You're Busting My Nuptials (Tizzy/Ridge Trilogy Book 2) (23 page)

He was right of course, Gracie
was
his daughter and death had cheated him out of being her father. But still, she needed to keep Gracie’s best interest at heart and having her deceased daddy visit couldn’t be good. Could it? Was she being selfish? The sadness in Boone’s voice cut her to the bone. She’d never given much thought to emotions of a dead person. She took a deep breath and hoped she wasn’t about to make a huge mistake. She got out of the car and marched back to Boone’s grave.

“Okay,” she said. “Here’s the deal. Agree, or I’ll find a way to stop you from visiting Gracie.” She threaded her hands through her hair and pushed the strands behind her ears.

“I loved running my fingers through your hair.”

Tizzy ignored the remark.
“Listen to me, Boone. If Gracie gets scared, or starts asking me weird questions about your appearances, you’ll stop. Understand?”

“The way it fanned out across the pillow when you slept, you looked angelic.”

“If you interfere with a decision Ridge and I make concerning Gracie, you’re out of there.”

“I miss watching you sleep. Touching you. Kissing you.”

A gentle breeze circled Tizzy. Time slowed and her vision blurred. A slight brush, almost like a feather, crossed her lips. Her hand flew to her mouth. She staggered to the nearest bench and sat down beneath a large oak tree.

“Boone? Did you just kiss me?”

“What if I did?”

Anger rose in Tizzy
’s chest and squeezed the air from her lungs. She ran her fingers across her lips. “Don’t ever do it again.” Tears burned behind her eyes, but she fought to keep them at bay.

“You’re still my wife.”

“No, I’m not.”

“You were my wife when I died, so as far as I’m concerned, you are and always will be. Do you miss me?”

Tizzy decided it was a waste of time to be angry with a dead man. But why was he dredging all this up now? She took a deep breath. “I missed you every day for almost five years. I cried myself to sleep more times than I can count. I didn’t think I’d ever love anyone again.” She softened her voice. “I may still be your wife—but you’re not my husband. Not anymore.”

She rose from the bench and faced his grave. “Don’t tell me you miss me, or love me, or you wish you could kiss or hold me. No good can come from that. Tell me you’re happy for me and agree to my terms where Gracie is concerned.”

A long silence hung in the air, which had become eerily still. Just when she decided he’d gone, he answered.

“I’m sorry. Of course, I agree.”

“Thank you.” Tizzy turned and walked away.

“Tizzy? I am happy for you.”

She heard him, but didn’t respond. When she’d driven a block from the cemetery, she parked on the side of the road and wept. A waste of time or not, Boone made her angry. She pulled herself together and drove downtown to the bar. A good stiff drink should put things in perspective.

Her dad looked up over his reading glasses when she pushed the door open. “Hey, Baby Girl. What’s going on?”

She slumped down onto a bar stool, stretched her arm across the counter, and laid her head on it. “Give me a shot of tequila.”

He folded the newspaper and laid it on the counter. “You think a shot’s gonna fix what’s bothering you?”

“I don’t know, Daddy. Just when I think my life is finally in order, somebody messes things up.”

He raised his brows. “Ridge?”

She rolled her head to one side. “Boone.”

He took his glasses off, and rested his elbows on the counter “Not the answer I expected. How has Boone messed things up? Last time I checked, he was out of the picture—permanently.”

“Earlier, I was at the cemetery and it turns out Boone thinks I’m still his wife.”

Her dad sat two glasses, a shaker of salt, and a dish of limes on the bar. “I think I’ll join you.” He poured and pushed a drink toward Tizzy.

She knocked the shot back, licked salt from the back of her hand, and sucked the lime. He did the same.

“Sounds to me like Boone wanted to remind you of what the two of you had.” He poured a couple more shots. “Just give him that and move on.”

She pushed the last drink back toward him. “You’re right, Daddy. How Boone feels about me, has nothing to do with how I feel about him.” She slid off the stool, leaned over the counter, and hugged him. “Thanks, Daddy.”

