Read Light from Her Mirror (Mirrors Don't Lie Book 3) Online
Authors: Becki Willis
Light from Her Mirror (Mirrors Don't Lie Book 3) (35 page)
“So?
Some guys like older women.”
“And
some women like older men,” she countered. “Don’t think you’re getting out of
telling me about your reunion with Brash deCordova.” Her charming dimples
flashed before the coffee mug hid them.
“Reunion?”
Madison scoffed. “It’s not like I ever had a relationship with him to begin
with. Back in high school, he barely knew I was alive.”
“We
were but lowly freshmen, after all.”
Madison
settled at the table once more, feeling the effects of the strenuous morning.
“I may not be able to walk in the morning,” she moaned. “So what’s his story,
anyway?”
“Whose?
Cutter’s or Brash’s?”
Madison
shrugged. “Both, I guess. I’ve been away too long. I haven’t kept up with all
the local gossip and comings and goings.”
“I
was gone as long as you were, you know.”
“But
you came back six months before me,” Madison reminded her smartly.
And thank
goodness you’re here
, she thought. She wasn’t sure she could face her old
hometown without her best friend by her side.
She
had to admit, she had questioned the wisdom of Genny’s decision to move back at
first. What did a tiny town like Naomi have to offer her wandering and creative
friend? But she said she was tired of drifting and was ready to come home. She
had her mind set on opening her own business. When Madison’s own world crumbled
just five months later and Genny begged her to join her in the sister cities,
Madison had not hesitated. She could not imagine being here now without dear
Genesis.
Pulling
herself from her musings, Madison added, “Besides, you get all the good gossip
at the café. You’re already up to speed on both towns.”
Technically
two distinct entities, complete with a long history of rivalry, a railroad
track divided the towns of Naomi and Juliet. Gossip flowed freely over the
boundary lines.
Genny
nodded. “It’s even better than being a hairdresser. I have as many male
customers as I do female, so I get both sides of the story.”
“So?
What’s their stories? Start with Cutter.”
“From
what I can tell, he is the local heart-throb for girls and women of all ages. I
swear I saw your great Aunt Lerlene blush the other day when he opened the door
for her. And you should hear the way even the junior high girls giggle when he
comes into the café! He just has a way of wrapping the opposite sex around his
little finger. I think it’s those chameleon eyes. He has hazel eyes, just like
yours, that change with whatever color he’s wearing.”
“Sounds
to me like you might just be one of those women he has twisted around his
finger,” Madison teased.
Again
her friend gave a dismissive wave. She never missed a beat as she continued
with her story. “He’s a looker, I’ll give you that, but I don’t believe in
robbing the cradle. He’s a welder by trade, hence the welding rig he drives
around with 24/7. I think he might be Fire Chief or something. Seems like he’s
always wearing that radio and rushing off in the middle of a meal to go to a
fire or a wreck. Always comes back to pay, though, so that says something about
his character. He seems to be a very nice young man, always polite and
respectful and always saying ‘yes ma’am’ and ‘no ma’am’.”
“Does
he have a girlfriend?”
“Callie
Beth Irwin likes to think so, but I don’t think Cutter got the memo.”
“And
Brash?” She hoped her voice sounded more conversational than curious. “Why
didn’t I ever see him around town the times I came back to visit?”
“Well,
you remember he got that scholarship to play football.”
“Of
course. Next to Tug Montgomery and his Heisman trophy, Brash is the biggest
thing that ever happened to The Sisters.”
Genny
nodded. “So he tried out for the pros and got drafted by one of those teams up
North. Minnesota or Milwaukee or somewhere like that,” she said breezily.
“I
thought Michigan.”
“Okay,
whatever. Somewhere cold. Anyway, he said he missed the warm weather. And then
his girlfriend came up pregnant, so he came back to Texas and got married. By
that time, you and I had already moved away. He got a job coaching at Texas
A&M and commuted back and forth for a while. Then he got a job at Baylor
and even moved to Waco for a few years, before he came back here to join the
Police Department.”
“From
coaching to police chief?” Madison asked incredulously. “Calling football plays
hardly qualifies him for chasing down criminals!”
“Ah,
you forget, this is Friday-night-lights territory, where football reigns
supreme. Being hometown football hero/turned college/turned pro/turned coach
makes him royalty. He can be anything he wants.”
“Gee,
I feel safer already,” Madison said sardonically.
“Hey,
you jest, but from what I understand, no one wants to disappoint the mighty
Brash deCordova, so for the most part, folks obey the law and toe the line.”
Genesis’s dimples made another appearance. “To be honest,” she grinned, “it
makes town a little boring.”
“Well,
today’s event should stir a little excitement. They can debate whether Ronny
Gleason died of a heart attack or sheer exhaustion. I never knew the chicken business
was so hard.”
“Or
maybe we could get lucky and it could be a murder.”
“Lucky?”
