Born Innocent (14 page)

“
And now tell me, what did you and my mother decide?”

He stood up and went to look out at the night, perhaps seeking a sight of that lonely dove. Then he turned to face her. “Really,” he hedged, “it was me. Ella doesn’t like it, but she’s willing to go along because she does agree that you need some time to regroup, some time away from everything, without the pressures of running this motel.”

“
What, Joe? What’s the plan?”

“
Well...”

“
Come on. Spit it out.”

At last he did. “She’s willing to take over for you here for a few days, so that you can go out and stay at the ranch with me.”

Claire just stared. “My mother
agreed
to that?”

Through the shadows, she could see his white teeth flash in a rueful smile. “I have to admit, I made a big deal about my
guest
bedroom. And I went on and on about how you and I are friends and nothing more. Now, after what we’ve just been doing, I guess what I told her wasn’t much short of a bald-faced lie.” He was quiet. Then, “So? What do you say?”

“
Well, I—”

“
Hey, think about it. Give yourself a minute. Or even two. Just realize I promised your mother I’d call her tonight with your decision—and it’s getting pretty late.”

Claire let out a little groan of protest at his railroading tactics. But then she thought about his proposition.

She decided immediately that it held definite appeal. In her confusion and pain right after her release that afternoon, she’d thought only of getting back to her everyday life. But maybe, for right now, everyday life wasn’t what she needed.

She loved her business. However, it was a twenty-four-hour-a-day job. Maybe some time away would be good. Maybe she’d get a new perspective on her predicament in different surroundings.

Also, in the past few minutes, everything had changed between herself and Joe. After what they’d just agreed, she wouldn’t have to spend all of her time denying her longing for him—and that put a new light on things. Given that she could touch him and hold him, it would be wonderful to be alone with him.

Perhaps, she thought with rising excitement, out of this, the worst ordeal of her life, there would at least come some memories that she could cherish in the years to come.

Joe started convincing her again. “I’ve been ... cleaning things up a little at the ranch, I promise you,” he said with an eagerness that did her heart good. “It’s not the Ritz, but it’s a hell of a lot more comfortable than the last time you were there.”

She fiddled with the sheet hem a little, pleased as a girl with her first crush at having
him
be the eager one for once.

“
Well, what do you say?”

“
When would we go?”

“
Tomorrow, in the morning. Ella will come in around nine, and you and I will take off.”

“
For how long?”

“
A few days—the whole week until the grand jury hearing, if you want. Come on. It’ll be the best thing, I’m sure of it.”

She looked directly at him. “All right, Joe.”

“
Does that mean yes?”

She allowed herself a genuine, anticipatory smile. “Yes, it means yes. Let’s do it. Tomorrow morning, let’s...get away from it all.”

As he had the two previous nights, Joe slept on the couch. Surprisingly, once she’d given him his blankets and pillow and settled back into her bed, Claire found she was drowsy. She drifted off into a deep and dreamless sleep.

The next thing she knew, it was eight-thirty in the morning. Her eyes came open and she was looking at the digital display of her bedside alarm clock. She lay there, staring at it lazily for a moment, thinking that she’d just enjoyed her first decent night’s sleep in days. She felt ten years younger and ready for anything... almost anything.

And then she realized that her mother would be there at nine and she had half an hour to be packed and ready to go.

She fairly leapt from the bed. She showered in five minutes flat, and was dressed in jeans and a sleeveless shirt in ten. She’d just dragged her big suitcase out from under the bed and begun piling things into it, when the tap came at the door.

“
Come in.”

Joe pushed the door inward, and ventured a few steps into the room. He looked warily on as she tore through her drawers, tossing the chosen items halfway across the room to the bed.

She turned. “I forgot to set my alarm. Why didn’t you wake me?”

“
You needed the sleep.” He held out a mug of coffee. “I
figured you’d be ready for this about now.”

She grinned at him thankfully and paused in her frantic preparations long enough to take a few sips.

He watched her as she drank. “There’s no real hurry, you know. Your mom’s coming to stay. It won’t bother her if you’re still packing when she arrives.”

“
Now that we’re going, I don’t intend to hang around one minute longer than necessary.” Claire set the coffee on the bureau and turned to snap the suitcase shut. “There,” she said. “Now I need to make my mother a list of the things she can’t forget to do.”

“
She’s helped you out before, hasn’t she?”

“
Yes, but it’s better if it’s written down.” She dodged around Joe and went to the kitchen, where she found paper and pencil and set about writing down such things as
Pick up mail and sort daily
and
Verna in at eleven, off at five. She relieves you at desk for an hour for your lunch, any hour you prefer
...
Checkbook in flat drawer directly beneath guest register.
She glanced up at Joe, who was wiping down the kitchen counter and rinsing out the coffeepot.

“
Joe, what’s the number at the ranch?”

He told her and she wrote it on the paper. When she’d jotted down all the salient points she could think of, she hurried out to the lobby to sign a few checks in the big checkbook, in case her mother had to pay anyone before Claire returned.

She was just shoving the checkbook back in its drawer when Ella arrived, appearing on the porch and waving cheerfully at Claire through the glass top of the door. Claire went to let her in.

The minute her mother was inside the door, Ella set down her small suitcase and reached out. Claire went into her mother’s arms. Ella held her close and Claire remained compliant in the lengthy embrace.

At last, Ella pulled away and took her daughter by the shoulders. “How are you, dear?”

