Thirty-Four and a Half Predicaments: Rose Gardner Mystery #7 (8 page)

I shrugged. “I took Neely Kate to get colored streaks in her hair. Mason thought it would be easier for her to get in and out.”

“So how’d you end up off the road, anyway?”

I told him everything, including my suspicion that someone had thought I was Mason.

“He’s not gonna like that you didn’t call him,” he said as he followed me into the house through the back kitchen door.

“I know. I’ll deal with it when I have to.” I kicked off my muddy shoes, then slipped off my coat and put it over a chair. “Coffee or hot tea?”

“Coffee if you have it.”

“Sit on down,” I said, gesturing toward the kitchen table as I headed for the coffee maker. “You’re not wrong, but I hate makin’ him worry. He had to come bail me out at the Piggly Wiggly this afternoon and I interrupted him from doing something important. He gets upset if I don’t call him, but I hate draggin’ him away from work.” I held the coffee pot under running water and turned to look at him.

He chuckled. “He’s gonna see that mud plastered all over his car. Better to tell him straight away and not look like you’re hiding anything.”

I grinned. “You’re a pretty smart guy, Bruce Wayne.”

His cheeks reddened. “I ain’t never been accused of that before.”

“Well then that just makes everyone else fools, doesn’t it?” I asked, pouring the water into the coffee maker and scooping coffee grounds into the filter. After I turned on the machine, I grabbed up a couple of plates and forks and took them to the table.

He laughed. “Ain’t you ruinin’ your dinner eating a piece of cake at nearly six o’clock?”

“Seeing as how I don’t have much else to cook, why not?” I cut a generous slice and put it on his plate. “Besides, there’s carrots in this cake. That means it’s practically a vegetable.”

He laughed.

“And I could say the same to you. What about
your
dinner?” I asked, cutting my own slice and putting it on my plate.

“Well, Maeve’s carrot cake beats canned soup any day.”

I sat down across from him and picked up my fork for a big bite of cake. “Now you sound like me after Momma died. I thought David did most of the cooking.” Bruce Wayne was living with his long-time best friend, David Moore, but David was about as reliable as a drunk surgeon.

“He hasn’t been around much.”

I lifted my gaze, suddenly worried. “Where’s he been?”

“He spends most of his time with that new girlfriend of his.”

“They’re still
together?
” According to Bruce Wayne, David had never had a girlfriend for longer than a month.

“Yeah…” He looked down at his cake and took a bite.

I got up and grabbed the coffee pot and a couple of mugs before returning to my seat. “Is he still livin’ with you?”

“His stuff’s still there and he’s payin’ his share of the rent and utilities, but it’s like I said—he’s not around much.”

“So his new job at the convenience store is workin’ out?”

“Yeah. He works the evening shift, so I hardly see him now,” he said, his voice quiet.

Bruce Wayne was lonely. I’d suspected, but this confirmed it. At least David was still helping with the bills. I wasn’t sure I could handle another financial crisis, even if it wasn’t my own. I poured our coffee and took another bite of my cake.

“Rose?” Mason’s voice called from the other room.

“In the kitchen.”

He came through the doorway and smiled when he saw who was with me. “Hi, Bruce Wayne. I saw your car out front.” He bent over and gave me a kiss. “Are we having cake for dinner?”

“It’s the appetizer,” I teased. “The main course is ice cream.”

“Then count me in.” He pulled a plate out of the cabinet and sat beside us.

It was unusual for Bruce Wayne to visit the farm at all, let alone at this time of day. I decided to take the offensive on the whole running-off-the-road incident. “Cake is Bruce Wayne’s payment for helping me get unstuck.”

“Unstuck?” Mason turned to me. “Is that why the car is all coated in mud?”

“Yeah.”

He stiffened as he put things together. “Are those tire ruts a couple miles back from you?”

My eyebrows rose. “It wasn’t as bad as it looked, Mason. I promise your car’s okay.”

“I don’t care about the car, sweetheart. I care about
you
. You damn near hit the trees. You could have been killed, Rose.”

“But I wasn’t.” I patted his arm in dismissal. “Muffy and I are just fine.”

“What happened?”

I took a breath, casting a glance to Bruce Wayne before I gave my attention to Mason. “I was on my way home when a car came up behind me goin’ too fast and passed me. But it was too close and I veered toward the shoulder. You saw the rest.”

