.”

Not talking or giving her opinion is impossible
for my mother, despite her intentions. I doubt she could not say anything if her life depended on it.

After serving
dinner, she stabbed a piece of meat then shook her fork at me. “Mark my words, if your father were still alive . . .”

“Mother!”

“Sorry. I’ll eat now.”

Lindsey watch
ed our exchange, interested cobalt eyes glued to Mom and then to me.
Don’t say anything, don’t say anything.

Forcing my lips into what I hoped resembled a smile
and not a shark’s grimace, I transferred my attention to the food in front of me. I’d lost my appetite, and the handful of candy I’d eaten had nothing to do with it. Feelings for Duane? God, help me, but yes, I’d never gotten over the immature jerk who had ditched me after graduation and fled the state, taking my innocence, and my heart, with him.

Then, I’d rebounded into the arms of his look-alike younger brother. The result of that union sat across the table from me.
Although I hadn’t loved Robert the way I should have, I wouldn’t give up my daughter for anything. I forced myself to take a bite of food. Why had Duane taken the coaching job here? He could’ve gone anywhere. Sometimes I thought God got a perverse pleasure out of shaking up my life.

When we finished, I shoved back my chair and
stacked dirty plates on top of each other. The phone rang, and Lindsey bolted to answer it.

“Mom, it’s for you. It’s a guy!” She mumbled something. “I
think it’s Uncle Duane.”

My shoulders slumped
even as my heart rate accelerated. Lindsey handed me the phone and hovered. I placed a hand over the phone’s mouthpiece. “Go away,” I hissed.

“Why? You listen to all my phone conversations.”

“Go.” I waited until she flounced out of sight before turning to the phone call. “Hello.”

“I’m free tomorrow or the next night.
I’ll bring dessert.”

“Get right to the point, Duane.”
Nothing like inviting himself over. I leaned against the wall. “Why is it so important for you to come over here?”

“I want to make things up to you.
There’s a big hole in my life, and I think you’re the one to fill it.”

I gasped,
spun, lost my footing, and slid down the wall, landing hard on my more than sufficiently cushioned bottom. “You’re rather presumptuous.” My mom stuck her head around the corner, spotted me slumped to the floor, and shook her head before withdrawing. Amazing how one look from my mother can leave me feeling like an awkward thirteen-year-old.

“I want to get to know my niece.”

“You’ve said that. Maybe she doesn’t want to get to know you.”

“Have you asked her?”

“No.”

“Okay, then.”

“Fine.” I studied my ragged cuticles and wished for my bag of M & M’s. Here we were, thirty-years-old, listening to each other breathe over the phone like we did in high school. Not to mention our anything but mature verbal sparring.

Duane’s heavy sigh drifted across the airwaves and sent a shiver down my spine. His deep voice still melted me, despite my attempts at
standing firm against his charm. “Mars Bar, I’m a changed man. Give me a chance.”

“Tomorrow night. Five o’clock
.” Using my thigh muscles, which hated me for the effort, I pushed against the wall and got to my feet. “Don’t be late, and bring something chocolate.”

“I wouldn’t dream of
being late.”

He was about
ten years too late, but who’s counting? Why’d I cave beneath the pressure? I have no willpower. I marched into the kitchen and made a beeline for a new bag of candy-coated support.

“Well?” Mom stacked the last plate in the cabinet.

“He’ll be here for dinner tomorrow.”

“What are you making?”

“Me?” My hand with the red piece of candy paused on its journey to my lips. “It was your idea.”

“He isn’t coming to see me.”

“But I’m working.”

She hung the dishtowel over the oven rack. “I said I’d be in to help. Speaking of which, I’d better get to bed if I’ve got to get up with the birds.
I’d like to get some more of those stuffed bunnies sewed, and I found a new pattern for International Time-Out Babies.”

I popped the candy in my mouth and crunched off the outer shell before letting the chocolate melt on my tongue. Life was spiraling out of control
with the ferocity of a tornado. I’d have to head to the store tomorrow to stock up on my number one stress reliever. Especially with Duane back in town.

