скачать книгу бесплатно
“Well, if I’m here next time you’re invited, you know you won’t be the only odd man out.”
“Staying long?” he asked again. She wasn’t coming on to him, was she?
“I wasn’t sure how Maddie was. I thought she was at death’s door. So I planned a flying visit to say I’m sorry. Now they want me to stay for the fund-raiser and to tell anyone who asks that Maddie never beat me. Then for April’s wedding. Sheesh, I could end up staying more than two weeks.”
“If you’re saying Maddie didn’t do it, who did?” Sam asked.
Jo wasn’t surprised at the question. He’d want to know. Everyone else would, too. Not that they’d likely believe her. Maddie hadn’t twelve years ago, and she knew Jo better than anyone.
“I have no problem telling everyone. But I want to talk with Maddie first. I wish the authorities had believed me twelve years ago. The bastard got away with criminal assault and I’m the one who got the shaft.”
“From what I can tell about my predecessor, he had trouble finding the office every day. Not a sterling example of law enforcement. But you can set the record straight with a name.”
She laughed softly. Sam liked hearing it.
The trip to the house on Poppin Hill ended too soon. One place wasn’t far from any other in Maraville. He stopped near the front porch, still occupied by April and Jack.
“Come up for a minute,” Jo invited.
“I’ll see if Jack wants a ride home. He’s staying with me, you know.”
“I didn’t know that.”
“We go way back. When he was injured by a land mine a few months ago, in the Middle East, he came here to convalesce. Said his folks were driving him crazy.”
“Funny how a Parisian model and a world-class journalist met in Maraville, Mississippi,” Jo said. “I wondered how he got that limp.”
“Just goes to show if something is meant to be, it will be.” He tried to tell himself that whenever he thought about Patty’s death. It didn’t make things easier, but he kept hoping one day it would.
“Thanks for the lift.”
“Anytime, Detective.”
She nodded and got out of the car.
Sam stepped out and leaned on the door. “Jack, want a lift?”
“Sure. Give me a few.”
Sam watched Jo pass the couple on the porch and go into the house. He climbed back in the car and waited, trying not to watch as his friend kissed his fiancée. He remembered kissing Patty, the long, slow, hot kisses that inevitably led to making love. He envied Jack that pleasure. Patty had been dead for three years, but sometimes it felt as if she’d just stepped out of the room. Other times, he could hardly remember being married, being in love. Until the pain hit.
God, he missed his wife.
“RISE AND SHINE,” April said, coming into Jo’s room the next morning early with a steaming cup of coffee.
“Is there a fire?” Jo grumbled, and rolled over, pulling the pillow over her head.
“No, but the construction crew arrives at seven and it’s chaos after that. Sometimes there’s no water all day, so if you want a shower, you’d best get up now. Here. Take the coffee. It’ll help.”
Jo didn’t want to get up. She liked the dream she was having. But it was too late, it was gone. Just as well; she didn’t think she should be fantasizing about a man she’d just met. It probably was because of all the engaged couples she was hanging around. She sat up, leaning against the headboard. “Thanks,” she said, reaching for the coffee cup.
April sat in the chair already dressed in another floaty sundress. Makeup on, hair just so, she looked prettier than anyone else Jo knew.
“I like your clothes,” Jo said with a smile. “I guess you’re as clothes crazy as ever. Maybe more so now, given your work.”
April nodded. “And in Paris I get to see everything when it’s first designed. But my days are numbered. I’m thinking of other things I could be doing.”
“Like what?”
“We didn’t go into a lot of detail about the home Cade’s establishing last night, but one of the things we’re thinking of offering is classes for the residents, such as cooking, meal planning and fashion hints. I might find I’m back here sooner than I expect.”
“I assume Eliza is doing the cooking bit,” Jo said.
“It looks like she and Cade will settle here in Maraville. His construction company can be run from here, with him going into New Orleans when needed. Plus, there’s more and more growth in this direction. I’m sure he’ll get plenty of work. She wants to be near Maddie.”
“And you?”
“If you’d asked me a month ago, I’d have said Maraville was the last place I’d want to visit, much less live. But now I’m back, it’s kind of growing on me. My job and Jack’s prevent us from settling here when we’re married, but we’ve already discussed visiting often, and finally ending up living here when circumstances permit.”
