Thirty and a Half Excuses (21 page)

When I turned down my street, I gasped. Joe’s car was parked in my driveway.

He was home.

I tried to settle the raging butterflies in my stomach. Could he be done with his assignment?

But when I pulled into the driveway and saw his face, my stomach balled into a lump that weighed ten pounds. He was sitting on my front porch waiting for me. And he didn’t look happy.

I opened my door and climbed out as he came down the porch steps. “Joe, I know you were upset—”

Before I could finish my sentence, his arms were around my waist, pulling me to his chest as his mouth found mine. I reached for his face, holding him close in case he changed his mind.

But he covered my hands with his and lifted his head, searching my eyes. “I don’t care about the stupid truck, Rose. I only care about you. I’m sorry.”

“I’m sorry too. I could have waited, but—”

He kissed me again, long and deep, letting me know exactly how much he’d missed me. “No more talk about this mess. I only have a few hours, and I don’t want to ruin it.”

My heart seized. “You’re not done with your job?”

He shook his head. “Not yet, darlin’, but we’re close. I had a break for the afternoon, and I drove straight here when I found out. I tried calling you, but you weren’t answering your cell phone.” He took in my dress. “Where’ve you been?”

“Church. How long have you been here?” I hated that I’d missed a single minute with him, especially after what I’d been through.

“Not that long. Maybe fifteen minutes. Since when did you start goin’ to church?”

“This morning was a one-time thing I hope to never repeat. I’ll tell you about it later.” I pressed my lips to his. “I can think of something better to do with our time.”

Joe grinned. “Then why are we still outside?” He lifted me up so that I straddled his waist, pulling the back of my dress down to cover my behind.

I giggled, swatting his shoulder “Joe, what are you doing? I’m about to flash the neighbors.”

“I’ve let Mildred down by not giving her a show. I plan on making up for it.”

“Well, it’s all for nothin’. She’s not home yet. She was at church too.”

His eyebrows lifted, a suspicious look covering his face. “You and Mildred were at church together?”

“It was sort of a coincidence. Let’s leave it at that.”

Joe didn’t look convinced, but he must have decided he’d rather focus on his conjugal visit because he climbed the steps, still holding me like I weighed nothing until he reached the front door. Then he slid me down his front while he pushed through the door. Muffy followed behind him, jumping up on my legs and wanting to be petted.

“Not now, Muffy,” Joe mumbled against my lips as he slammed the door and unzipped the back of my dress.

I grabbed his cheeks, kissing him as he pushed me backward down the hall. He paused in my room, tugged my dress off my shoulders and let it drop to the floor so I was only in my underwear.

“I don’t want to lose you, Rose.” His eyes were filled with fear.

“I’m not going anywhere.” I caressed his cheek with my fingertips.

He kissed me again, and we spent the next half hour proving how much we loved each other. Afterward, I lay in his arms, staring up into his face. His mouth was drawn down, and his eyes were full of worry.

“Joe, I’m sorry I bought the truck without you. I know how much you wanted to help me.”

He shook his head slowly. “I’m glad you got a truck. Really, I am. You’re right. It’ll come in handy with the business. I’m not sure why
I
didn’t think of it sooner. You have every right to be friends with Mason Deveraux. I was worried he’d tell you my secret before I was ready, but then I realized he’s hiding from his past too. I have no right to ask him to stay away from you as long as he’s not making any moves to try to steal you away from me.”

I chuckled. “Steal me away from you? What makes you think he’d do that? We’re
friends
, Joe.”

His fingers swept stray hands of hair from my cheek. “You’re a beautiful woman, Rose Gardner. I’m surprised you don’t have a line of men trying to win your heart.”

I laughed, shaking my head. “Now you’ve lost your mind. You know most of the people in this town think I’m odd. You were the first man who ever paid any attention to me.”

“But you’re different now. You were pretty before, but you dress differently now and your hair’s styled. But more importantly, you have a confidence you didn’t have before. You’ve grown into yourself, and people are noticing…men are noticing.” He swallowed. “I admit that it makes me nervous. What if you decide you’ve outgrown me? What if you decide that Violet was right, that you should date other men? We’re starting to look at a future together. I worry that you’ll think you need to experience life more first. Life without me.”

