Chapter 11

Gary Dye tossed his overnight bag onto the front floorboard of his car and then patted his pocket to make sure his wallet was there, and it was. He’d already been to Jarrod’s girlfriend’s house to pick up his things and had found Ruby’s address among them. That was all the information he needed. All he had to do now was drive to Georgia. It didn’t bother him that he was going there to kill a woman. It didn’t occur to him that he might get caught like Jarrod had. Jarrod’s whole life had been one knee-jerk reaction after another. Gary considered himself smarter since he’d already gotten away with murder once when he was a teenager. He’d rolled a drunk for his wallet. The drunk woke up and saw him, so Gary slit his throat, and with no witness to the crime, he was never brought to justice. The success of that crime had given him a sense of empowerment—like he could do whatever he wanted and get away with it.

As for Ruby, he had a silencer on his handgun. She’d be dead and he’d be gone before anyone found the body. But it had to happen quickly, before people realized there was a stranger in town.

He glanced at the time. It would be dark soon. He could drive all night and be there by morning, find a place to stay, and get a few hours’ sleep. That was his plan, and he was sticking to it.

He buckled up and drove away.

* * *

The sisters finally decided to check out Uncle Elmer’s property and then go to dinner afterward. Only one problem… None of them knew the address. They were halfway down the stairs when they saw Rachel moving through the downstairs foyer.

“Rachel! Rachel!” Betsy called out.

Rachel stopped and looked up. “Good evening, ladies. On your way out to dinner, I see.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Betsy said. “But we have a bit of a dilemma and were wondering if you could tell us how to get to Elmer Mathis’s property. We didn’t ask the lawyer for an address when he notified us.”

“Oh. You’ve never been there?” Rachel asked as they reached the ground floor.

“I was there once, years ago,” Betsy said. “But I was little.”

“Okay then. Of course I know where it is, but I’m trying to think of the best way to tell you. I think, just stay on the road as you leave the bed-and-breakfast until you get to Downing Street. Turn left, go two…no, go three blocks down, and it will be the big red two-story brick with white columns along the verandah.”

“Okay, got it,” Betsy said. “Thank you so much. We won’t be late coming back.”

“Enjoy,” Rachel said, and then watched them leave before going back to work.

The sisters were chattering among themselves, each planning what they wanted to do with their share of the inheritance, when they reached Downing Street.

“Turn left here,” Betsy said.

Loretta glared. “I heard her. I’m already turning,” she said.

“Soo-rrr-yyy,” Betsy drawled.

Wilma sighed. “Can we please just get along for more than five minutes at a time?”

No one answered her, so she leaned back and shut her mouth. The house was easy to spot. The only two-story dark-red brick on the block, with a wide verandah and small, white columns.

“Not as grand as I expected,” Loretta muttered.

“What exactly were you expecting? A version of Tara from Gone with the Wind? For crying out loud, Loretta. No one in our family was rich, including us,” Wilma muttered.

Loretta’s face turned red, but she didn’t talk back. Instead, she pulled up in the driveway and parked.

“I want to see what it looks like around back,” Loretta said.

Betsy pointed to a sign on the privacy fence. “It says No Trespassers.”

“We’re not trespassing on our own property,” Loretta snapped.

“It’s not ours yet,” Betsy said.

Loretta shrugged. “I still want to look.”

“Fine. You look. I’m staying in the car,” Wilma said.

“I’m staying with Wilma,” Betsy said.

Loretta got out alone, slammed the door shut behind her, stomped up the steps to peer inside the windows, and then came down off the verandah and headed for the gate.

Before she could get there, a man came out of the house next door and walked to the edge of his property.

“Hey, lady, what are you doing?” he asked.

“I’m going to look at my property!” Loretta snapped.

“This belongs to Elmer Mathis.”

“He was our mother’s twin brother. He died, and we’re inheriting,” she said.

The expression on the man’s face went from concern to distaste. He looked at the women in the car and then walked back into his house.

Loretta smirked as she opened the gate and then disappeared.

“Do you think we should have gone with her?” Betsy asked.

Wilma shrugged. “I’m not doing anything illegal, regardless of what Loretta wants.”

Betsy sighed.

Wilma folded her arms.

It wasn’t long before Loretta came back. She got in the car and drove away without saying a word.