Madison stared at her friend in something akin to horror. “Have you lost your
mind? You honestly wish there was a murderer running around The Sisters?”
“Well,
only for a day or two. I’m sure Brash would rush in to save the day and protect
us from all evil.”
“I
guess he could use his super-human football charm or something,” Madison
muttered.
“No
doubt. But at least it would be a little excitement.”
“Well,
I, for one, have had all the excitement I can handle for a while. Finding a
dead body should use up my quota for at least five years.” She made her
prediction as she stood and pushed her chair beneath the kitchen table. “Excuse
me for a minute. I have to go re-wash my clothes. Again.”
***
She
bit her lower lip, wondering if her children had heard the news. If not, should
she tell them? They were bound to find out eventually but they were both so
sensitive.
“Hey,
Mom!” Blake called out. “You home?”
“In
the kitchen! But enter with care, the floor is wet!”
The
floor was the least of their concerns as the teenagers crowded through the
doorway, seeing who could push through the portal first. Blake, being taller
and bigger than his sister, won. He elbowed her as he nodded toward their
mother and smugly grinned. “See? I knew the rumors in Study Hall weren’t true.”
“What-What
rumors?” Madison asked with dread.
“We
heard you were having a steamy affair with some chicken grower, killed him this
morning in a fit of rage, and got arrested for murder.” Blake, sensitive soul
that he was, plucked an apple from the fruit bowl and chomped into it noisily.
“What!”
“Oh,
don’t worry, we didn’t believe that one,” Bethani assured her mother breezily.
She brushed a kiss across Madison’s cheek on the way to the refrigerator.
“
That
one? There were more?”
Bethani
turned around to favor her mother with an exasperated expression. Rolling her
eyes to the ceiling, she said, “This is Juliet, the most boring town in the
state of Texas. Of course there were more rumors. It is, after all, the
favorite pastime of rednecks near and far.”
Madison
wrinkled her nose at her daughter’s snide comment. “Careful, there,” she
warned. “Your voice is dripping with disdain. You don’t want it getting all
over your snack.”
The
teen rolled her eyes once more, pulling out the makings of a sandwich while her
brother retrieved the bread from the cupboard. The teen’s pretty face settled
into a somber expression as she opened the lunchmeat. Madison did not miss the
note of worry in her daughter’s voice as she asked, “Was the other rumor true?
Was he really burned beyond recognition?”
“Burned?
What are you talking about, honey?”
“We
heard you found that man you were working for. He had fallen into the
incinerator and was burned so badly the police couldn’t recognize him.”
“Oh,
my word!” This time, Madison rolled her eyes. “No, sweetie, that is not at all
true. Mr. Gleason did not burn up in his incinerator.”
“But
you did find him, right?” Blake asked, his own expression suddenly serious.
“That’s what all the kids at school are saying.”
“Yes,
honey, I did find him.”
“So
we heard a couple of other versions, too. One was that he died from some crazy
chicken virus.” Fully recovered from his brief bout of worry, Blake was
grinning once again as he layered three slices of ham onto his sandwich. “I,
personally, preferred the version where you single-handedly saved an entire
house full of chickens from noxious gas fumes. But alas,” he bemoaned, putting
his hand to his forehead with great flair, “you were unable to save the man
himself, just his flock.”
In
spite of herself, Madison giggled at her son’s dramatics. She quickly bit back
her smile and chastised the teen. “Blake, a man did die today. It’s no laughing
matter. And don’t forget to try out for the school’s drama club, by the way.”
“Sorry,
going to be too busy playing baseball. Guess who made Varsity?”
“You
made the team?” Madison squealed in delight. “That’s fantastic, honey!
Congratulations!” She grabbed her son and hugged him with enthusiasm.
“Chill,
Mom,” he laughed, caught somewhere between being embarrassed and being proud.
You never quite outgrew the need to please your parents, after all. “It’s just
high school, not the majors.”
“Cotton
Kings today, Texas Rangers tomorrow,” Madison predicted.
“You
know,” his sister drawled, gearing up for some drama of her own, “he’d get
better exposure if he played for a bigger school. You know, like one that
actually showed up on the map. Maybe we should move back to Dallas. For his
future baseball career and all.”
“You
are so thoughtful, Beth. Always thinking of others, never yourself.” Madison
patted her daughter’s blond head with a heavy hand as the girl sat down at the
table.
“Ouch,
Mom,” she complained, but did not give up her efforts. “Hey, I’m willing to
sacrifice for my brother. If we need to move back home for Blake, I’m in.”
“We’ve
barely had time to get settled here. We are not moving back to Dallas anytime
soon,” Madison declared as she made glasses of sweet tea for the three of them.
As
she brought the offering to the table and took a seat beside Bethani, her
daughter looked at her in concern. “Mom,” the teen said with a frown, “your
hand is trembling. Are you all right? What really happened today?”