Anger and worry filled his eyes. “Someone tried to run you off the road?”

I had to handle this just right or I’d freak him out. “No,” I said. “I think they were tryin’ to run
you
off the road.”

“What? Why?”

I told him about the note and his entire body tensed. “Why didn’t you call me?”

“I hardly had time to do anything before Deputy Miller happened to pull up. He called it in so the deputies could be on the lookout for the car. And then he filed a report.”

“Why didn’t you call me?” he asked again, sounding hurt and a tad bit angry.

“Because of how you’re reacting right now.” I waved at him. “Mason, I can’t call you about every little incident that happens. There’s just too doggone many of them, and I keep interrupting your work.”

“Someone tried to kill you! You’re more important than my damn job.”

“For all we know, it was an accident and the note was entirely unrelated.” I took a breath. “I filed a report. The deputies are looking for the car. There wasn’t anything you could do. Besides, if my hunch is right,
you’re
the one in danger. Not me.
You’re
the one who needs to take precautions.” When he scowled, I leaned over and gave him a quick kiss. “I promise to call if I’m ever in real trouble. Like almost getting arrested,” I teased, trying to ease my own fear for
his
safety, but his arm was still tense. “Look, I’m a grown woman, Mason. And if I can handle a situation without you, I’m gonna do it and tell you about it later.”

His anger faded, fear creeping in behind it. “Do you realize how close you came to hitting those trees, Rose?”

“Seeing as how I was the one driving the car, I do.”

“I don’t want to lose you.”

“I’m not goin’ anywhere. I’m fine.”

Bruce Wayne’s chair scraped against the floor. “I think I need to get goin’.” They were the first words he’d said since Mason got home, and I suddenly realized we were making him feel awkward.

I turned toward him. Bruce Wayne was lonely and I wasn’t about to send him home to his empty house with only cake in his belly. “You keep your booty in that chair. Like I told Mason, this cake is the appetizer, and it would be rude of you to leave in the middle of dinner.”

Bruce Wayne cast a glance at Mason.

Mason grinned, but I could see the anxiety in his eyes. “You heard her. You and I both know there’s no arguing with her once she’s set her mind on something.”

I stood, nodding my head. “Good. That’s settled. Now I’m gonna figure out what the main course is.”

I made buttered noodles and frozen broccoli while Mason disappeared into his office to call Joe. When he returned about ten minutes later, he and Bruce Wayne talked about our plans and preparations for RBW Landscaping. I was dying to know what he’d found out, but the worry lines around Mason’s eyes kept me from asking. Bruce Wayne seemed to sense the tension, so he left as soon as dinner was over, but he seemed to be in better spirits.

As soon as I shut the door, I spun around to confront Mason. “What did Joe say?”

“Not much. While the accident seems suspicious and the note is threatening, there’s not a whole lot he can do.”

I put my hands on my hips. “So he’s gonna do
nothing?
”

“No. They’re looking for the car and he’s going to question the driver. He’s determined to get to the bottom of it.”

I nodded. Joe and Mason might be adversaries, but I had to trust that Joe would keep Mason safe. I gave him a hug and then headed into the kitchen, Mason on my heels.

“How was your afternoon with Neely Kate?” Mason asked while we started to clean up the kitchen.

I decided there was no better time than the present to bring up one of my two pressing issues. And while I really wanted to know what he was doing with that file on Dora, the Hilary issue burned my gut more. I just needed him to verify it was nonsense before turning the conversation to Dora.

“It was interesting…”

“Why do I think there’s a lot more to that
interesting?
”

I grinned and pressed my chest to his, a dishtowel still in my hand. “Because you, Mason Deveraux, are a very smart man.”

“Why am I suddenly worried?”

“I’m sure there’s nothing for you to worry about. I just need you to clear something up.”

“What is it?”

“Neely Kate got her streaks, but as I was paying at the register, Hilary Wilder showed up.”

“Uh-oh. How’d that go?”

“She was her usual self, but her behavior inspired Neely Kate to act more like her usual self. Which is how she ended up telling Hilary off in front of the whole beauty shop.”

He chuckled. “So the outing really was good for Neely Kate.”

“It got more interesting from there.”

My tone lost some of its lightheartedness and Mason picked up on the change. “What happened?”