Lindsey leaned against the doorframe. “Why don’t you like Uncle Duane?”

“Who said I didn’t like him?”

“You did, in so many words.” She crossed one ankle over the other, her tanned legs stretched out
in front of her. Had I ever looked so young, so thin, so sure of myself? If only time stood still.

“You know me.”

“Yeah, the icebox of River Valley.” Lindsey marched past me and grabbed a soda from the refrigerator. “That’s what everyone says. The kids at school are always asking why you don’t date. You’re pretty enough, and not
that
old.”

Gee, thanks.
I opened my mouth to scold her for drinking a soda after seven o’clock. The doorbell rang, which curtailed my nagging. I glanced at Lindsey, who shrugged before she chugged from the can. I set the bag on the counter and went to answer the bell.

River Valley
’s very own Barney Fife stood on the other side of our front door, one hand on his can of mace, the other poised to knock. He glanced over his shoulder. His five-foot-five frame, and all of one hundred and thirty pounds, quivered with suppressed energy. His nose twitched above a newly grown mustache, reminding me of an anxious rodent.

I grinned and opened the door. “Bruce, what brings you here?
Is there someone following you?”

“What? No, no, you just can’t be too careful, you know
.”

“In
this town?” I held the door wider and waved him in. “When was the last time anything happened here?”

“Oh,” he dragged out the word. “We’re getting busy. What with Anderson’s sister disappearing and all. The man’s about out of his mind with worry.
Is Lindsey here?”

“Yes.” I frowned
. A pile of boulders settled in my stomach. “What’s this about, Bruce? This isn’t a casual visit, is it?”

“Afraid I’m here on business, Marsha. Can you call your daughter?”

“Lindsey!”

“I’m here.” She padded on bare feet to stand beside me. “Mr. Barnett?”

“Lindsey, did you deliver some things to Ms. Weiss today?”

“Yes, sir. About two or two-thirty.” She glanced at me for confirmation.

I nodded. “That sounds about right.”

Bruce whipped a small notebook from his pocket. “Did you happen to notice whether Ms. Weiss wore a necklace?”

“Yeah. A big, gaudy, red thing. She kept playing with it.”

“Well, it’s missing, and she says you were the last one she saw before noticing it was gone.”

Chapter Three

“Are you suggesting Lindsey had something to do with the disappearance of that necklace?”

Bruce stepped back, probably from the intensity of my glare. “A wallet disappeared from another house around the same time. I’m just asking whether Lindsey can verify where she was.”

Lindsey stepped beside me. “I stopped at my friend’s house after
going to Ms. Weiss. Maybe around three?”

Barney’s pencil scratched
across the notepad. “Were you carrying a backpack or a purse?”

“Now, wait just a minute!”
I stepped forward. “Lindsey is a minor, Bruce. You can’t just waltz in here and make accusations.”

He held up a hand to stop me. “Don’t make me get a warrant. This is for Lindsey’s protection too. Ms. Weiss is fit to be tied.
I’ve got to do something, and Lindsey was seen leaving the woman’s house.”

“Because she made a de
-li-ve-ry.” I folded my arms. “She makes them all the time. Especially during the summer.”

Lindsey yank
ed open the closet door, banging me in the side with the door handle. That’ll leave a bruise. “Sorry. Here. I carried this with me. I take it everywhere.”

Bruce t
ook the small green backpack purse covered with white polka dots and peered inside. “Don’t see anything. I don’t suppose you hid it somewhere?”

I grabbed the bag
from him. “That’s enough. You’ve known Lindsey since she was born. Unless you can prove her guilty, I’m going to have to ask you to leave.” I tossed the pack in the closet, closed the door, and held my left arm tightly to my aching side.

“Fine.” He pursed his lips. “But you’re speaking to an officer of the law here, Marsha.”

“Puh-leese!” I nodded toward the outside. “You may leave now,
Officer
.”

