Snakes Among Sweet Flowers (28 page)

She nodded and seemed to pull herself together, dabbing her eyes with a paper towel. Finally she continued. “So I am not going to let a soul speak ill of you boys, you hear? You deserve happiness like anyone else.” With that, she waved Jackson back to his seat. “Eat up, we have pie after this.”

DOTTY STAYED
for another hour or so after dinner. She seemed happy to have company, and Cam enjoyed her visit. Once she was gone, he and Jackson dropped onto the couch and sighed.

“Wow,” Cam said.

“Yeah, that was some good food,” Jackson agreed.

“Nah, I mean about her brother. I can’t even….” Cam wasn’t sure how to finish.

Jackson shook his head, seemingly lost in his own thoughts. After a few minutes, he turned to Cam. “So what happens now?”

Cam shrugged. “I guess we just keep living our lives and see what tomorrow brings.”

“I mean about me coming out or whatever.”

“Sheriff, you don’t need to make a public announcement to be out of the closet. You just have to stop caring what anyone else thinks. You ready?”

Jackson thought about that and nodded. “Yeah. I’m ready.”

CAM WOKE
up early the next morning and was downstairs scrambling eggs when Jackson came thumping down to the kitchen.

“Morning,” Jackson mumbled as he slumped into a kitchen chair. “So you don’t even use an alarm in the morning?”

“Nah.” Cam grinned over his shoulder. “The sun usually wakes me up.”

“Yeah, no chance of sleeping late in that room. Hadn’t gotten around to buying curtains or something?” Jackson scrubbed at his eyes.

“I like it that way.” Cam scooped eggs onto two plates, then topped it with a few slices of bacon. “You like to sleep late, Sheriff?”

“Sometimes.” Jackson nodded and reached to take his plate.

They each took the time to shovel in a few bites before continuing. Around some bacon, Jackson asked, “You said we should go on with our lives like normal, right?”

Cam nodded.

“Then I have church tomorrow.” Jackson sighed. “That’s going to be fun.”

Cam was pretty sure Jackson didn’t think it was going to be fun at all, and Cam had to agree with that assessment. He shrugged. “Then don’t go. I wouldn’t.”

“But I love church. It’s part of who I am.” Now Jackson looked pained, and that set a burn going in Cam’s stomach.

“Then go, Sheriff. Don’t let anyone take that from you.”

“Go with me?” Jackson looked hopeful, with big puppy eyes, and Cam cursed to himself.

“I—that’s just not my thing.”

“Please, Cam? I know you don’t believe, and I’m not trying to trick you into anything. But it would mean a lot to me.”

Cam huffed but finally nodded. “I’ll have to do some ironing, though. And I don’t have a suit or anything.”

Jackson grinned. “Yeah, no problem. Thanks, Cam.”

AFTER BREAKFAST,
Cam went out and sat in one of the rockers on the porch to call his mom. The morning was still cool, but the day looked like it had the makings of a hot one. He propped his feet against the railing and dialed his aunt’s number.

She answered on the first ring, as if she had been waiting for him to call. “Cam? Is that you?”

“Yes, ma’am. Is Mom still there with you?”

“Well, of course she is. Doug says it’s just shameful how you’ve put your mother in the middle of this and then left her here for us to take care of. And after all she’s done for you.”

Cam opened his mouth but then closed it again and took a deep breath. He had no need to explain himself to anyone. “Can you put my mother on, please?”

“Well, all right, but you should know how much this is stressing her and….”

“I get it, Aunt Mary. Can I speak to her?”

There was silence, then he heard what sounded like a sliding door opening and some mumbling. Tommasina hopped up in his lap and nudged at his hand until he scrubbed behind her ear a time or two.

Finally, his mother came on the line. “Cam?”

“Mom, hey. Listen, everything is okay now. You can turn on your phone again.”

Cam heard his mother blow out what he assumed was a huge cloud of cigarette smoke before answering. “Well, that’s good, because I’m ready to go home. They won’t even let me smoke in the house here. I’m living on their back porch so I can have my cigarettes, and Mary’s husband even complains about that. And lord, you don’t want to hear him when I ask him to run me to the store when I’m out. Makes me realize how nice it is not having your father around.” Her voice sounded like a gravel crusher, and Cam could imagine how utterly unenjoyable it would be to have his mom staying at his house. If they weren’t such assholes, he might feel bad for his aunt and uncle.

