Thirty and a Half Excuses (2 page)

Smiling softly, he lowered his face, whispering against my lips. “You’re amazing.”

I didn’t feel so amazing. Leaning my forehead against his, I searched his eyes. “So how long will you be gone?”

He pulled back, shaking his head and releasing a long sigh. “I don’t know. Maybe one week, maybe three.”

He hadn’t even left yet, and I already ached with loneliness. The longest we’d been apart was five days, and that had been almost impossible to bear. “Will we be able to talk on the phone?”

“I don’t know. Maybe a few times. If I can risk it.”

“So it’s dangerous then, what you’re doing?”

He cupped my cheek. “Every day I’m a state police detective is dangerous.”

Anger singed my chest. “Don’t do that. Don’t pretend like this isn’t a big deal. It is. The last time you went undercover like this you fell in love with me, and you almost got killed. What if…” My voice broke, and I couldn’t finish.

Joe’s eyes narrowed in disbelief. “What if what? What if I fall in love with someone else?” He shook his head. “Rose, there’s only you, darlin’. Only you.”

I wish I had more confidence, but I wasn’t sure I’d ever be totally confident where Joe was concerned. He’d always feel out of my league. But this time I was more worried about the dying part. “It’s still dangerous, no matter how you spin it.”

“I’ll be careful. I love you, and I don’t want to risk losing that.”

I wanted to say if he really felt that way, he’d never go undercover again. But I didn’t want our last night together to be sad or full of anger, and I knew it wasn’t fair. “You can’t tell me what you’re doing?”

He shook his head.

“Can you at least tell me where you’ll be?”

He hesitated. “El Dorado.”

I gasped. “Where your parents live.” I let the news sink in. “Will they know you’re there?”

“No. I have no intention of seeing them anyway.” A few months earlier Joe had confessed that his family came from oil money. He was mostly estranged from them, though he hadn’t yet told me why.

“You’ll have to see them sometime.”

“The longer I can put it off, the better. My mother keeps calling and insisting that they meet you.”

The prospect of meeting his parents made me almost as nervous as Joe going undercover. “Do
you
want me to meet them?”

“I’d rather put it off as long as possible.”

I knew Joe didn’t get along with his parents and avoided seeing them, but a small part of me worried that he didn’t want me to meet them because he was ashamed of me.

“You said you’d have to do your father a favor.” I swallowed my guilt. “Because of me.” When I was on a jury for a murder trial in July, I found out through one of my visions that the defendant was innocent. I started investigating the case on my own to prove what I knew to be true, and after the judge found out, he threw me into the county jail. It took Joe; the Fenton County assistant district attorney, Mason Deveraux III; and apparently Joe’s dad, who wielded political influence, to get me out. Later Joe told me that he was waiting for his father to collect on the favor.

“Trust me, the favor will be much bigger than bringing you to dinner.” He took a deep breath. “But I’d do it again in a heartbeat.”

And he would. Joe loved me so much, he’d do anything for me. Which is exactly why I needed to be supportive now. “That’s one of the many reasons why I love you.” I placed a gentle kiss on his lips. “You’re going to do great. You’re going to get the bad guys, and you’re going to shut them down. Or whatever it is you’re doing.”

He laughed. “You’re more confident than my boss.”

My smile fell along with my stomach. “Then why are you doing it?”

His face hardened in determination. “Because it needs to be done.”

I knew that look. Joe wasn’t usually a stubborn man, but when he’d made up his mind about something, he was going to do it. There was no convincing him otherwise.

A loud engine revved as a big muscle car sped down the street past my house.

Joe watched the car pull into the driveway of the house on the corner across the street. “That boy drives too fast.”

I watched Thomas get out of his car and slam the door shut. “The only good thing about having a teen with a loud car who drives too fast in the neighborhood is that he gives Mildred someone else to complain about besides us.”

Joe’s eyes lit up in a playful challenge. “Is that right? Then I’m not doing my job well enough.” He pulled me back to his chest and lowered his mouth to mine.

I laughed and pushed him away. “Oh, no you don’t. I’m hungry. Do you want me to cook dinner?”