“
I’m okay, Mother. Honestly.”

Ella pursed her mouth. “I’m not really sure this is a wise idea.”

“
I know. Joe told me.”

“
But, well, I would like to see you have a little time to...get your bearings again, after all that’s happened. And I do want to help. Any way I can.”

“
I know. And I’m grateful.” Claire took Ella’s hand. “Come on. Let me refresh you on how the phones work, and go over the list just made out.”

When she was through going over the list, she thought of one more thing, but she hesitated to bring it up. It seemed a lot to ask.

Her mother said, “I know that look. Go ahead and ask me. I can always say no.”

“
Well, it won’t be a pleasant chore.”

“
Ask me.”

“
All right. There’s still a tape barrier around the back bungalow—the one Henson stayed in. I want to know when the sheriff’s people are going to let us get back in there.”

“
You want me to call Dan and ask for a time that the tape will be removed, is that it?”

“
Exactly. And I want you to pin him down about it. Really, reasonably, it should be soon—in the next day or two, don’t you think?”

“
I certainly do,” Ella answered staunchly. “And I’ll be glad to have a word with Dan.”

Claire hid her smile. Perhaps having such a formidable, overbearing mother had more advantages than she’d previously imagined.

Ella asked, “And once they let us in, shall I have Verna take care of it, clean it up and get it ready to rent out again?”

“
No,” Claire said. “Just lock it up, and call me.”

Ella frowned. “Claire, dear, I’m sure by the time Dan and Wayne Leven are through in there, they’ll have found out every...clue there is about who actually shot that man. They
are
the professionals, after all.”

Claire just looked at her mother. She didn’t need to say what she was thinking.
Some professionals. They’ve arrested an innocent woman.
All she said aloud was, “I mean it, Mother. I want you to leave it alone and call me right away. I want your word.”

“
Oh, honestly,” Ella groused. “All right. You have my word. I’ll lock the bungalow and call you immediately when the sheriff’s office lets us in there.”

Ten minute later, Claire and Joe were up in the cab of his pickup, waving goodbye to Ella as they pulled out of the space in front of the cottage,

They were trundling across the bridge when Claire thought about breakfast—and about her determination, made before her arrest, not to hide herself away from anyone or anything.

“
Joe?”

“
Yeah?”

“
In all the rush, I forgot to eat breakfast.”

“
Don’t worry. I haven’t got much food at the ranch, but I do have eggs and bacon. Can you last half an hour without starving?”

“
I could. But I’d rather stop and eat at Mandy’s.” They’d reached the stop sign at Main Street. A left turn would take them out of town. With his foot on the brake, Joe gave her a look. “You always did have more guts than sense.”

“
I’m going away with you, Joe. But, no matter what a rush I might be in to get out of here, I’m not
running
away. I have nothing at all to hide.”

Joe, who seemed to realize that arguing over this particular issue would be a waste of time, turned right and looked for a place to park.

Mandy’s was not the loud, bustling place it had been over the holiday weekend. At nine-thirty on a Tuesday morning, the counter was only half occupied and one or two of the booths were empty. There were few serious eaters at this time of the day. But Mandy’s was a town gathering place, so there were still plenty of people drinking coffee and discussing the latest issues of local interest.

When Claire and Joe walked in, the hush was so sudden and total, it echoed.

Claire was not surprised—it was exactly what she’d expected. She knew very well that after yesterday’s courtroom hearing,
she
was currently the main issue of local interest in Pine Bluff. She scrupulously ignored both the stares and the furtive glances as she and Joe walked the length of the room to take the same booth they’d claimed on Sunday.

Mandy, who usually took her sweet time about providing service when the place wasn’t packed, was there with a full coffeepot and an order pad almost before they sat down.

“
Good to see you, Claire.” Mandy was famous for her saturnine expression, but now she actually trotted out a smile. She turned to Joe. “Joe.”

Claire and Joe said good morning.

Mandy asked, “So what’ll you have?”

They asked for eggs and bacon and toast, and turned their cups up so Mandy could fill them. And then, as they sat sipping coffee and waiting for their food, Claire was reminded of the other reason—her hopeless love for Joe Tally being the first—that she had come back to Pine Bluff after college. She’d come back because, though people here knew way too much about each other’s business, they also stood by their own.

First, it was Brenda Tyler. Brenda clerked in the school administration office and, on Sundays, she played the organ up at the community church. She was sitting in the booth behind Claire’s, and she tapped Claire on the shoulder. Claire turned.

Brenda asked with great gentility, “How are you doing, Claire?”

“
Just fine.”

“’
Lo, Joe.”

“
Miss Tyler.”

“
Claire...” Brenda tactfully lowered her voice. “I want you to know that you are in my thoughts. You are in my
prayers. And if there is anything—anything—that I can do for you, then you just let me know.”

“
Thank you, Brenda. Thanks a lot.”

“
Stay strong,” Brenda advised, reaching a pale, veined hand over the seat of the booth to give Claire’s shoulder an awkward pat.

“
I will,” Claire promised. Brenda gave Claire’s shoulder a quick squeeze and then returned to her coffee and her crescent roll.

After Brenda came Bo Sims, who owned the local garage. He stood beside their booth, carefully clasping his own grease-stained hands together, and told her everyone was thinking of her. After that, Lolly Beals, the clerk at Pine Bluff Grocery, strolled over.