“Other than having to smoke on the porch, are you doing okay, Mom?” Cam asked.

“Well, about the same. I was worried about you. You told that man to stop calling me?”

“Yeah, Mom. He won’t be calling you anymore. I got that straightened out.” Cam rubbed his forehead. There was no need to tell her all that had happened. “You gonna go back home now?”

“Yeah, I may go today. Can you send me the gas money? I could be home in time to watch my stories tonight on the TV. You know, they don’t watch the shows I do and they get all huffy if I ask them to change the channel. And if they do let me watch, I can’t smoke, so what’s the use?”

“Yeah, Mom. I can send you money. I’ll go do that this morning.”

“Make sure you do so I have time to get home before my stories start.”

“Sure thing. You drive safe, Mom.” He hung up and stared out over his front yard.

A few minutes later, Jackson strolled out, freshly showered and dressed for the day. “Everything okay with your mom?”

“Yeah. Fine. I was just thinking how much I like it here.”

Jackson sat in a rocker and nodded. “Yeah. Country life is nice. We gonna sit and enjoy it all day?”

“Nah. I gotta go wire some money to Mom. You want to come along? We could grab some stuff for dinner tonight and I could stand to get some more supplies at the hardware store. Whatcha think, Sheriff?”

Jackson shrugged. “I got no other plans for the day. Let’s do it. Maybe we could head by Ruby’s too?”

Cam nodded. He wasn’t really ready to see that yard again, but checking on the kids was more important than that. “Yeah, definitely.” He stood and headed back inside. “Give me ten and I’ll be ready to go.”

AFTER WIRING
money, Cam and Jackson headed to the back of the grocery store to browse the selection of steaks. Cam was in the mood for a big hunk of meat. And that sounded good for dinner too. He snickered and Jackson nudged him with his elbow.

“What’s so funny?” Jackson asked.

“Just thinking about hunks of meat I want to eat.” Cam waggled his brow at Jackson to be sure he got the joke.

Jackson choked and glanced around to be sure no one was watching. “People are already giving us the stink eye. Don’t make it worse.”

Cam shrugged. “We’re just living our life and not worrying about them. Right?” Cam picked up one of the packaged steaks and poked at it. “Do you know how to pick one of these?”

As he asked, the butcher stepped up to the counter and asked, “May I help you?” His expression seemed to purposefully communicate how much he didn’t want to help them.

Cam put on his biggest smile and held up the steak he’d been poking. “I need a course in how to pick a steak.”

The butcher frowned more. “It depends on what you like.”

“Right. And I would like you to explain all those variables and what steak is best in each circumstance and how to pick just from looking.” Cam kept the smile on his face, but Jackson was fidgeting beside him.

“That would take a lot of time, but if you tell me what you like, I can pick one for you.”

“Oh, we are in no hurry. Please, explain.”

Jackson wandered off as Cam learned all there was to know about steaks.

AN HOUR
and a half later, Cam slid behind the steering wheel of the truck. Jackson was slumped in the passenger seat surfing the Internet on his phone.

“Have fun tormenting that man?” Jackson asked without looking up.

Cam placed a few bags of groceries on the seat between them and closed his door. “Oh yeah. That was a blast. The angrier that butcher got, the more I fucked with him.”

“You like to stir the shit, Cam.”

Cam canted his head to the side, then nodded. “I guess I do.” He reached to turn the ignition and froze, staring out the windshield.

Jackson looked up and followed his line of sight to discover Grant just climbing out of his car where it was parked in front of the vet office. Jackson glanced back over at Cam. “I don’t think—”

“I think I need some advice on cats.”

“Cam, come on. Let’s don’t—”

But Cam was already out of the truck again and strolling in Grant’s direction.

Cam heard Jackson slam the passenger side door and then his footsteps as he followed quickly after.

Grant glanced over his shoulder after unlocking the door to his business, his eyes widening as he caught sight of the two coming in his direction. He hurried into the shop and was nowhere to be seen when Cam made his way into the waiting area.

Regina gave them a smirk from behind her desk. “HIV testing is done at the clinic. We can’t help you here.” She flipped her hair and flounced into the back.

