Fool's Gold (A sexy funny mystery/romance, Cottonmouth Book 2) (41 page)

“Everybody. Why am I the last to know?”

“I didn’t want you to know at all.”

“Maggie, honey, what are you talking about?”
Enid Braxton put her arm around her daughter. Simone touched
Maggie’s arm.

“Tell them about the gold, Elwood,” Maggie
insisted.

“The chickens told you, didn’t they?”

Maggie lifted her chin, keeping her
secret.

Until Chloe suddenly shoved through the
crowd. “I told her. She’s got a right to know, Elwood. Best coming
from a friend.”

His face fell in a hangdog expression. “I
didn’t want to upset you, Maggie.” Teesdale’s attitude was
contradictory in view of the fact that back in his office he’d told
Brax that Maggie was strong enough to handle the truth. Guess it
just depended on who was the bearer of bad news.

All the bluster and anger dropped away from
Maggie’s face. “I know you worried, Elwood. You thought I’d break
down and say that everything was a waste, a mistake, then I’d put a
pillow over my face and try to suffocate myself.”

“Well, not quite that.”

“I’ll be okay.” She tugged on his arm. “Tell
them, Elwood.”

Teesdale looked at her, his lips pressed
together, then he raised his voice. “Went back and looked at that
gold. No claim was filed, but it was Maggie’s no matter what anyone
said.”

“And?” Maggie pushed.

“It wasn’t gold, sweetheart. It wasn’t gold
at all.”

Simone gripped Brax’s arm. Squeezed. She knew
as well as he did what was about to come. Brax put his arm out to
catch Maggie if she fell.

“What was it, Elwood?”

“Aw, Maggie, you know it was Fool’s
Gold.”

She rubbed her lips together, then suddenly
looked to Brax, a shimmer in her eyes. “It wasn’t Fool’s Gold. It
was Carl’s gold. And he got it for me.” Her lip trembled.

Brax tugged her closer, into the circle of
his arms that included Simone and his mother. His family. “Yeah,
honey, he got it for you because he loved you. The man was no
fool.”

The place erupted around them. Hoots and
hollers and shouts and cheers. Like something you’d hear at The
Dartboard. But this was Goldstone. When they loved, they shouted.
When they mourned, they sent a man off with a smile and the center
cut of trifle.

Rowena handed Carl’s trifle to Maggie with
great ceremony. “Saved his favorite part, dear.”

Maggie kissed the little woman’s weathered
cheek, then started kissing all the other cheeks turned her
way.

“She’s going to be all right, isn’t she?”
Simone whispered in his ear.

“Yeah.” Then he turned and pulled her close,
melting with her into the corner of the room. “We’re all going to
take good care of her. Especially Mom.”

“I know. Your mom’s great.” She leaned back
to look at him. “Did I insult her? I mean, when you first meet
someone, you’re supposed to tell them they’re beautiful or
something. Not ‘Gee, you look just like a mom.’”

The antithesis of Ariana.

He laughed. Simone would always make him
laugh. “She knew it was the biggest compliment anyone ever gave
her.” Sobering, he said, “Your mother will come around
eventually.”

She sighed. “No. She won’t. She’s never going
to accept me just the way I am. But I’m okay with that.” Stroking
his cheek with a finger, she added, “I really am,” as if his doubt
showed on his face.

He’d make damn sure she was okay. That was
his new duty, and he relished it. Sliding his hand down to the
small of her back, he pulled her close once more. “Say it.”

She knew exactly what he wanted. “I can’t say
it here. You know what happens every time I say it.”

“Please. It’s been a hard day.” He did his
best imitation of a pout.

It worked. “All right,” she said. “But you
cannot
touch me till later.”

“When later?”

“Later later.”

“You gonna get rid of your sister and
Kingston for the evening?” He waggled his eyebrows.

“I’ll send them down to Flood’s End for one
of Mr. Doodle’s Lava Flows. Jackie’s still sort of nervous about
meeting new people, so it’ll be good for her to get out. Especially
with Kingston to take care of her.”

