Mustard on Top (9 page)
Authors: Wanda Degolier
What did winking convey? Red flags billowed in her mind. She shouldn’t allow him in, but she was curious. “Uh…”
Moe smiled. Hit men did not have perfectly straight teeth, Agatha told herself.
“Just for a minute,” Moe said.
“Uh…” Agatha ran through her mental checklist. Killers were either bald or hairy or both and Moe had the perfect amount of gray-streaked, black hair.
“I’d like to discuss something in private.”
Usually decisive, Moe’s presence seemed to scramble her neural pathways. “Okay.” She scooted aside giving him room to pass.
He smelled of spicy tobacco, and Agatha was taken back to a time before children. She and Alfred had both enjoyed smoking until they learned it caused cancer and quit.
“You’ve a lovely house,” Mr. Moe said.
“Mr. Moe?”
He turned and gave her another broad smile. “Call me Moe.”
Agatha caught herself grinning back. “Moe. Would you mind taking your shoes off?” She pointed to where he’d tracked in dirt.
Moe looked down at the floor and jumped as if he’d been bitten by a snake. “Sorry.” He stepped onto the mat and took off the polished, wing-tipped shoes revealing black dress socks. “Okay now?” he asked.
“Better. Why don’t you have a seat in the living room while I put the flowers in some water.” Moe glanced around casually before sitting in one of Agatha’s wingback chairs. In the kitchen, Jeremy’s half-eaten breakfast sat on table, and remembering his plum-colored ribs, Agatha was hit with a bout of anxiety. What if Moe did intend to kill Jeremy or her?
She opened the cabinet and chose a colossal vase of engraved crystal, a gift from her late husband. Alfred hadn’t intended for the vase to be a weapon, but it was big enough to knock an elephant cold.
After filling it with water, she dropped the sunflowers inside and returned to find Moe examining at her family pictures on the mantel. Moe caught her eye in the mirror above the fireplace and grinned. “That’s a huge vase.”
“They’re big sunflowers.” Her arms strained from the weight.
“Did you cut the stems? They’ll last longer.” Moe reached in his pocket and pulled out a shiny, oblong object.
“No, I’ll—” There was a solid ‘chink’ and a knife appeared. Fear froze the words in Agatha’s throat. Perhaps he intended to hurt her as a message to Jeremy.
Agatha was contemplating her next move, when Moe plucked one of the flowers out of the vase and sliced two inches off the stem.
“See.” He showed the severed stem to Agatha. “You cut it at an angle to keep the flower alive the longest. It’s best to slice them under running water with a sharp knife. The sharper the better.” He plunged the sunflower back into the vase and retrieved another.
Agatha stood motionless and hoped her fear wasn’t obvious. Sweat pooled in her armpits and trickled down her rib cage. After plunking the last flower back in the vase, Moe bent down to pick up the discarded stems. Wild thoughts of him stabbing her infiltrated her mind. Seizing the moment, Agatha crashed the vase down on the back of his skull. Water sloshed onto his jacket and the floor.
“What’d you do that for?” Moe straightened up and rubbed the back of his head.
“I…I…I’m sorry. I…I…I thought you were trying to kill me.”
Moe’s brows drew together, and his mouth tightened. “If I was trying to kill you, you’d be dead,” he said flatly.
“Oh, yes. I’m sure you’re right,” she stammered.
Moe massaged his head as he sat down on her antique settee. “Can we talk now?”
Heat radiated off Agatha’s cheeks. “Of course.” Although she loathed leaving water on the floor, she set the flowers at the foot of her chair and sat opposite him.
Moe began. “You’re probably aware Jeremy doesn’t make the best decisions.”
Agatha braced herself. “I am.”
“In fact, he owes me quite a bit of money.”
“I’m sorry to hear that. The economy is tough right now; people are defaulting on loans all over the country. It’s a travesty.” Agatha knew she was babbling but it calmed her nerves. “Perhaps you have some type of indemnity insurance to cover this sort of thing?”
Astonishment crossed Moe’s face. “Not exactly what I had in mind.”
“Someone in your line of work should have that.”
“Right.”
“Would you like some tea?” Agatha asked.
“Uh.”
Moe seemed dumbfounded. Better him dumfounded than her, Agatha decided. “Earl Grey or chamomile?”
Moe rose from his chair. “Agatha. Jeremy’s loan is due. I need to collect payment or—”
Agatha clasped her hands in front of her and pleaded, “Please don’t report this to the credit agencies. Jeremy will never be able to apply for a loan again. Let me talk to him. Maybe we can work out some kind of payment plan. He’s out looking for a job as we speak.”
