Picking Up the Pieces (3 page)

I suspected Jonah was right, but Mason and I were still recovering from a few speed bumps. I didn’t want to add kindling to a smoldering fire. “I’ll wait until the time is right.”

“The longer you wait, the harder it’s going to be.”

“I’ll think about it.” I bolted for the door and opened it as Jonah reached me.

“You know I care about you, Rose,” Jonah said, wrapping me into a hug.

“I care about you too, Jonah.” I pushed up on my tiptoes to kiss him on the cheek, catching the livid stare of his secretary. “Are you really interested in Jessica?” I whispered in his ear.

His ears flushed. “Well, yeah…”

I broke from his embrace. “Jonah, what are you doing tonight?” I said loudly.

“Well…I was going to go home and watch TV.”

I turned to his secretary. “Jessica, Jonah would love to invite you to dinner, but he’s too shy to ask. Would you be interested in going out with him tonight?”

Her cheeks turned pink and she scrunched her shoulders up to her ears. “Yes.”

“Jonah, where would you like to go?”

“Uh… Jasper’s…”

I grinned. “Good choice.” Of course, it was really one of the only choices here in Henryetta. “Jessica, Jonah will pick you up at seven.”

I walked out of the office, leaving two stunned people behind. Before I got into my truck, my phone dinged with a text.

That was a Neely Kate move
, Jonah sent.

I laughed, then texted back,
I’ll take that as a compliment.

Thank you

<3

My smile quickly fell when I realized where I needed to go next.

Mason’s office.

Chapter Three

Rose

Mason’s office was bustling with activity when I walked in. His secretary glanced up at me with a flustered look. “He’s really busy, Rose.”

“That’s okay,” I said leaning to the side to take a peek through his open door.

Mason was sitting on the edge of his desk, his broken leg extended in front of him. An older man in a suit and two men in sheriff’s uniforms were in his office with him. I recognized two of the men and my heart leaped into my throat. One was the sheriff, Mervin Foster, and the other was Mason’s boss: George Hanover, Fenton County District Attorney. There was no sign of Joe, which was strange, since he was the sheriff’s second-in-command.

The four of them were deep in conversation.

Mason turned his head slightly and noticed me standing by his secretary’s desk. He held up a finger and said something to the other men before grabbing his cane and hobbling out to see me.

“Mason, you didn’t have to come out here,” I whispered.

He grabbed my arm and tugged me around a corner to a small break room. “I wanted to see you after you went to the doctor. Is he sure you’re okay?”

“I’m fine. You didn’t need to worry.”

“I love you, so that makes it my job to worry.”

I smiled up at him.

“I’m sorry, but it looks like I’ll have to be here all day. I’d much rather be with you and my mother, but we’re still dealing with the fallout from that bust yesterday.”

My heart jolted. “Oh?”

“We’re at a loss. We were hoping to arrest Skeeter Malcolm at that barn. We heard he was there, but we think he got away through a door that led to an underground tunnel.”

I quirked an eyebrow, trying to look surprised. “Oh.”

“But what’s really got us perplexed is this mystery woman who was with him.” He lowered his voice. “We’re trying to figure out who she is and where she came from.”

“You don’t say.” I forced myself to stay calm. “What does it matter?”

“Because we think Malcolm has taken over Crocker’s empire. Crocker was trying to expand his business when he was arrested. If Malcolm has outside influence, it could mean big trouble in Fenton County.”

“Oh.”

He gave me a strange look. “Are you okay?”

I took a breath to calm down. “I have some things to tell you, but not now. You need to get back to your meeting.”

He cast an anxious look down the hall. “I’m sorry, Rose.”

I gave him a quick kiss. “It’s your job and it’s an important one to boot. We’ll talk tonight. And then we can spend the day with your mom tomorrow.”

He cringed. “Sweetheart, I probably won’t be able to go now.”

I tried to hide my disappointment. “Oh. It’s okay.”

“I’m sorry.”

“I know. Like I said, your job is important. I’ll see you tonight.”

I gave him a hug and started to break away, but he tugged me back and cupped my face in his hands. “Rose, I really am sorry. I wanted to spend the day with you.”