“She’s a movie star. How can she be
nervous?”

Simone shrugged. “She’s shy. You know, she’s
always had my mother to run interference.”

Shy? Hard to believe, but it was probably why
Jackie had decided not to come to Carl’s memorial. Too many people
she didn’t know.

“Make it a pitcher of Lava Flows.” So
Jacqueline Chandler would have plenty of time to get used to
Goldstone’s residents. And Brax would have plenty of time alone
with Simone. He tipped his head back to look at her. “I’ve got a
very serious question.”

She smiled his favorite dazzle-smile. “Ooh, I
love important questions.”

“Do you want me to read that planet book
before we get married?”

“What planet book?”

“You know, the one where you’re a planet, and
I’m a planet, and it tells us how to...” He stopped. “The how-to
planet book.”

“You mean the one where I’m from Venus and
you’re from Mars?” She laughed softly. “Let’s save that for later.
Right now, I’ve got enough evidence that you know exactly
how
to
.”

He breathed a sigh of relief. “Now say
it.”

They communicated perfectly. She leaned back
as far as his arms would allow, looped as they were behind her
back. Putting a finger in the center of his chest, she dipped her
lashes, drawing it out, driving him crazy.

“Now,” he whispered.

“Don’t
make
me bring out the flying
monkeys.” Then she poked him in the chest.

He slumped against the wall, pulling him with
her. “Promise you’ll say that every day for the rest of our
lives.”

“I promise,” she whispered as solemnly as if
it were a wedding vow.

He closed his eyes. “I feel a fantasy coming
on.” Then he looked at her, waggling his eyebrows. “Want to write
one?”

“Well, I do know the perfect hero to write
about.”

He pulled her close for a sweet kiss. “I
think we’re going to have to do a lot of research to get it just
right.”

He couldn’t wait to get her home. Home was
anywhere as long as Simone was with him.

“Now,” he murmured in her ear. “You piqued my
investigative curiosity the other day. Tell me more about blue
underwear and white pants.”

Simone smiled. Brax was dazzled. He always
would be.

###

If enjoyed
Fool’s Gold
but
missed the first book in the series, here’s where you can find
She’s Gotta Be Mine

Here’s an introduction to Jennifer Skully’s
latest release!

Baby, I’ll Find
You

Cover design by
Rosemary
Gunn

A man without a future, a woman determined to
give him one...

Jami Baylor has lost her job, her fiancé, her
hopes, and her dreams all on the same day. But she believes in fate
and destiny, and after finding Colton Amory’s CD in a thrift store
grab bag, Jami knows it’s serendipity that she’s heard his song
now. “Baby I’ll Find You” speaks to her heart, right when she needs
it most. So, off she goes to the wilds of Yosemite to discover why
Colton Amory hasn’t written another song in seven years.

The only problem? The man who wrote such
beautiful music turns out to be a self-pitying jerk. Or so it
seems, until Jami digs deeper.

Seven years ago, Cole Amory had a flourishing
musical career and a little girl who was his pride and joy. In one
split second, he lost it all. He hasn’t written a lyric or played a
note since. Buried in a small Yosemite town, he’s now a fry cook at
a fast-food joint. And he doesn’t need a woman with stars in her
eyes opening all his old wounds and his guilt.

Can two people with nothing left to lose find
it all?

Baby, I’ll Find
You

Copyright 2011 Jennifer Skully

Chapter One

Good Lord, he’d fired her. Just like that.
Her boss, Richard Headley, had scapegoated her. After five years
with the company, Dick Head—as Jami referred to him in the privacy
of her own mind—ripped the rug right out from under her.

Jami Baylor had never been fired, not even
from the paper route she’d had as a kid.