Moe pursed his lips and stared at her as if she were a science experiment. “You two talk. I’ll be back tonight.”
“We have plans tonight. Out-of-state relatives.” She smiled through her lie. “Tomorrow evening, perhaps?”
Moe cleared his throat. “All right. Tomorrow evening.”
“Thank you for your patience.” Agatha stood and walked to the door. “The flowers are lovely.”
*****
“Ben?” Theo’s muffled voice sounded concerned.
“Yes?” Ben leaned over the Corvette’s engine. A spotlight to his left created a cascade of sparkling reflections. Beneath the car, Theo lay on a creeper. Ben spied bits of his son through gaps in the engine. A wrench appeared next to the air filter.
“Why don’t you ask Mom out?” Theo asked.
Ben coughed. The question took him by surprise. Helen was beautiful, smart, loyal, kind, loving, genuine, and creative. She’d be a wonderful partner; she deserved better than him.
The wrench disappeared and Theo repositioned himself. His face appeared between the intake manifold and the radiator. He wanted an answer.
“I’m leaving in a few days.”
“Right.” Theo sounded disappointed.
Ben agreed. He didn’t’ want to go home. He’d already wrangling for additional time off, but hadn’t been able to get his caseload covered.
“I wonder if she’s been waiting for you all these years.”
Morbid curiosity struck Ben. “Why would you say that?”
“She never dates.”
Ben swallowed. Guilt weighed heavy in his chest. “I’m sorry to hear that.”
“Maybe she believed you’d come back.”
The ache in Ben’s chest grew worse. Theo had obviously assumed he and Helen had been a couple when he’d ‘disappeared.’ “A lot of single parents don’t want to introduce different people to their kids,” he offered. He wondered if Theo remembered Helen’s husband and tried to recall if she’d given him a timeline. Maybe Theo had simply been too young.
“She should date,” Theo said.
Ben hadn’t spent much time around teenagers, but he thought Theo possessed emotional maturity. At least Theo was more mature than Ben had been at the same age.
“What’s going on between your mom and Seth?” The idea of Helen and Seth together gave Ben a sour stomach, but Seth had alluded to their having a relationship more than once. Ben didn’t like the way Seth’s gaze followed Helen around while she was working.
“Seth’s got a few loose wires. My mom’s too level headed for that.”
“Why does she let him hang around Hot Diggitys all the time?”
“She’s just nice.”
Ben envisioned the tanned, muscular actor. He hoped Helen wasn’t interested. “When are they going skydiving?”
“After the bet. I think it would be kind of cool if you two got together. I feel the vibes between you.”
Again, Ben coughed. He didn’t want to confirm Theo’s feelings nor dash his hopes. “The truth is, any man would be lucky to be with your mother.”
“She deserves someone good.” Theo rolled from under the car. “Let’s try starting this baby up?”
Ben lowered the hood as Theo slid into the driver’s seat. A twist of Theo’s wrist and the V-8 engine roared to life.
Theo’s whoop echoed in the garage. “We did it, Dad, we did it!”
Dad.
Theo had called him Dad. Ben wanted to jump for joy.
The garage door swung open, and Helen stepped inside. “Matty is running?”
Theo whooped.
The huge smile on her face tugged at Ben’s overflowing heart, he caught Helen up in his arms and spun. They smiled at each other and it happened, he kissed her, right there in front of Theo. More surprisingly, she kissed him back. The kiss was more than friendly, but less than lovers.
Laughing, Helen leaned back in his arms and looked into his face. “You’re awfully boisterous.”
“He called me Dad,” Ben whispered.
“Congratulations. Now let me go!” Helen squirmed, but her eyes radiated warmth.
Against his will, Ben set Helen free. After holding her in his arms and kissing her, he wanted more.
****
Two days marched by. Between home repairs, school, and Hot Diggitys, Helen scarcely had time to breathe. One area of her world had brightened however; Ben seemed to be having a positive effect on Theo. Helen had even overheard them talking about college.
Helen returned home after a chemistry lab and pulled to a stop in front of her house. The familiar thwack of Ben’s hammer reverberated, and Helen scanned her roof, but didn’t see Ben. The contrast between the worn shingles, mottled with moss, and the sparkly new shingles was startling. The hammering stopped, and Ben’s head poked above the roofline while he gathered several shingles.
