Pecan Pie and Deadly Lies (An Adams Grove Novel) (21 page)

Cody’s mom pushed a spoon into the ice cream and handed Jake the first bowl. “Here you go, sweetie.”

“Thank you, ma’am,” Jake said.

Once everyone was served they went out on the patio and sat under the huge umbrella with twinkle lights by the pool that sparkled with flickers of turquoise and orange from the tile along the side.

“What’s that light over there?” Jake asked, pointing down the hill.

“That’s my barn,” Cody’s mom answered.

“Do you have goats?”

“Just one old nanny goat. Mostly we have horses.”

“My dad was a goat farmer, but I like horses too.”

Cody took another bite of his ice cream. “When you finish I’ll take you down there if you want.”

“I’m almost done.” Jake seemed to speed up in anticipation of the field trip.

“Don’t eat it too fast,” Cody warned. “You’ll get a brain freeze. Those hurt.”

Jake nodded. “I did that once.”

“Me too.”

Cody’s mom put her spoon down. “Cody, I almost forgot to tell you.” She leaned toward Kasey. “I swear I’d forget my way home if my car didn’t know the way.” She waved a hand in the air. “Anyway, I was down at the pharmacy and I ran into Julie Murphy. Of course, she’d heard all about that mess with Arty Max, and she said that they probably broke some laws talking to you like they did without your lawyer. That’ll probably ruin any case they may try to build against you. Of course, I told her you were innocent so it didn’t matter. Besides, as much as you pay those lawyers of yours they probably know to check all that stuff.”

Kasey felt awkward listening to her talk like this community of people thought money could fix anything. Maybe it could, but that wasn’t comforting. It was kind of a rude awakening, too, not to mention a cruel reminder of the awful circumstances that had brought her here to support Cody.
Someone had died, after all. Even Arty Max didn’t deserve to die at the hand of another.

Cody looked embarrassed by his mother’s comments. “The police will figure out what happened, then we can all move on.”

“Well, I just hope it’s soon.”

Cody’s mom turned her attention to Kasey. “I’ll be going into town tomorrow afternoon, so take a look around the kitchen in the morning and see if there’s anything y’all’d like and I’ll pick it up for you.”

“Oh, I’m sure whatever Cody has is fine. We’re pretty flexible.”

“Don’t be all polite. You’ll have more fun if you just go ahead and act like you belong.”

Cody licked the last of his ice cream from the spoon. “I guess maybe I ought to have mentioned that Momma kind of spits out whatever is on her mind without thinking about how it sounds. She’s got no filter. She means well, but…” He leaned across the table and whispered loud enough for them all to hear him. “It’s from limiting her audience to horses.”

“Oh you, stop that.” Denise smacked him with her napkin. “I’m just trying to make her feel welcome.”

“He’s doing a pretty good job of that already,” Kasey said.

“See.” Cody sat straight, and smiled his perfect smile. “You raised me right.”

“Good to know it stuck.” Cody’s mom gave Jake a wink. “What do you think of this guy?”

Jake pointed at Cody. “Him?”

“Yes.”

“Is he your little boy? Like I’m Mom’s?”

“Yes, he is.”

Jake looked as if he was sizing Cody up. “I thought you were a grandma.”

Kasey cringed, and mouthed
sorry.

“Not yet, but someday I hope I will be lucky enough to have a grandson or granddaughter.”

“Me and Mom like Cody. He makes Mom smile. I like that.”

Kasey wanted to crawl right under the table. It was true, but still.

Cody must have seen the look on her face because he came to the rescue. “Come on, Jake. Let me take you down to the barn.”

Jake leaped from his chair and they jogged down the slope.

Kasey felt her heart skip a beat, and then do one more flip when Jake reached up and took Cody’s hand and they moved out of sight.

Denise leaned forward and put her hand on Kasey’s. “I know all about what happened. Cody kept me in the loop on all of that. You’ve had quite a time the last year or so, young lady.”

“Yes, ma’am, I have, but it’s okay. We’re doing well.”

“I’m so glad to hear that.”

“So, Mrs. Tuggle, what—”

The woman laughed a loud, raucous laugh. “There is no Mrs. Tuggle. Just call me Denise. Tuggle is his stage name.”

“His? Oh. I never knew. I’m sorry. I just assumed—”

“No worries. Our last name is Hill. I’m Denise Hill.”