“Joe’s sister showed up.” I turned to face him. “She has an agenda and I don’t trust her at all, even though she keeps insinuating she wants to be friends.”

“You’ve got great intuition, so I think you should listen to it.”

“She said something about Hilary that caught me by surprise.”

He dried the pot I’d used to boil the noodles, seemingly unconcerned. “And what was that?”

I watched him closely as I said, “She said you and Hilary had history.”

His hand stopped mid-wipe. “
Kate
said that?”

“Do you?”

“How would Kate know if we had history or not? Hasn’t she been gone for over two years?”

It didn’t escape my notice that he’d evaded the question. “I don’t know how she came by the information, and frankly I don’t care about that part, Mason. I want to know if it’s true.”

He set the pot on the stove and studied me with guarded eyes. “What did Hilary say?”

Fear wormed its way into my stomach. “I’m asking
you
.”

He rubbed the back of his neck and glanced out the kitchen window before turning back to me. “I do, but probably not how you think.”

“Was it work-related?”

“No.”

Oh, God. I took a breath and forced myself to voice my greatest fear. “Did you
date?
”

“What? No!” He moved toward me and placed his hands on my shoulders. “I knew her socially.”

“What’s that mean?”

He sighed and took my hand. “I saw her at parties, fundraisers. It was while Savannah was seeing Joe. I had no idea she was Joe’s old girlfriend.”

“
So you went to parties together?
”

“Rose, no. It was nothing like that. When I was at events, I’d see her there. She always approached me, though, and she’d stay by my side for most of the night.”

I swallowed. “She’s a beautiful woman. You weren’t interested in her?”

“No.”

“Why not? Were you seeing someone else?”

“
Rose.
” He dropped my hand. “Even if I
had
dated her, I wouldn’t have been doing anything wrong. I was single at the time and had no idea about the nature of her connection with Joe. If I
had
known the whole story, I wouldn’t have given her the time of day.”

I put my hand on my hip. “So you
did
give her the time of day.”

His eyes hardened. “What exactly are you accusing me of?”

“I’m not accusing you of anything. I just want to know the truth.”

“This is starting to feel an awful lot like an interrogation.”

“Maybe if you’d told me the truth from the start, I wouldn’t be interrogating you.”

Exasperation filled his eyes, and he took several steps away before turning to face me. “I was an ADA in Little Rock, Rose. I knew a lot of people. Am I expected to give you a list of their names?”

“That’s not fair, Mason.”

“And your accusations aren’t fair, Rose. Have I ever given you any cause to not trust me?”

I clenched my fists at my sides. “You should have told me you knew Hilary Wilder.”

“What did you want me to say?” He flung his hand toward me. “‘Hey, Rose. I met Hilary Wilder in Little Rock at a fundraiser and some other events’?”

“Yes!” I shouted. “It would have been a hell of a lot better than finding out from Joe’s sister in the middle of a beauty salon.”

“She was just pumping me for information on my sister, Rose! And I goddamned gave it to her. I gave her every piece of information she needed to break up Joe and Savannah and keep them apart. Forgive me for not telling you about something I’m deeply ashamed of.”

Some of my fight faded. “Mason.”

“You want details? Fine.” He sucked in a breath, then pushed it out. “The first time I met her, she approached me at a fundraiser. Joe was there with Savannah. Joe’s father was there too. I was trying to stay as far from them as possible when Hilary walked up and handed me a drink. She made small talk and fed me a couple more drinks. She saw me looking at Joe and Savannah, which is when she told me that Joe had screwed her over. When I told her my sister was dating him, she said she was worried for her, but she left it at that and changed the subject. Like I said, I saw her several more times. She would always approach me, make small talk, and then get in some jab at Joe. Then I saw her in the lobby at a play. Savannah was supposed to go with me, but she’d cancelled at the last minute to be with Joe. Hilary told me her date had stood her up, and her tickets were better than mine, so she invited me to sit with her. We went out for drinks afterward, and about a half hour into drinks, she asked about Savannah. How she was doing. If Joe was being good to her. I didn’t suspect anything. It was just conversation, and we’d just spent a few hours together as friends, so I told her about my concerns.” He walked over to the kitchen table and stood there, looking out the back window. “I was damned clueless about what she was doing.”