Cam growled, but Jackson touched his arm and murmured, “No scenes, Cam.”

Cam nodded but headed to the back where the exam rooms were. Jackson followed.

“Oh, Grant! Come out, come out wherever you are,” Cam called.

“Cam, if he calls the police….”

Suddenly a door jerked open and Grant stepped out into the hallway. “Please don’t hurt me. I didn’t do it!”

Cam and Jackson both froze in midstep. Was he telling the truth? But if it wasn’t him, then who?

Obviously seeing an opportunity to state his case, Grant went on. “Come in and sit.” He waved them into his office. “Regina, you too.” This was said with more force, and Regina soon followed them in and took a seat.

Grant’s office looked more like an upscale doctor’s than a small-town vet’s, with leather chairs and overly expensive appointments. Grant took his place behind a large teakwood desk, but he didn’t seem to be in the mood to gloat as Cam imagined he usually was. Grant slumped in his chair.

“This fucks things up for me too, you know. Who is going to hook up with me if they’re afraid I’m going to gossip about it to everyone afterward? Have you thought of how all this affects me?” There was definitely a whine in his voice, enough to make Cam roll his eyes.

“Then who—” Jackson started.

“Regina.” Grant seemed quite eager to throw his gal pal under the bus.

Cam’s mouth dropped open in shock, and he turned to glare at Regina where she sat off to the side. She didn’t appear all that penitent. Her expression was hard as she said, “My boyfriend said I should.”

Grant’s brows went up. “That creepy guy you went out with once? Now he’s your boyfriend?”

Cam was getting a weird feeling about this. “How creepy?”

Grant turned away from Regina. “Super creepy, like he was some serial killer or something.”

Cutting to the heart of the matter, Jackson asked, “Name Harold by any chance?”

Regina seemed shocked that Jackson knew him. So that was what Harold had been doing since Monday. He’d been working to destroy Cam in the town. He’d said everyone would hate him before he was done.

“How do you know him?” Regina asked.

“He murdered Junior Watson yesterday and was killed right afterward. He was in the town to hurt Cam and used you as a way to do it.” Jackson stood and turned to go. He looked tired, and Cam couldn’t much blame him for it.

“No!” Regina yelled out. She obviously hadn’t known he was dead and began weeping in her hands when it sank in.

Cam shook his head and stood too, following Jackson out. They wandered back across the parking lot, both in sort of a daze.

“I’m sorry, Sheriff,” Cam said after climbing back into the truck.

Jackson shrugged after putting on his seat belt. “That man was evil, Cam.”

“Yeah, he was.”

No doubt about it.

WHEN CAM
and Jackson arrived at Hog Mountain First Baptist Church on Sunday morning, all eyes were on them. A few people with familiar faces waved, but most just stared. Pamela Rhodes frowned when she noticed Cam was with her son, but Walter hurried over and clapped both Jackson and Cam on the back.

“Glad you showed. This’ll all pass as soon as the new scandal hits, you wait and see.” Walter led them through the crowds. He was smiling, but there was a glint in his eye telling anyone who dared to speak negatively that he wasn’t above coming to blows.

Cam glanced over at Jackson. He looked miserable, and Cam could understand it. These people had always been like family to him, and they were rejecting him just as he’d known they would. It pissed Cam off, and he would have let them all have it if Jackson hadn’t made him promise not to stir the shit while at church.
Dammit.

So instead, Cam smiled and tried to appear happy with the fact he was about to spend an hour or more of torture with a bunch of people who didn’t want him there. Since he was restricted from telling any of them off, he decided his only course of action was to kill them all with kindness.

Cam’s smile spread wide across his face, and he stepped away from Jackson to shake hands with a man who had been giving them the stink eye. “Camden Sanders,” he greeted, shaking the hand with enough liveliness to rattle the man’s brains.

“Kenneth Matthews,” the man replied and pulled back his hand as soon as possible.

Before Cam could introduce himself to anyone else, Jackson grabbed his arm and guided him toward the open doors of the church. “I said no stirring,” Jackson murmured.

“That was more shaking than stirring,” Cam quipped, but Jackson didn’t even snicker. Boy, this was going to be a hoot.