Now she felt like an idiot. Not only had she taken a famous singer up on his offer to drop everything and fly on his jet to stay in his mansion on a whim, but she didn’t even know his name? “Please tell me his first name is at least Cody.”

“Yes. His name is Cody.”

Thank God.
“How did he come up with the name Cody Tuggle?”

“That’s actually a pretty funny story,” Denise said. “His full name is Cody Allan Hill. I named him after Cody and Buffalo Bill’s Wild West show. I’ve always had a love for that stuff since I was a little girl. His middle name, Allan, was after my favorite singer, David Allan Coe. Who knew he’d end up even more famous than the guy I named him after?”

“Cody Allan Hill.”
Kasey Hill. Stop that.
“So, when did the Cody Tuggle stuff come in?”

“It was early in his career and he’d gotten some pretty good attention but when Arty Max signed him, he thought Cody needed an image. A brand. A lot of the big singers have just used their first and middle names as their stage name, but Arty didn’t like the sound of Cody Allan any better than Cody Hill, although
Hill
hasn’t seemed to hold ol’ Faith Hill back any.”

There’s that filter-free talk. I’m going to like this lady.

“Arty thought Cody needed something more rugged. So Cody was trying to come up with something and we were brainstorming. We were sitting at my kitchen table, in fact. I remember it clear as day. We’d gone through a bunch of names and he’d scratched out most of them, or Arty had said they weren’t country enough. So Cody says to me, ‘Mom, I need a real country last name.’ And I tried to
think of really country names. First I thought Hatfields, McCoys, and then I thought of the character on the soaps that was more redneck than country and threw out the name Tuggle.”

“Arty liked it?”

“He loved it. He’d have died if he knew where I came up with it. I didn’t tell Cody for years. He knows now, of course.”

“What’s the scoop?”

“The most country, rough-around-the-edges guy I’d ever seen at that point in my life was Billy Clyde Tuggle from
All My Children
. He was this no-good hick of a man who had a way of making pond scum look pleasant. A true villain. Somehow that name, Tuggle, had the right ring to it. People sure don’t forget it.”

“That’s a funny story. I love it.”

“I bet no one else even knows that story. I’ve never told anyone else… until now.”

“Thanks for sharing it with me. I’ll keep it to myself.” She liked the instant connection she felt with Denise. She was good people. “So Hillcrest, the name of the estate, it’s a play on the family name.”

“Yes. Cody said he felt like when he bought this place it proved he’d reached heights he’d never even dreamed of. Hill. Crest.”

The pride showed in his mother’s face. “My boy has had his troubles, but he’s paid his dues. I’m proud of him.”

“I have to ask: How do you handle all the gossip? As a mother, if people spread those kinds of stories about my son I would come unglued.”

“It was harder in the beginning. I used to get madder than an old wet hen. Mostly because I knew it bothered him
too, but you know, at the end of the day both of us had to learn that it doesn’t matter what people think. Besides, me getting all bent out of shape wasn’t hurting anyone but me. I swear I was driving myself crazy trying to buy up all the local copies just to keep my friends from reading them, and that didn’t work, by the way.”

Kasey could picture Denise running from store to store in a trench coat with a scarf over her head carrying stacks of the rags, and burning them in a barrel out back.

“The people who matter know the truth. Like you. You knew what was true and not true pretty quickly, didn’t you?”

“Well, yeah. I did. By the second day of the photo shoot I had a pretty good feel for who Cody Tuggle was, and it wasn’t the promiscuous, wild-party guy they’d portrayed.”

“Don’t put a halo on the boy’s head. He’s had his moments, trust me. I’m sure he’s not proud of all of them, but he’s been in the spotlight for a long time. I’ve gotten used to it, and he’s learned to manage it pretty well too. Anything that’s important I’ll hear from Cody directly.”

She nodded. “I guess it comes with the territory.”

“A price to pay for fame. It’s not enough he gives his whole life to music and his fans, but he has to give up his privacy too. It’s not always easy.”

“He seems to have adapted well.”
I’m not sure I could live in that fish bowl.

“You might be surprised what concessions you could make. To do what you love, or be with the one you love—it’s all the same. I’m a little worried about all this mess with Arty, though. I never did trust that man. I’m not even surprised somebody offed him. I’m sure he was asking for it.”

Cody wasn’t kidding about no filter. Denise sure hadn’t lost any sleep over Arty’s murder.
Kasey didn’t know if Cody had confided in his mother what all had happened with Lou and Arty so she made careful conversation. “I guess it takes all kinds.”