“I’m surprised,” Jo said. And a bit nostalgic and envious, she didn’t add. She and Eliza and April had always done things together when they lived here. Now it seemed as if the other two had picked right up where they left off. Jo felt left out.
It was her own fault, she knew. But that didn’t make it any easier.
“Get up and come help me plan the logistics of the fund-raiser. We have a fashion show planned. Jack has a couple of New Orleans Saints football players coming, which has lots of people excited, why I don’t know.”
Jo laughed. April was such a girlie girl. “I’ll be right down.”
April headed for the door, turning to say, “Please don’t wear black. It’s depressing.”
“It’s all I have.”
April rolled her eyes. “We have to go shopping.”
Jo remembered how much April loved to shop. “Later. I still have to see Maddie.”
“You didn’t see her last night? I meant to ask you when you got home how things had gone, but Jack was still here and—”
“I didn’t make it in,” Jo said.
“Ran into Sam first, I bet,” April said. “He’s the one who found your phone number for us. And helped a bit when I was looking for my birth parents. I like him.”
“You still haven’t told me all the details about learning Maddie’s your grandmother and how exactly you found out,” Jo said.
“We have time. See you downstairs soon. Those workmen are prompt.”
ELIZA HAD BREAKFAST ready when Jo arrived in the kitchen.
“Sit, eat,” she said, dishing up eggs, grits and bacon.
“I’ve gained five pounds since I’ve been here,” April said, pouring another cup of coffee. “But I never say no.”
“When we finish, we’ll all go see Maddie,” Eliza said firmly, pulling out a chair and sitting with her own plate.
“I can go on my own,” Jo said.
“Maybe, but you’re not,” she said. “We’ve decided.”
“Bossy.”
Eliza grinned. “You better believe it. But after that, you’re April’s slave for the day. She has to figure out where she wants everything so Cade’s crew can build the runway for the models.”
“And,” April added, “we also need a changing area and makeup area, and then the chairs and all for the paying customers.”
“We have a huge awning ordered that we’ll use to keep the sun off the models,” Eliza said. “It’s going to be a big undertaking. Cops are good for crowd control, so you can make yourself useful.”
Jo swallowed hard. “It’s good to be back,” she said.
BY NINE, THEY HAD cleaned up the kitchen. April insisted Jo drive them so she could ride through town in a flashy convertible. Eliza then insisted on sitting in the front, to allow April royal status in the back.
When they set off down the driveway, Eliza turned back to April. “Aren’t you going to wave like the queen does?”
“Brat.” April sat tall, looking around regally, and all three burst out laughing.
Jo hoped the fun in the car masked her case of nerves. She wasn’t going to get out of seeing her foster mother this morning. Would it be better with the others? Practicing what she planned to say, she tried to calm down. But nothing worked.
The trip was too short. They entered the hospital and went right to the elevators. Eliza and April explained that one or both of them came to see Maddie each day. They commented on her progress and prognosis.
“Full recovery, that’s what we’re counting on,” Eliza said.
“It’ll help when she can speak again,” April said. “Sometimes I can understand a word or two, but mostly it’s garbled. Frustrating for her and for us.”
Jo nodded, trying to remember all they’d told her about Maddie.
But the reality proved a shock. The frail woman sitting in a chair near the window barely resembled the foster mother she remembered.
“Hi, Maddie,” April said, walking over to give her a kiss and hug. “Look who we’ve brought!”
Eliza gave her a quick hug, then stepped back. Jo stared at the woman who had done her best to “raise her right.” The woman who’d been there when her own mother had abandoned her responsibilities and left Jo to flounder.
The woman she’d betrayed.
Her throat felt closed. She couldn’t take her eyes off Maddie. She saw every nuance of expression when Maddie realized who stood there. Shock and dismay. Then the struggle to say one word.
“Jo.”
Jo’s heart dropped.
“Hello, Maddie.” The words stuck. She knew what she wanted to say, but just couldn’t.