“I know, but I have to leave now anyway. I need to check on Bruce Wayne.”

“I didn’t think you had a job today.”

I sighed. “We don’t, but we need to talk about…things.”

“Did you make your payment to the bank? That’s another component we’re working on. All the missing money just turning up. We haven’t even caught the guys who did this.”

I wished I could tell him everything now, but he had more important things to do. Like tracking down the Lady in Black and bringing me in for questioning. “I’ll tell you all about it when we have some time to talk. Come on.” I tugged on his hand. “Let’s get you back to that room full of very important Fenton County officials.”

I dropped my hold when we neared his office door and he caught me by surprise, wrapping an arm around my back and pulling me close. His mouth lowered to mine and he kissed me until my knees were weak. When he lifted his head, his eyes pleaded with mine. “Don’t give up on me, Rose.”

“I should be the one saying that,” I said, my guilt getting the better of me.

He lowered his mouth to my ear. “I’m very nearly over what happened between you and Joe last week. Stop worrying.”

At the moment, my kiss with Joe seemed like the least of my worries. I forced a smile. “Get back to work before someone sees us, Mr. Prosecutor.”

“I’ll call you later.”

“I love you, Mason.”

“I love you too.”

I went down to the first floor and found Neely Kate at her desk looking peaked.

“Neely Kate, you really need to get to the doctor,” I said, leaning against the counter.

She looked up from her papers and grinned. “I have an appointment this afternoon, thank you very much.” She got up and walked over to the counter. “How’d it go with Violet and Joe?”

“This is a conversation that will take some time. Have you been to lunch?”

“No, I was going to skip it because of my appointment, but I can go now.”

“Are you sure?”

“Please,” she said, walking over to her desk and opening a drawer to get her purse. “You know I try to get away from this place any chance I can get. Besides, Rachel is in the back.” Neely Kate leaned to the side and yelled to the back area crowded with file cabinets and shelves, “Rachel, I’m going to lunch!”

“Okay,” her coworker grumbled.

Neely Kate seemed to be the only Fenton County employee who didn’t walk around with a permanent bad attitude. Well, except for Mason, whose disposition had improved greatly after we started spending time together as friends in September.

“Merilee’s?” she asked as she slipped her arms into her coat.

“Are you sure you’re up to it?”

“Pfft.” She waved her hand as though I was talking nonsense. “Let’s go.”

We walked across the street through the snowflakes that were blowing around again.

“I didn’t realize snow was in the forecast,” Neely Kate murmured.

“Maybe it will help sell all those live Christmas trees on our lot.”

She opened the door to the restaurant and turned back to look at me. “How’d you pay for those trees? Did Skeeter give you a loan?”

“Let’s get inside and I’ll tell you.”

After we sat down and ordered, I told Neely Kate about Joe’s financial commitment to the nursery. I knew she was dying to know about what had happened at the auction, but neither one of us would dream of talking about it here. It was where everyone in the courthouse went to eat, so it was about as far from private as we could get.

“So the business is safe?” she asked.

“And then some. Joe not only paid what we owed, but also the balance of the loan.”

“Wow. What’d you say when you found out?”

“I told them both I quit.”

She gave her head a shake. “How’s that gonna work since you own at least seventy percent?”

“I don’t know. We never had a chance to sort it out. Hilary showed up and dropped a bombshell.”

Her eyebrows rose at the mention of Hilary’s name. “I’m scared to ask what that might be,” she said after a moment.

I folded my hands together on the table. “She’s pregnant.”

Her mouth formed an O. “Poor Joe.”

“I know. He was devastated. She wants to get married in a few weeks on their original wedding date. She said her mother never cancelled any of the plans.”

She puckered her mouth. “Well,
that’s
enlightening. He broke up with her, yet she didn’t cancel the fake wedding. Then she turns up when it’s only a few weeks away and claims she’s pregnant. How convenient.” She drew out the last word as thick as molasses in January.

“I think she really might be pregnant, Neely Kate. She showed Joe a paper with the lab results.”

Neely Kate didn’t look impressed. “Anyone with a computer can fake that.”