“Well?” Betsy asked.

Loretta shrugged, a little disillusioned by Uncle Elmer’s property. “It’s a large backyard with an overgrown garden. Nothing fancy.”

Betsy sighed. “I’m starved. The cafe is on Main Street.”

“And that’s where I’m headed,” Loretta muttered, taking a left turn to get out of the residential area.

A few minutes later, they pulled into the parking lot at Granny’s.

“Wow. Look at all the cars,” Wilma said.

“I hope we don’t have to wait. I don’t like to wait,” Loretta said.

“We know,” Betsy muttered, and got out.

The other two followed and managed to enter the cafe without another fuss.

Lovey was at the register. “Welcome to Granny’s,” she said. “Three for dinner, or will some more be joining you?”

“Just us, thank you,” Betsy said.

“Booth or table?”

“We’ll take a booth,” Loretta said.

“Follow me,” Lovey said, and took them to the only empty booth, which just happened to be behind the one in which Peanut had been seated.

The sisters took note of the man as they sat down.

“Your waitress will be right with you,” Lovey said, and headed back to the front.

“The man in the booth behind us is cute,” Betsy whispered.

Loretta nodded.

Wilma giggled and lowered her voice. “Too bad we don’t live here. I’d date someone like him.”

Loretta glanced around the cafe with her upper lip slightly curled. “This place is definitely not a five-star establishment, but I suppose it is quaint,” she said.

“It smells good in here,” Wilma said.

“It does not smell anything like fine dining,” Loretta said.

Betsy leaned across the table. “Either stop talking so loudly, or stop talking,” she hissed.

Loretta frowned.

Wilma sighed.

And Peanut heard it all, including what they thought about him and the sarcastic tone in one woman’s voice. He’d only talked to them once, but he was pretty sure that Elmer Mathis’s nieces were already in Blessings. He did not look forward to the face-to-face meeting tomorrow. Then he saw Ruby coming in the door and forgot all about them as he stood, greeting her with a quick kiss on the cheek before they sat down.

“This has been the longest day of my life,” Peanut said.

Ruby frowned. “Why, honey?”

“Because I haven’t seen you since breakfast.”

She grinned. “Well, I’m here now, and I’m starving. How about you?”

“Now darlin’, you know I’m always hungry…for one thing or another.”

Ruby laughed, and the sound was nothing short of pure delight.

The sisters heard the laugh and shrugged at each other. Loretta pointed to her eyes and then made a disparaging face to indicate what she thought of Ruby’s appearance.

Betsy kicked her under the table and frowned.

Wilma put a finger to her lips to indicate silence.

Loretta sighed. Regardless of the little blonde’s facial appearance, it was obvious the man was already taken.

Then their waitress arrived with menus and a smile.

“Evening, ladies. My name is Lila. I’ll be your waitress. What would you like to drink?”

They ordered sweet tea, two with lemon, one without, then Lila left them studying the menus.

She came back almost immediately with a basket of biscuits and a small bowl of honey butter. “These are our famous heavenly biscuits. I’ll be back to get your orders shortly.”

Betsy reached for a biscuit.

“You’ll ruin your dinner,” Loretta snapped.

“You are not my mother,” Betsy said. She split the biscuit, spread honey butter on it, and handed half to Wilma, then took a big bite of her half. “Oh my God,” she groaned. “This is the best biscuit I’ve ever had in my life.”

“Ditto,” Wilma said, licking the butter off her finger and taking another bite.

“Well, for goodness’ sake,” Loretta said, and buttered one of her own.

She took the first bite and then another, then finished off the biscuit and went for seconds.

“You’ll ruin your dinner,” Betsy mocked.

“Do shut up,” Loretta said, and licked her thumb to get the last bit of butter.

Wilma just kept studying the menu. After a couple of minutes, she had decided. “I’m having the sliced ham dinner. How about you?”

“Oh…uh…” Betsy grabbed her menu. “Chicken. Fried chicken.”

Loretta glanced down at her menu. “I’ll have fried chicken too,” she said. “And more biscuits with dinner.”

They giggled.

“We need to save room for pie,” Wilma said. “The woman who makes biscuits also makes pies, remember?”