April and Eliza stared at her, puzzled. She knew she must look like a fool, but her feet seemed rooted to the floor. Suddenly she wished she’d worn blue or pink, though she hadn’t worn either color in more years than she could remember. Black was for widows and old ladies, she remembered Maddie saying. The woman had obviously never been to New York or Los Angeles.
Stupid thing to think about when so much was at stake.
“We didn’t even have to track her down. She heard you were sick and came right away, just like Eliza and I did,” April said.
Maddie hadn’t moved her gaze from Jo. She tried to speak, but as the others had said, only garbled sounds came out after that initial word. Jo could see Maddie was frustrated at her limitations. She obviously wanted to tell her something in the worst way. Jo could just imagine what.
“I won’t stay. My being here’s upsetting you,” Jo said. “I came to tell you I’m sorry for what happened. I never meant to have us all end up scattered. I never meant to get you into trouble. I’m so sorry.”
Maddie tried to say something else, then shook her head.
Jo only gave a half smile and turned to leave.
“Jo!” Eliza called after her.
She didn’t want to hang around. She’d done what she’d come for, not as smoothly as she’d hoped, not as healing, but it was the best she could do. She headed for the elevator. Luck was with her: it was discharging passengers as she reached it. She slipped inside and punched the button for the lobby.
Walking outside a moment later, she stopped. The heat of the day was rapidly building. She felt the sharp contrast to the hospital’s air-conditioning, but now she relished the heat on her skin. She felt chilled inside.
Dispassionately she reviewed the scene, disappointed she didn’t feel better. Somehow she’d thought if she apologized, the guilt of what she’d done would lift. It hadn’t. Of course a hasty sorry and abrupt leave-taking wasn’t quite what she’d pictured, either.
She considered going back, but couldn’t face Maddie. She wouldn’t blame the woman if she never wanted to see her again. And that hurt. Far more than Jo expected. She yearned for the relationship she’d seen between April and Eliza and Maddie. Comfortable with one another. Loving.
Heading for her car, Jo had to decide what to do next. Usually she had every bit of her life laid out—she needed to have plans and backups for the undercover work she did. But now she’d accomplished what she’d set out to do. Feeling deflated and unfulfilled, she wasn’t sure what to do next. She wished she hadn’t agreed to stay for the next few days. Heading back to Los Angeles seemed a brilliant idea right now.
She climbed into the bright red convertible, started the engine and peeled out of the parking lot. She headed out of town, going faster than was safe, as if she could outrun her demons. She hadn’t gotten five miles before she heard the wail of a siren. Looking in the rearview mirror, she saw the flashing lights of a police car. Great, just what she didn’t need!
She checked her speedometer and discovered she was going way over the limit. She hit the brakes and slowly, gradually, pulled to the side of the road, resigned to get a ticket and probably a lecture from the deputy. She could imagine the hoots and hollers of her friends at the department if they ever heard about it. Some of them routinely had tickets, speed acting as an adrenaline release. But she’d never had one before.
She looked in her side mirror as the man got out of the vehicle, lights still flashing. Jo almost groaned when she recognized Sam Witt. He placed his hat on his head, hefted the ticket book and walked to the side of her car.
“Do things a bit differently in California?” he asked when he drew even with her.
“No.”
“Speeding is against the law.”
“So write me a ticket.”
He held out his hand for her license. Jo knew the drill, although she had only worked traffic for six months some years back. She held it out for him to take, then reached over to the glove compartment to withdraw her rental papers. She handed them over, as well, looking straight ahead, fuming. Not at Sam—he was just doing his job.
She was mad at herself. She should never have expected things to change just because she offered an apology. Maddie couldn’t even talk. Did she remember all the hateful words Jo had flung that long-ago day? Why had she thought an apology would fix anything?
SAM STUDIED HER LICENSE. The face on the laminated card was unsmiling. He glanced at her.
Jo gripped the steering wheel so tightly her fingers were white. Staring straight ahead, she didn’t move when he returned her paperwork. He was surprised she didn’t try to talk herself out of a ticket. Usually when caught speeding, cops tried to appeal to the brotherhood of the badge and get out of getting written up. Not Jo.
Sam almost wrote her up, but something held him back. Instead, the rigid way she held herself alerted him something was wrong.