“No! I can’t imagine my life without you.”

He kissed me gently, and then lifted his head. “I was so worried that Mason Deveraux was trying to take you away from me, I never once stopped to ask you what
you
wanted. No one can steal you from me unless you’re willing to go.”

“I don’t want to be with anyone else. I want to be with you.”

Fear filled his eyes. “You might not say that when I tell you what happened in Little Rock.”

I brushed my thumb along his lower lip. “I love you, Joe. Nothing’s going to change that. You and I both know I’m not proud of who I was before I met you, but you don’t hold that against me.”

A tiny smile appeared as his eyes turned glassy. “That’s entirely different, Rose. You were beaten down into believing you were nobody. You’ve become the person you were meant to be.”

“And you say Joe Simmons is different than Joe McAllister. Maybe Joe McAllister is who
you’re
meant to be.”

“It’s not that neat and tidy. I promised I’d tell you, and I want to do it now.”

Whatever Joe was going to tell me was about to change everything. I knew it deep in my marrow. I wasn’t ready for that yet. I needed to prepare myself.

I sat up. “I’m hungry.”‘

Joe rolled over and pushed up on one elbow. “What?”

“I didn’t get breakfast, and I’m starving. I’ll make us lunch.”

Joe’s eyes narrowed. “Since when do you back away from a problem?”

I got up and pulled a T-shirt and jeans out of a drawer. “The old me used to do it all the time.”

“Rose…”

I put on my bra and turned to face him. “Look, I know this is big, whatever it is, and I really am starving. I think I can handle it better if I’ve got some food in me. I promise, I’m not running. I’m preparing myself.”

He nodded, getting off the bed. “I’ll cook.”

I wrapped my arms around him and pulled him into a hug. “Not this time. I’ll cook, and I’ll tell you about what’s been going on around here. And when we’re done eating, you can tell me. Okay?”

His arms tightened around me. “Okay.”

“When do you have to go? Do you have time?”

“I have to leave in two hours. I have time.”

“Good. How about some spaghetti?”

“What?” His eyebrows rose in mock surprise. “No sandwiches?”

“You know darn good and well I can make things other than sandwiches.” I tried my best to sound playful, but his news hung over my head like a storm cloud. “I just don’t cook when it’s only for me.”

He turned serious. “I know.”

Maybe waiting was a bad idea.

I went into the kitchen and started a pot of water boiling, then searched for the ingredients to make sauce from scratch. I wasn’t sure I would have everything, but I did, mostly because Joe always went grocery shopping when he came to see me.

He walked into the kitchen and stood behind me, wrapping his arms around the front of my waist.

I looked up over my shoulder at him. “I don’t thank you often enough for all the grocery shopping you do. And cooking. Not to mention your help with the nursery. I appreciate everything you do for me, Joe.”

He spun me around to face him. “Hey, enough of that. I love doing things for you, just like you love doing things for me. Like when you take care of my laundry. And the sweet texts you send me. You have no idea how much I love getting those.”

I tried to squash my fear down. Joe had to be exaggerating when he said there was something terrible in his past. Maybe it was like my visions. They were a huge deal to me, but once everyone else got over the shock, the people who truly care about me accepted them. Maybe his secret would be like that.

But I knew it wouldn’t.

“Let me help.” He grabbed an onion and a knife. “I take it this is for the sauce?”

“Yeah.” I started to chop a green pepper, my hands shaking.

Joe leaned down and gave me a soft kiss. “I love you.”

“I love you too.”

“Tell me about Miss Dorothy.”

I filled him in on Mildred finding her body, Keith telling me he’d heard shouting from her house, and me telling Mason.

Joe sighed. “Mason’s right. There’s not a damn thing he can do with that.”

“There’s another death that might be related.” I told him about Miss Laura. “I overhead Mason asking the police to see if she had a connection to Jonah.”

He nodded. “That’s a good idea.”

I’d been throwing Mason’s name around a lot, but thankfully Joe didn’t seem upset.

“Tell me more about the break-in.”

I filled in the skimpy details I’d given him on Friday night.

“You need to be more careful. You can’t be running into dark alleys and backyards.”