He scratched his head. “I didn’t help much. Must have been the tequila.”

“Nope, it was you,” she said over her shoulder as the door closed behind her.

Back in the car, she checked her make-up. She didn’t want the girls to know she’d been crying. Especially over Boone. Her dad was right. Boone said all those things to resurrect memories of their time together. She’d let him keep that. If she wanted to admit it or not, a little piece of her heart would always belong to him. He was her first love. Hell, he was her first everything. But the past was the past, and that’s where Boone would stay.

Back at home, she found Rayann and Synola in the office watching the security videos.

“Found anything?” Tizzy asked.

“Nope. And this is the most boring job I’ve ever had, and believe me, I’ve had some boring jobs,” Synola said.

Tizzy turned her attention to Rayann. “What about the pregnancy test?”

Rayann thinned her lips into a tight line. “We waited for you.”

“Well, go. Pee. Now.”

“I’m afraid.”

“Umm-hmmm. Of
course you are,” Synola teased.

“Alright, I need to get this over with.” Rayann jumped to her feet, grabbed the package from the desk and headed down the hall.

A few minutes later, she returned to Ridge’s office holding the test. Synola and Tizzy huddled around her, all eyes fixed on the stick.

“What are you gonna do if the result is positive?” Synola asked.

“Whataya mean?”

“I’m just saying, you have options,” Synola said.

“Abortion? You’re crazy. I’d never kill mine and Dwayne’s baby.” Rayann’s eyes stayed glued to the slim object. “How many minutes? Why isn’t the color appearing?”

“So you want the baby,” Synola stated.

“Of course, I do, if there is a baby.” Rayann tapped the test against her finger. “Is this like a watched pot never boils?”

Synola grabbed the stick. “Ah-oh.”

“What do you mean, ah-oh? Am I pregnant?”

Synola made a flourish like a fairy godmother and presented the wand to Rayann. “Nope. Not knocked up!”

Rayann threw her hands in the air, started a happy dance and sang.
I’m not pregnant. I’m not pregnant! Yay! Yay! Yay!”

Synola sat down on the edge of the desk.
“Good news!”

“Oh thank you, Jesus,” Rayann gasped and fell onto the sofa. “Do y’all have any idea how worried I’ve been?”

“Umm-hmm, since 1996 when Darius Newton talked me out of my panties after homecoming,” Synola said. “Whut? Don’t look at me like that. He was the quarterback.”

Tizzy jutted her bottom lip out. “Is Bubba going to be sad?”

Rayann shook her head and dropped the test stick in the trash can. “I didn’t tell him,”

“Why not?” Synola asked.

“Dwayne was adopted and nothing would make him happier than to have a child of his own. You know, his blood flowing through their veins, truly related by DNA. That means a lot to him. I didn’t want him to get his hopes up in case I wasn’t.”

“Well, I hoped you’ve learned a lesson from this,” Synola quipped. “You need to be careful.”

“From now on, I will.”

Synola turned to Tizzy. “How’d the meeting go with Boone?”

“I gave him some rules. But I don’t trust him. I had a thought on the way home. I’m going to put Gracie’s old baby monitor in her room to keep check on his visits. I need to remember all the things Boone did to piss me off. Joining the Marines. Sleeping with Carla Ferguson. Caring more about his sister’s feelings than mine. Gee, I already feel better. He could be a jerk sometimes.” Tizzy took a deep breath. “Let’s talk about something else. Are y’all finished with the camera footage?”

“Only one more to go,” Rayann said.

“Oh, another thing,” Tizzy said. “Nana’s coming home tomorrow and says she’s bringing a surprise for everybody.”

“I’m hoping for jewelry,” Synola said.

“Knowing Nana, jewelry is a possibility . . . or sea shells.” Tizzy laughed.

They settled on the sofa and Rayann inserted the disc. Frame by frame, they watched and when they were almost to the end, Tizzy sucked in a quick breath. “Pause right there.”