“Right…pie,” Betsy said. “Oh my. Pie.” Then she giggled again. “Wilma, I feel like I did the night I drank all that champagne at your daughter’s wedding.”

Loretta glared. “You cannot get drunk on buttered biscuits.”

Betsy sighed. “Well, they make me as happy as that champagne did, anyway.”

Wilma laughed.

Loretta sighed, and then Lila came back to take their orders. Two fried chicken dinners, one ham dinner, and a refill on biscuits, along with three pieces of coconut cream pie.

Lila left to turn in the orders.

The sisters’ introduction to Blessings was just getting started.

Lovey, being Lovey, was always curious about strangers. Visiting with strangers in her cafe was how she’d met her last husband, God rest his soul. She brought the pitcher of sweet tea to their booth and began topping off their glasses.

“Evening, ladies. I’m Lovey Cooper. I own Granny’s. How is everything?” she asked.

Betsy giggled. “Everything is wonderful. Best biscuits I ever ate.”

Lovey grinned. “Everyone says that. Glad you’re enjoying them.”

Betsy giggled again.

Wilma rolled her eyes. “Betsy thinks she’s drunk. She said the biscuits made her as happy as the night she got drunk on champagne.”

Lovey laughed out loud. “Now that’s a new one. I’ll have to share that with Mercy. She’s my baker.”

“I’d like to meet that woman,” Loretta said. “She has to be a five-star chef from somewhere else.”

Lovey resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Why people persisted in thinking it wasn’t possible for anyone special to come from small-town America was beyond her.

“I’ll see if she has a couple of minutes to come say hello,” Lovey said.

“Wonderful,” Loretta said, then watched Lovey disappear into the kitchen. She was not expecting the tall, black-haired beauty who came back out with her. “Oh. My. Lord,” she whispered.

“What?” Betsy asked, and turned to see what Loretta was looking at. Her eyes widened, and her mouth opened, but she never got anything else said.

“Ladies, this is Mercy Pittman. She’s Chief Pittman’s wife, and the amazing baker you’ve been raving about. Mercy, these ladies love your biscuits.”

Mercy’s dark eyes flashed with delight. “I am happy to hear that,” she said.

Loretta was rarely speechless, but the young woman’s beauty was startling. “Uh…where did you study? Your culinary skills, I mean,” she asked.

Mercy smiled. “At the fourth foster family I was sent to…or maybe it was my fifth. There were enough of them that they all ran together after a while.”

The shock on Loretta’s face was obvious. “You mean you’re not classically trained?”

Mercy laughed. “No, ma’am. I guess I’m just good at what I do. Now if you ladies will excuse me, I think there’s another batch of biscuits due to come out of the oven. I wouldn’t want to let them burn.”

She waved and then headed back to the kitchen.

“She’s as stunning from the backside as she is from the front,” Betsy said. “And she can bake with the best of them. I would say the chief of police must be one very happy man.”

“Enjoy your dinner,” Lovey said, and went back to the front of the cafe as Lila came back with their food.

The sisters bickered for a few minutes as condiments were passed around, and then the booth went quiet as they began to eat. A short while later, Lila brought out the desserts they’d ordered, and the sisters dug into the pie.

“This is just as good as the biscuits,” Wilma said. “I wish I could bake like this.”

“So maybe you could go to cooking classes with some of your inheritance money,” Betsy said.

Wilma smiled. “Maybe so!”

Loretta swallowed her last bite and pushed back her plate with a groan. “If I ate here every day I’d soon be fat as a pig,” she said.

“I know,” Betsy said. “Me too.”

“I’m going to redecorate,” Loretta said. “I wish we already knew what we’re getting, but there’s bound to be money as well as property, or the old man would not have been able to pay for that nursing home he was in. I don’t know why that lawyer wouldn’t tell us. It’s certain he already knows.”

“I’m going to travel,” Betsy said.

“I just want to pay bills,” Wilma said.

Lila came back by to leave their bill. “Thank you, ladies, for coming to Granny’s,” she said.

“Do we pay you?” Betsy asked.

Lila pointed up front to the register. “You pay Lovey,” she said, and moved to Peanut and Ruby’s booth to refill their drinks.

Peanut watched the women as they passed by on their way up front.

As soon as Lila was gone, Ruby leaned over the table. “Who are those women?”