Every time Helen saw Ben, his joyous outburst upon hearing Theo call him Dad replayed in her mind. So did the memory of Ben’s strong arms as he lifted her off the floor and swung her in a circle before kissing her. A reluctant smile formed on Helen’s lips as she climbed from the car.
The afternoon was cloudless, and Helen tilted her face to the sky, basking in the sunshine. The smack of Ben’s hammer broke her reverie. Guilt nagged at her. She’d done little to bring about her home improvements. She’d started up her path when Ben called, “Hello.”
Perched on the peak of the roof, he was framed by blue skies. A broad smile lit his face, and against her will, a tingle of excitement ran up Helen’s spine.
“I’m in the mood for Mexican food tonight. Want to go out for dinner later?” she asked. “My treat.”
“Sure, but I get to pay,” Ben said.
“I pay or you’re uninvited.”
“If those are my only choices, I’ll go. Thank you.” Ben pushed the hammer into his tool belt and scooted toward the ladder. “Have you talked to Humphrey?” Ben referred to the victim of the hot-dog-Seth incident. Despite advising Helen not visit Humphrey without an attorney present, she had. Frequently. Ben came down the ladder.
“Actually I did. He’s not going to press charges.” Helen waited as Ben stepped off the bottom rung. Humphrey had twelve stitches: four from the hot dog, eight from Seth.
“Press charges? You mean against Seth?”
“No charges against anyone.”
“What were his exact words?”
Clearly, Ben wanted to judge Humphrey’s words for himself. The fact he didn’t trust her to interpret the man, annoyed her. “I don’t recall.”
“You realize he can’t press charges against you. You didn’t break any laws, but he can sue you in civil court.”
“That’s a comforting thought, but he’s not suing me or pressing charges or anything.”
Ben squinted at her, the skepticism apparent on his face. “How’d you get him to agree to that?”
Helen shrugged. “Not everyone sues every time something goes wrong you know.”
“Seth beat him to a bloody pulp. He deserves to be charged. What did Humphrey say that made you think he didn’t intend to charge Seth?”
Helen frowned. ”He said he planned to ‘let bygones be bygones.’ He’s new in town and said he doesn’t want to make enemies. To be honest, I think Seth scares him, and he’d rather wash his hands of the whole mess.”
“Now that I can believe.”
“I offered him a lifetime supply of hot dogs to make up for the mishap.”
“And he agreed to that?”
“Agreed to what?” Ben’s questions grated on her nerves. “We didn’t strike a deal. I’m giving them to him because my hot dog sliced his head open, not to get out of a lawsuit.”
“That’s like an admission of guilt.” Ben’s features pinched.
“I am guilty. Jeez, Ben. You want me to act like Hot Diggitys had nothing to do with his injuries? That would be lying.”
Ben clenched his jaw then exhaled. “You’re right, you’re right. I live in a different world, but I wish Humphrey stand up to Seth.”
“I’m pretty sure Seth thought he was protecting me. I’m guessing he thought Humphrey threw me down, when all he did was trip.”
“That’s no excuse.”
“I agree.”
Ben features darkened. “Have you talked to Seth?”
“He hasn’t been back to Hot Diggitys since the incident.”
“He hasn’t called you or anything?”
Ben’s tone sounded concerned, but the edginess, made her wonder if Ben wasn’t jealous. “No.”
Ben nodded then smiled as if a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. “By the way, Agatha’s car was towed back to her house today. I thought you’d want to know.”
Worry pricked Helen’s senses as she glanced toward Agatha’s property. Agatha’s pink Mercedes, usually parked in the garage, was at the curb. “Do you know if she’s okay?”
“I’ve seen her and she seems fine,” Ben added.
“I’m going to go talk to her.”
“I’ll keep working. Can you wait until it’s dark for dinner? I don’t want to waste the sunlight.”
“Sure.” As Helen walked toward Agatha’s house, she felt Ben watching her. Self-conscious, she turned and found him standing where she’d left him. “Bye.”
Ben held up a hand, pivoted on his heel, and headed for the ladder.
Helen circled the pink Mercedes. The front grill was dented in the center and the hood crumpled. The Mercedes hood ornament teetered sideways. Her concern growing, Helen realized she hadn’t spoken with her neighbor the last few days. She walked to the door and knocked. Agatha opened the door and stuck her head out. “Hello Helen. What can I do for you?”
Normally, Agatha invited Helen in and accosted her with business advice. “Is everything okay?”
“Sure.” Agatha sounded chipper.