“No need to get pushy.
” Bruce stepped onto the porch. His eyes glittered beneath the porch light. “By the way, did you know Duane’s back in town?”

I gave him a thin-lipped smile and slammed the door hard enough to rattle a couple of picture frames.
What I really wanted to do was give him a shove down the steps, but since I didn’t relish going to jail, I thought it better to keep control.

“Am I in trouble?” Lindsey lunged at me, wrapping her arms around my waist. “I didn’t even go in her house.
Ms. Weiss met me on the porch. She was wearing the necklace when I left. I swear.”

“I’ll get
it straightened out.” I hoped. I patted her between her shoulder blades then held her at arm’s length so I could search her eyes. “We’ll get this cleared up. If you didn’t do anything wrong, you have nothing to worry about. Truth always wins out.”

“What’s going on? Who was at the door?” Mom scurried down the hall, pulling a fluorescent pink fuzzy bathro
be tight around her. Curlers sprang around her head like boils.

“Oh, Grandma!” Lindsey
threw her sobbing self into my mother’s arms. “Ms. Weiss thinks I stole her necklace.”

“Nonsense. That woman’s off her rocker. Always has been.
It’s because she puts too many toxins in her body. Can’t leave well enough alone, that one.”

I locked the door and headed to the kitchen. I needed some colorful stress reliever.
I’d gain twenty pounds at this rate. Mom and Lindsey followed with my mother cooing soothing phrases to my distraught daughter.

“Well, Barney, I mean Bruce
, was here asking questions.” Stretching on my tiptoes, I reached for my candy. Somehow, stashing them on a higher shelf didn’t do much to dissuade me from turning to chocolate during a time of crises.

After tossing a handful
of colored discs into my mouth, I turned to the other two generations of Calloway women. “We’ll just have to prove her innocent, won’t we? You know the gossip mill in this town. Another day or two, and they’ll have Lindsey robbing the Savings and Loan.”

Under the watchful eye of my mother
at Crafts from Country Heaven, I stuffed bunnies and embroidered sleepy eyes on them with black thread until life existed in a fog. Did she really think we’d sell this many rabbits in floppy hats and frilly dresses? I gazed with longing at the quilt rack. I’d never finish the Oklahoma Star pattern stretched across it if my whip-slashing-boss of a parent kept me doing mundane chores like this. What was I thinking, moving back home? And staying this long? Oh well, rent was cheap, and I had help in raising Lindsey.

I sighed and grabbed another handful of cotton batting. Robert had made barely enough money to pay bills, much less provide me and his daughter with life insurance. Then, a dark road, a drunk driver, and
I became a grown widowed daughter who’d moved back in with momma.

One glance at the counter and I groaned. Six sappy, three-foot rabbits stared at me in various shades of undress. The bell over the door jingled
, and I bolted to my feet. Relief at any form of entertainment coursed through me as Lynn strolled inside.

I
grinned and managed to take one step before tripping over the plastic bag of stuffing. In nightmarish slow motion, bunnies mobbed me, tumbling down on my head and threatening to suffocate me with their muslin cushiness.

Lynn rushed around the counter, giggling. “I don’t understand why your parents didn’t change your name to Grace years ago. Have you ever walked across the room without tripping or running into something?”

“When I do, I’ll let you know. Make yourself useless and help me pick these up.” I cast a glance over my shoulder to make sure Mom was still safely in the backroom.

Lynn lowered her voice and stooped to grasp a bunny. “Sharon is spreading
rumors all over town that Lindsey stole her necklace. Now, the woman has got Harvey thinking your daughter took his wallet.”

“Lindsey wouldn’t steal.” She may be a teenager with a smart mouth, but I knew
she wasn’t a thief.

“I know that, and you
know that, but people are going to start wondering.” Lynn stood with an armful of stuffed animal. “Where do you want these?”

“The counter.” We lined up the muslin rodent soldiers. I straightened my shoulders and folded my arms. “Why didn’t you tell me Duane was the new high school coach?”