He grinned. “I’ve already got it started.”

One of the perks of having Joe as a boyfriend is that he not only cooked, but he cooked really well. “What are we having tonight?”

“I fired up the grill. We’re gonna have steaks.”

“Be careful. Mike will think you’re invading his territory.” The words were out before I thought about what I was saying.

Joe sobered. “What’s the latest on Violet and Mike’s separation?”

“Vi thinks he’s about to file for divorce.”

Joe winced. “And how’s she doing with that news?”

I shook my head, twisting my mouth to one side. “Better than I expected. She’s devoting all her attention to the nursery and the kids.”

“I guess it’s good that she’s got something to focus on.”

“Yeah.” The breakup of her marriage still shook me up. I had thought Violet and Mike had the most stable, happy marriage of anyone I knew. But it turned out their relationship wasn’t all peaches and cream. There were problems she and Mike had been sweeping under the rug for years. It made me even more determined to make sure Joe and I were honest with one another.

I looked around. “Where’s Muffy?”

“She’s playing with the boys.”

My little dog was an ugly mutt nobody wanted until I saved her from a farmer about to take her to the pound. She looked like a cross between a rat and some sort of terrier with her pointy ears and snout. Her short gray and black fur had become softer and less wiry since her adoption. She had been timid and scared at first, a lot like I was at the time. Both of us had come a long way in the last four months.

She loved playing with the little boys who’d moved into the house next door. The house where Joe had lived for a little over a month while he was undercover. Remembering that piece of information set my stomach rolling. “How long can you stay?”

“I’ll be around for the grand opening ceremony, but I have to leave by noon.”

I grabbed his face between my hands, holding back tears. “I’m gonna miss you.”

He sighed. “Me too.”

We were subdued for the rest of the night. Joe reassured me multiple times that the nursery would be a success. But I knew he couldn’t guarantee that. No one could. Besides, since my visions made me the town pariah, I couldn’t help thinking that my involvement could potentially hurt our business. My vision about the televangelist gave me hope, but when I told Joe about it, a frown wrinkled his forehead. “Be careful in any dealings with Jonah Pruitt, Rose.” The way he said it caught my attention.

“You know something about him?”

He’s eyes leveled with mine. “You know I can’t discuss state police matters.” His voice lowered, making sure his full meaning came through.

Jonah Pruitt was being watched by the Arkansas State Police. That was interesting news. We’d just have to make sure he paid up front.

Chapter Two

The next morning, I was so anxious I could hardly eat breakfast. The nursery opening had me on edge, but Joe’s assignment worried me more. If the nursery failed, it was only money. But there was only one Joe.

“I’m gonna be fine, Rose.” Joe could read my mind like a book, or more accurately, he could read my face. “This isn’t the first time I’ve gone undercover. Or even the tenth. I know what I’m doing or I wouldn’t be doing it.”

I nodded. He was right. But I was still scared to death.

I let Muffy out one last time before we left, my gaze drifting to the end of the street. School had already started for the day, but Thomas’s car was still parked in the driveway. His mother was going to be fit to be tied. He already had a raging case of senioritis, and it was only September. It would be a miracle if he graduated in May.

After I put Muffy in the bathroom, Joe and I drove to the nursery separately. Violet was already there when we arrived at around 8:30. As I started uncovering the flowers on the sidewalk, Aunt Bessie pulled into the parking lot. She wouldn’t have missed this for the world, so Violet and I had recruited her to work the register after the ribbon cutting ceremony.

When she got out of her car, she was grinning ear to ear. “Look at you, Rose! A business owner!”

“I know, hard to believe isn’t it?”

She pressed her lips into a smug smile. “Not so hard for me. You’re smart, and you love flowers. And if you use your gift to your advantage, you’ll increase your sales even more.”

I stared at her in confusion. “What are you talking about?”

She leaned in close, lowering her voice. “You can read them, child. Find out what their yards look like and make suggestions.”

My eyes widened. “That doesn’t seem right, Aunt Bessie.”

Tsking, she walked into the shop. “There’s no sin using the gifts God gave you.”

I had always trusted Aunt Bessie, but she was suggesting that I purposely try to have visions. I usually did everything in my power to
not
have them.