“That’s what Joe insinuated. But then she told him she made an appointment at the doctor’s office this afternoon. She’s scheduled an ultrasound so Joe can see the baby’s heartbeat.”

“Oh, dear. She can’t fake
that
.” She put her hand over mine. “How are
you
handling all of this?”

Her question caught me off guard. “Better and worse than I expected.”

She shook her head. “That makes no sense.”

“I know.” I tucked a loose strand of hair behind my ear and leaned closer, lowering my voice. “I’m upset, but it’s not because I’m jealous, although I do feel weird when I think about it. But I’m mostly upset for Joe. I just feel incredibly sad to see him linked to her in such a permanent way. I know he got himself into this situation, but I don’t want him to pay for it when the price is so high.”

“Why shouldn’t he pay for his mistake?” my friend asked, taking a sip of her water. “When has Joe Simmons ever paid for
any
of his mistakes or learned from them?”

“He paid for
many
mistakes when he lost me,” I whispered. “No matter what you think, I know for a fact it broke Joe’s heart to leave me.” I cleared my throat. “But you’re right, he still hasn’t learned. After he came back to town, he tried to get me back even though his daddy still has all his incriminating evidence on us. And as far as I could tell, he had no plans to rectify the situation. Still”—I looked up into Neely Kate’s eyes, pleading with her to understand—“I would never wish this situation on him, and most certainly not on a tiny baby.”

“You’re right. No one—especially a baby—deserves to live with that witch.”

“I asked Jonah to talk to Joe.”

“You did
what?
Joe can’t stand him.”

“Well, Jonah’s gonna try anyway. He’s all alone, Neely Kate. He needs a friend.”

“You are not responsible for Joe’s misery. I know you feel bad for him, but he needs to sort this out on his own. He’s your
ex
-boyfriend, Rose. Let it go.”

“I still care about him, Neely Kate. You know he’d be there to help me in a heartbeat. He’s already proven that with Daniel Crocker. Several times.”

“He did that to win you back.”

I shook my head. “Yes, but he would have helped me anyway.”

“You need to leave this alone, Rose,” Neely Kate hissed. “What’s Mason gonna say if he finds out you’re giving comfort to Joe Simmons? Especially after he kissed you? And not to mention you need to worry about Mason finding out about…
other things
.”

I took a deep breath, leaning close and whispering so no one else could hear. “He’s in his office right now with the DA, the sheriff, and somebody else. They’re trying to figure out the identity of the woman who was at the auction with Skeeter Malcolm.”

“Oh, crap,” Neely Kate said louder than I liked.

“Shh!” I looked around to see if anyone was paying attention to us, but thankfully most of the patrons today were holiday shoppers and not courthouse employees. “No kidding.”

“What are you going to do?” she whispered.

I grimaced with a half shrug. “Hope it all goes away…?”

Her eyes narrowed with irritation. “You need to tell Mason you were there.”

“And what’s he gonna say to
that
, Neely Kate? He would be furious.”

She leaned her forearms on the table, her face a foot from mine as she whispered, “You should have thought about that before you went to Skeeter in the first place.”

“I never expected any of
this
to happen!” I still kept my voice low. “Besides, if I were to tell Mason about my association with…Skeeter, I’d incriminate him, and I can’t do that.”

“Why on earth not?”

“Because he helped me, Neely Kate. I went to him in good faith and I can’t betray him now.”

“Then you’re good and stuck, aren’t you?”

I put my elbow on the table, resting my chin on my hand and grumbled, “So what else is new?”

After lunch, I needed to call Bruce Wayne, but there was someone I had to talk to first. Violet.

Chapter Four

Violet

I
hated
the house I’d grown up in. The day I left to marry Mike a few months after high school graduation was the happiest day of my life. Or so I thought at the time.

Only I’d gone from one form of oppression to another.

Since moving back in several weeks ago, I had spent nearly every minute cleaning the tiny nine-hundred square foot home, trying to scrub away the bad memories to no avail. Rose had redecorated most of the surfaces after Momma died, putting up fresh paint and airy curtains, but it was like slapping a designer dress on a two-bit hooker. The surface might look pretty, but the character underneath was still seedy and coarse.