Kasey heard the sound of Jake’s laughter getting closer. Cody came galloping up the sidewalk with Jake on his back. “We’re back.”

“We’re baaaa-aaaack.” Jake’s face was red and his laughter a bouncing gulp with each of Cody’s bouncing steps.

“Someone has a case of the giggles,” Kasey said.

“Put me down,” Jake said.

Cody pivoted and lined up with a chair. “Let go.”

Jake dropped to the chair. “That was fun. Thanks.”

“It was fun for me too. Not a bad workout either.”

“Good thing you came back with my son,” Kasey said, trying to sound a little miffed. “You are not the man I thought you were.”

Cody flashed a look over at his mom. “What?”

“Cody
Allan Hill
?”

“Oh, that,” Cody said. “I don’t even think about it anymore.”

“Yeah, that. I didn’t even know your name.”

He dropped into the chair next to her. “You can just call me darlin’. Then it won’t matter.”

“You’re supposed to call
me
darlin’,” she said.

“I think I will.” He stood up. “Darlin’, are you two ready to go back up to the house and call it a night?”

“Yes,” Jake said.

“I guess that’s my cue.” Kasey stood up. “Denise, thank you so much for having us. It was a real delight getting to
know you. I hope we’ll get some more time together while I’m here.”

“Count on it. I’d like that a lot. If I’m not here in the house, then I’m down at the barn.” She reached over and held Kasey’s hand. “I really enjoyed getting to know you too.”

Denise gave Cody a wink and a nod, and Kasey wondered what the silent conversation meant between them.

It seemed like the ride back was so short they could’ve walked it, but Jake was already drowsy-eyed. It had been a busy day for her boy.

“Come on, Jake. You need to take a swim in the tub before bed. Run along upstairs. I’ll be there in a minute.”

“Yes, ma’am.” The words slurred out like he was already half-asleep but he didn’t argue.

Cody locked the front door behind them. “I’ll let Shutterbug in and then I’m going to be down here in my office. If you want company, come join me.”

“I might after I tuck this little guy in.”

“I had a fun day. Thanks for being here. For taking my mind off of… everything.” He placed his hand on her hip.

“It was a good day.” It was a positive step forward for her. “Jake had a great time too.”

He ran his hand up her arm. “I like having you around.”

Nervous energy flooded her airway. Jake called out for her. “I’ve got to get him in the tub.”

He kissed her lightly on the neck.

She pulled her shoulder against his cheek with a shiver.

“I’ll be up for a while.”

She glanced up the stairs. “I’d better… go.” She felt his eyes on her all the way up the stairs. When she turned at the top of the landing he was still watching, and smiling. She
waved and then headed for the bathroom. Her sleepy little angel had gotten a second wind when he saw the size of the jetted tub. She got him set and then let him splash and play while she read in the adjoining room.

“I’m pruney,” Jake called from the bathroom.

“Hi, Pruney. I’m Mom. May I help you?” Kasey grabbed a giant towel and wrapped Jake up in it as he got out of the tub. “You smell yummy.” She kissed his neck until he giggled. “I love you.”

“I love you ten and five.”

“Good. I like that in a guy.” She pulled the plug on the tub and Jake streaked back to his bedroom and put on his pajamas. She’d just finished wiping everything down in the bathroom when Jake came back in the room with Shutterbug at his heels.

“I think I’m more tired than bedtime sleepy tonight.” He reached his arms up for a hug.

“I’m pretty pooped out too. It’s been a busy day. Come on, I’ll tuck you in.”

Even with all the lights turned off, the room was easy to navigate. Not only were there night-lights at every receptacle and switch, but there was also a band of glowing LED that ran along the top and bottom of each wall, kind of like theater lighting.

Jake knelt beside the bed and said his prayers and tonight he included Tori, Gibson, Rose, and Cody’s mom too.

“You’re a good and thoughtful boy,” she said as she tucked him in for the night. “I’m going to leave the door open in case you need me.”

“I won’t. I’m a big boy.”

“Alrighty, then. Sleep tight.”

She walked out onto the balcony and leaned over the rail. The night sky was filled with stars. Part of her wanted to go down and see what Cody was up to. They’d barely been alone all day, but it had been a good day. The reminder of the tingle that his touch sent up her arm when they were downstairs made her smile. He was probably still awake, but she was afraid to risk ruining the perfect day.