“Joe, it’s my neighborhood. I’ve lived here all my life. It’s safe.” Or at least it used to be before Momma’s murder.

“Apparently, it’s not safe at all.” Fear filled his eyes…and guilt.

“It was nothing.”

“The hell it was. I should have been here with you.”

I put down the knife. “Joe, I’m fine.”

“Do you have any idea what could have happened to you? And I was over a hundred miles away with no way of knowing…”

I wrapped my arm around his neck and pulled his mouth to mine, kissing him gently. “Shh. You’re doing your job, and it’s a lot more dangerous than me getting tangled up in sheets hanging from a clothesline.”

“I’m trained to handle dangerous situations, Rose. You’re not. Why did you go back there?”

“Joe. That’s like asking me why I walked into my kitchen last May when I found Momma dead. Muffy ran back there, and I went to get her. Why would I think anything bad would happen?”

“I should have been here,” he repeated, his shoulders tense. “I hope to God that deputy sheriff position comes through.”

“Me too.” I kissed him again with longing. I was about to get everything I wanted.

His arm tightened around my waist as his other hand found my cheek. “Do you have any idea how much I miss you when I’m not with you?”

I grinned against his lips. “I think I do. Now do you want to hear the rest?”

“Yes, but I’m beginning to think sandwiches would have been a better idea. I like having you in my arms.”

I wiggled free, feeling kind of sorry I’d suggested cooking. “Let me just get the sauce started, and then we can sit down. I still haven’t told you about Thomas.” I went on to tell him about Thomas’s involvement in the whole mess, including what he’d said about Daniel Crocker. “Do you think Daniel Crocker is a threat to me from behind bars?”

Joe took a deep breath. “I haven’t heard anything, but now I’m more worried about you than ever. Daniel Crocker is batshit crazy, and he holds a grudge like a pack rat hoards.”

“Oh.” I’d expected Joe to tell me there was nothing to worry about.

“Last I heard, he was in the county jail, awaiting trial.”

“The same jail I was in?”

“Sort of. You were in a holding cell. He’s somewhere more permanent.” Joe was silent for a moment. “I’ll do some digging. The sheriff’s office might know something.”

“Okay.”

“I sure wish the Henryetta Police weren’t a bunch of thick-headed Neanderthals who refuse to believe they aren’t infallible. I’d feel better if someone smart and prepared was watching out for you.”

I offered him a weak smile. “I’ve got my rolling pin.”

He scowled, not appreciating the reminder. “Why were you at church this morning?”

“I kind of got roped into it.”

“By Violet?”

I grimaced. “Her too.”

From the look on his face, Joe was starting to put things together. “You went to Jonah Pruitt’s church.”

I nodded as I scraped the chopped onions, peppers, and garlic into a skillet, suddenly grateful that I could keep my back to him as I saut�ed the vegetables.

He didn’t say anything for a long moment, so I thought he’d decided to give it up. Then he finally said, “How’d it go working on his church this week?”

“Good. The guys got it all done before our deadline, with plenty of time to spare.”

Joe grabbed a beer out of the refrigerator and leaned his hip against the counter. “What guys did you hire to help you?”

“David Moore and Bruce Wayne Decker.” I glanced over my shoulder to see his reaction.

“You hired the guy you kept out of prison and his drug-addicted best friend?”

“They did a really good job, Joe.”

“Uh huh.” He took a sip of his beer. “So you’re done with your job at the church?”

“Yeah, but we have a job at the parsonage that we’re starting on Monday.”

He shook his head. “I think doing any more work for Jonah Pruitt is a bad idea. Especially in light of this new information.”

“We deposited the money from the church grounds job into our bank account right away. We didn’t lose any money. And we’ll deposit the second check tomorrow. Jonah brought it by the store yesterday.”

“I’m more worried about losing
you
than I am about your money. This is starting to look really fishy.”

“Like I told Mason, if Jonah Pruitt had anything to do with Miss Dorothy’s death, he did it to get her money. I don’t have a will, and I don’t own this house. He’s got no reason to kill me.”

His eyes widened. “Is that supposed to make me feel better?”

I’d be the first to admit I wasn’t crazy about working for Jonah again, but admitting it to Joe wouldn’t help me plead my case. “Bruce Wayne is counting on me.”