“Elmer Mathis’s nieces,” he replied.

“Really?”

Ruby turned around in the booth for a second look. They were still at the register, arguing with each other as they paid their tabs.

“I don’t remember seeing them before,” Ruby said as she turned back around.

“That’s because they didn’t visit,” Peanut said, then changed the subject. “Did you get settled in okay?”

She shrugged. “Sort of. I wound up going to the shop, then stayed too late to go to the Piggly Wiggly so I’ll have to do that in the morning.”

“I’ll be in my office early for the reading of the will. Can I take you to lunch afterward?”

“No, but you can come by the house for lunch,” Ruby said.

Peanut grinned.

“That’s even better. Thank you for the invitation,” he said, then eyed the bowl of potato soup that she’d ordered. “You ate most of your soup. Would you like dessert?”

“I couldn’t eat a whole piece of pie,” she said.

He grinned. “How about I order the dessert and two forks?”

“Yes, please,” Ruby said.

Peanut waved Lila down. “The usual,” he said.

“One dessert, two forks,” Lila said, and giggled. “What’ll it be tonight. Pie or cobbler?”

“Surprise us,” Peanut said.

Ruby leaned back in the booth, watching the play of emotions on Peanut’s face, and thought about how it had felt when they made love.

Lila came back almost immediately with their dessert—chocolate cream pie and two forks. “I thought this might be easier for you, Ruby…until you get the stitches out of your lip.”

“That is so thoughtful of you, Lila. Thank you,” Peanut said.

Ruby’s fingers automatically went to her lip. It was healing. “Yes, thank you,” she said.

“Welcome,” Lila said. “Enjoy.”

Ruby picked up her fork, cut the first bite, and then aimed it at Peanut’s mouth.

“First bite and last bite will be yours tonight.”

He didn’t argue.

Ruby was laughing at him when she was struck by such a sense of sadness that tears suddenly welled. The feeling scared her, but she quickly blinked back the tears.

“Now my bite,” she said, and dug in.

But the chocolate was bitter in her mouth, and it was all she could do to swallow it. She chased it with a drink of sweet tea and then let Peanut eat what was left.

Even after he walked her to her car and gave her a sweet goodbye kiss, she couldn’t shake the feeling.

“Love you, darlin’,” Peanut said. “Drive safe going home.”

She had hold of both sides of his jacket as he bent down to kiss her goodbye.

“I love you too. Remember that. I love you too.”

He laughed. “I’m not likely to forget, since it took me so long to get the guts to tell you how I felt.”

“Right,” she said, and laughed it off. Then she got in her car and drove out of the parking lot.

She glanced up into her rearview mirror and saw Peanut’s car behind her. He turned off Main before her, and as his lights disappeared, the sadness struck her again.

She cried the rest of the way home.

* * *

It was just before daylight when Gary Dye drove into Blessings, looking for the local motel. He’d seen a billboard with their name on it a couple miles back and was more than ready for a few hours of sleep.

The little town was just beginning to wake up. Lights were on in a cafe called Granny’s, and the gas stations were open for business. There was a light on outside the police station, and one he could see inside through a frosted-glass window. He wouldn’t be here long enough to worry about the cops.

When he saw the Curl Up and Dye hair salon, his heart skipped a beat. He knew Ruby used to be a stylist so that had to be hers! He sneered. She must have thought she was being cute by using his family name for a damn beauty shop. He’d soon put a stop to that.

A few minutes later, he drove up to the motel where he went into the office and signed a fake name. When the clerk asked for an ID, he gave her a long, silent look and shoved two one-hundred-dollar bills across the counter.

She took the money and gave him a room key.

“Two-thirteen, upstairs and to your left.”

He grabbed the key without comment and headed for his room with dragging steps. He unlocked the door, then immediately locked it behind him before tossing his travel bag onto the table. He hung his coat over the chair and went to wash up.

The room was nothing fancy but clean enough, and he was tired. He checked the locks once more, took his pistol out of his bag, and laid it beside the bed, then took off his shoes and stretched out.

The mattress was lumpy. The coverlet smelled slightly of smoke despite the No Smoking signs all over. He fell asleep wondering how much Ruby’s appearance had changed, and if he would recognize her.