I wiped my forehead with the back of my hand. It was going to be another hot day. Opening in the fall had seemed like a good way to ease into the business. But it sure didn’t feel like fall with this heat wave. The forecast was for a high in the low nineties. I worried it would keep people from buying their autumn foliage.

Our fall hours were nine to six, and the official ribbon cutting ceremony had been set for eleven, so we had a couple of hours to prepare, which was a good thing since Violet was all a tizzy. The mayor and several members of the city council were coming, but the more important guests were the Henryetta Garden Club. Little did I know that Violet had been wooing them for over a year.

Even though our official opening was later in the morning, several customers showed up when we opened the doors at nine. Violet had done a great job with marketing and promotion, and the whole town was talking about our store. Our location helped too. We’d taken over an abandoned floral shop on the edge of the town square that came with a parking lot and a dilapidated greenhouse. Joe had spent the past several weekends working on the greenhouse, and it looked amazing. I understood why he wanted to be there for the grand opening. He was almost as much a part of the nursery as I was.

Mike’s parents arrived at around 10:45 with Violet’s kids, five-year-old Ashley and nineteen-month-old Mikey. They saw Violet and squealed, running across the parking lot to her. She squatted and scooped them in her arms, kissing each one of them on the cheek.

I stood next to a chrysanthemum display, my heart bursting with envy.

“How many kids do you think you want?” Joe had snuck up behind me, his gaze on my niece and nephew.

My mouth parted in surprise. We’d never discussed children before other than the generic
we both want a family someday
. We’d barely begun skirting around the idea of something permanent. I hesitated, worried I’d scare him off if I told him three or four. “How many do
you
want?”

He draped his arm around my shoulders and looked down into my face with a grin. “A houseful.”

“Me too.”

He planted a kiss on my nose. “Just one more reason we’re perfect for each other.”

“Ewww…” Ashley groaned. “Aunt Rose is kissing her boyfriend.”

Joe held me close and winked at her. “So what’s new about that?”

Ashley giggled. Joe dropped his hold on me and chased her around the building, trying to tickle her.

Days like today filled me equally with contentment and the want for more.

A crowd began to gather, and I stood by the corner of the building. While most of the citizens of my town preferred for me to keep to myself, there were a few exceptions, like my best friend Neely Kate. As soon as she jumped out of her car, her face lit up.

“Look at you! You’re a small business owner now!”

Neely Kate had gotten married a couple of months earlier, a big event that had matched her larger-than-life personality. The wedding was beautiful, just like I’d seen in a vision. She’d planned on quitting her job after her honeymoon, but then her boss, Jimmy DeWade, was arrested for murder and two counts of attempted murder—on me—and Neely Kate had to take over his position. She hated every minute of working in the courthouse, but thankfully, she didn’t blame me for it. She had reason to: I was the one who discovered that her boss was a murderer.

I put my hands on my hips, allowing a little excitement to override my anxiety. “I think we’re ready.”

She spotted Joe over by the greenhouse, and her mouth turned up into a wicked grin. “I see your man is here.”

“He’s just as much a part of this as I am. Heaven knows he’s put in enough time and manual labor.”

She nudged my shoulder and winked. “I bet he got paid back with a different kind of manual labor.”

“Neely Kate!” I laughed, then shook my head with a pretend scowl. The garden society ladies were beginning to arrive, and I had enough strikes against me.

“I won’t be able to stay long, but I had to come wish you good luck.”

“Well, be sure to get a piece of cake before you go. I ordered a sheet cake from the Piggly Wiggly bakery, and they put our logo on top.”

Neely Kate smirked. “You didn’t use Ima Jean’s bakery?”

“She was gonna charge twice as much.” I had to pinch pennies where I could.

She shook her head, puckering her mouth in mock sympathy. “You’ll pay for that and more, in ways other than money.”

I had a feeling she was right.

Several minutes later, the mayor arrived and Violet showed her first signs of nervousness, running her fingers through her hair and tugging at her skirt. She hurried over to Neely Kate and me, glancing over her shoulder. “Do I look okay?”