The Bay Area had a late September rain
yesterday, and a damp, musty smell permeated Used But Not Abused as
Jami pushed through the thrift shop’s front door. She didn’t know
if it emanated from the used clothing that had been shoved to the
back of someone’s closet for too long or the ancient orange shag
carpet covering the store’s concrete floor. Even the books smelled
musty, as if they’d lain for years lost and forlorn in somebody’s
attic.

Why did that feel like a metaphor for her
life right now?

The stale scent didn’t bother anyone else.
The shop was sardines-in-a-can packed. Fifty-percent-off Tuesday
brought out shoppers in droves. Jami could barely find a spot to
eyeball the latest treasures beneath the scratched glass
showcase.

Behind the counter, Olga waddled towards her.
“Baby Doll, what are you doing here in the middle of a
workday?”

A large woman, Olga had to suck in her
stomach to get behind the counter. Her face had turned to leather
from years of smoking, and when she laughed too hard, she often
lapsed into a coughing fit. Yet for the five or so years Jami had
frequented the second-hand shop, Olga always had a kind word and a
sweet smile.

Jami gave her one in return. “I needed a
Used/Abused fix.”

The woman leaned in to inspect Jami. “You
okay? Your nose looks like Rudolph. Got a cold coming on?”

No. She’d been crying. In the car, once she’d
left the office, it hit her hard. She’d been fired. She’d worked in
Silicon Valley for thirteen years, since graduating university, the
last five at Southside Manufacturing. After four years as Cost
Accounting Manager, she’d made the leap to Director of Materials, a
job she’d toughed out for over a year. The first female director at
Southside Manufacturing.

Yet when it came time for someone to take the
blame, it was her signature on that purchase order sticking the
company with thousands of specially machined parts they couldn’t
use when their customer canceled a million-dollar contract.
Cardinal rule in Purchasing, give yourself an out. Dick Head had
her sign the PO without a cancellation clause. Against her better
judgment.

That fact seemed to have slipped his mind
when he fired her.

“I’m fine, thanks for asking,” she said, to
avoid explaining. Especially since she might start blubbering
again. Really, she wasn’t cut out to be an executive. “I just felt
like a day off.”

“Well, good for you, Baby Doll. And let me
tell you, we got some fine pieces in this weekend that your nieces
will love.”

A woman elbowed Jami out of the way. “I want
to see
that
,” she pointed for Olga, adding another finger
smirch to the glass counter.

Jami gave the other lady room. Slightly
chipped crockery and fine china with the gold edging worn off
filled a display cabinet, and the necklaces and earrings in the
glass sideboard were more of the dimestore variety than anything
one would find at a jewelry store, but Jami loved buying the
trinkets for her nieces. Kids were so easy. At last count, she had
five nieces but no nephews, and that lack of a male heir was the
bane of her mother’s existence.

By the time Jami came along, her mother
already had three girls, each a year apart. She’d wanted a boy so
badly she’d actually given Jami the boy’s name she’d had picked out
before having the ultrasound. When the tiny fetus turned out to
have the wrong apparatus, Mom thought she’d be cute by simply
dropping the
es
off James and adding an
i
. Jami often
wished her mother wasn’t so cutesy. She’d grown up feeling a
bit...unnecessary in the scheme of things.

Not finding a thing that would make any of
her nieces absolutely hyperventilate, Jami moved on. Halloween was,
comparatively speaking, just around the corner, and Used But Not
Abused was like any other shop, stocking Halloween gear a month
before the main event. Scratched trick-or-treat pumpkins were
stacked one atop the other and next to that, an assortment of
battered skeletons to hang on the front door and Frankenstein
monsters to guard the stoop.

At the back of the store, where the air got a
little less circulation, the mustiness was enough to wrinkle her
nose. But at least the crowd had thinned out. Most patrons favored
the clothing aisles. Jami wasn’t interested in clothing. She’d
discovered a treasure trove on a shelf in the back corner years
ago. Even if she made it to the shop only five minutes before
closing, when she had a particularly hard day, or was stressed at
work, or she’d had a fight with Leo, she came here.