All three leaned forward narrowing their eyes as if it would help them see more clearly. “Oh—my—God!” Synola said. “Is that who I think it is?”

Tizzy lost her breath. “Yeah. Gwynn and
Ramona.”

“That little sneaky-snake!” Synola hissed.

“She totally lied to us,” Rayann said.

Tizzy shook her head in disbelief. “Let’s not jump to conclusions. Just because she picked Gwynn up, doesn’t mean she knew what was going on.”

Synola wagged a finger at Tizzy. “You know, you’re too good for your own good. You think the best of everybody and that’s a mistake. I bet her weird behavior was an act.”

“I d
on’t believe that,” Tizzy said.

“C’mon, people do bad things all the time and blame crazy.” Synola shifted her shoulders. “You break into my house and do my laundry—you’re crazy. You kidnap somebody, you’re devious and depraved.”

Rayann crossed her arms over her chest. “I’m with Tizzy on this. Ramona would do whatever Gwynn told her and not ask questions.”

“Where’s this footage from?” Tizzy asked.

“First Federal Savings and Loan. They have two discs. One of the street in front of the building and one for the side street,” Synola said, taking the list from the desk. “This one is the view of the side street where you can enter the parking lot or the drive thru section.”

“I think we should ask First Federal for their ATM video,” Tizzy said.

“She doesn’t have an account at First Federal,” Synola said.

A thought flashed in Tizzy’s mind. What would Boone think when he found out Gracie’s name was going to be legally changed? Tizzy pursed her lips. “What if she used another name?”

Rayann frowned. “Like what?”

“Like her maiden name.”

Jinx slouched in a corner booth at Burgers, Fries, and Apple Pies, when Ridge and Bubba walked in. He unzipped a pocket on his leather jacket and took out a small notebook. Unshaven, with his long hair pulled back in a ponytail, Ridge thought he looked more like a felon than a good guy.

Bubba slid in next to Jinx and Ridge sat across from them.

“I talked to the manager of the car dealership where Gwynn bought the truck. He remembered her well,” Jinx said, flipping a couple of pages in his spiral. “He says she came in alone. Wanted the cheapest one on the lot. Didn’t even want a test drive.”

Ridge made his own notes while Jinx talked. The waitress came and took their orders, then Jinx picked the conversation back up. “Get a load of this. She paid cash.”

“Sounds like she wasn’t looking for quality,” Bubba said.

Ridge nodded. “Makes me think her plans didn’t include any long distance trips.”

The waitress returned with their drinks. Jinx lifted his glass and held it in mid-air. “With tax, title and license, she got it for about four thousand. Still a lot to pay if the only thing she planned on using the truck for was to haul you to the storage building. Why not use your truck?”

Ridge closed his notes and tapped his pen on the table. “They couldn’t risk my truck being on the radar. They had to factor in a
be-on-the-lookout
order going into effect at some point.”

“Tizzy had Earl Dean issue a
BOLO
on Saturday. The coroner said Tawny was killed on Sunday, so they got rid of your truck quickly,” Bubba said.

The waitress set the burgers down and asked if they needed anything else. Ridge thanked her and sent her on her way.

Jinx shoved his notepad back into his pocket. “My guy’s digging deeper into Gwynn’s computer. He’s done with the phone and didn’t find anything new.”

A tomato dropped out of Ridge’s burger onto his French fries. He took a napkin and wrapped the bottom of the hamburger and crammed the tomato back in. “Bubba and I didn’t make any progress. We couldn’t locate Gwynn’s sister. The address Tizzy gave us wasn’t good.”

Ridge reminded himself how slow investigations moved. One discovery could make or break a case. Follow the leads, see where they go and be patient. Even hitting a dead-end might be a move forward. Sometimes process of elimination solved the crime.

“I’ve read Gwynn’s journal and found nothing. Now Tizzy’s reading the entries. Maybe she’ll pick up on something I missed.”

“Speaking of Tizzy, I wonder how the girls are doing on their assignment.” Bubba asked.