“And physical education teacher. Don’t forget that.” Lynn smiled then got serious. “You would’ve worried all day, and for what? So the guy’s back. That shouldn’t affect you too much. And I did warn you, kind of. I told you to guard your heart. It’s been fifteen years since you married Robert, and ten years since Duane was last in town. You’ve both moved on.” She peered closely at my face. “Right?”

I shrugged. “Of course. Yes. I’ve moved on. Definitely.”

“You haven’t! Oh, Marsha.” Lynn leaned against the counter, her expression filled with pity.

“Have you seen him?” I fell back into the chair. “He’s rocking hot. Looks better than he did before he left.
Why do men do that? Age better than women? And, he’s coming to dinner tonight. Said he wants to get to know his niece.”

“Uh
-huh.” Lynn’s gaze roamed over me. “What in the world are you wearing?”

“Overalls. Why?”

“Not to dinner, you’re not.”

“Why not? They’re comfortable
, and I’m definitely not out to impress Duane.” Plus overalls hid all my bulges and imperfections.

“Keep trying to convince yourself
of that, sweetie.” Lynn patted my shoulder. “I’ve got to go. Don’t stress too much over dinner. What are you cooking?”

“Chicken with Hollandaise Sauce.”

Lynn laughed. “Yep. Cooking to impress.”

The bell over the door jingled. Stephanie Jackson’s perfume reached us before she did.
Tall, thin, immaculately dressed, every strand of dyed red hair in place, she breezed into the store like she owned it. “Good morning, ladies. I’d like to ask whether I can hang one of these fliers in the window? I’m hosting a yard sale to raise funds for the women’s ministry at River Valley Community Church. May I?” She turned before waiting on an answer.

I cringed at her exaggerated, overly-done southern drawl. Only those born and bred in the south could do it right. Imitators only sounded stupid.

“Sure. How’s the adoption going?”
Please don’t rope me into anything.

Stephanie halted for the briefest moment before she continued
, tape in hand, to the window. “Wonderfully. Should have enough money any day now. Mark and I have been saving every penny.”

“As evidenced from the new Taho
e parked outside.” I ducked my head before she spotted the smirk I was sure my lips curled into.

“Excuse me?” She turned and raised a finely tweezed eyebrow.

“Nothing. Just wishing you luck.”

Sharon pushed through the door, almost knocking into S
tephanie. I gnawed the inside of my lip. If River Valley’s self-proclaimed elite were going to congregate in my store, I wished they’d buy something.

Sharon stomped to the counter.
“What are you planning to do about my missing necklace?”

I twisted a finger in my ponytail and
wished for my bag of M&M’s. There were a lot of things I could tell her to do with her jewelry, but none of them nice. “Why should I do anything?”

“Your daughter stole it. She came to my house, let herself in, and waltzed off
with a precious heirloom. Just as pretty as you please.” Sharon’s puffy lips tried going into a straight line, instead resembling the result of a bee sting.

“There is no proof that Lindsey took anything. She said you were wearing the necklace when she delivered
your dolls.” I really needed my stress reliever. Maybe I should take up smoking.

“Goodness.” Stephanie clasped her handful of papers to her chest. “I hope little Rosalea isn’t such a handful when she gets to be a teenager. Stealing
. Imagine.” She waved. “Y’all be nice now, ya hear?”

She’d already named the baby she hoped to one day adopt? What if it
fell through or was a boy?

Lynn stepped beside me. “Sharon, until Lindsey is proven guilty you shouldn’t be making waves.”

The woman leaned across the counter and poked me in the chest with her index finger. “Watch your kid. I want my necklace back, and I’ll do whatever it takes to get it.”

My queen
-in-shining-armor emerged from the storeroom brandishing a broom. “You leave right now.” Mom’s eyes flashed. “Or, Lord help me, I’ll do something we’ll both regret.”

“Or what? You’ll rob me of the rest of my possessions? Kill me?”