In High Cotton: Neely Kate Mystery #2
Denise Grover Swank
Chapter 1
“Do you have plans Saturday night?”
If my boyfriend Jed had been the one asking, my answer would have been a wholehearted “spending the night with you,” but this was my brother Joe. Four weeks ago, he’d started dating the woman from hell, and she and I hadn’t exactly taken to each other.
“Depends on why you’re askin’,” I said, taking a sip of my coconut milk chai latte with nutmeg and cinnamon, as I shifted back in my seat at our two-person table in the middle of The Daily Grind. He’d blown me off a few times in favor of the aforementioned girlfriend, Dena, but over the last two weeks, he’d put more effort into spending time with me. The tongue-lashing I’d given him likely had a thing or two to do with it. This was the second week in a row we’d had a breakfast coffee date at the shop a few doors down from the landscaping office where I worked with my best friend Rose.
Leaning back in his chair, he crossed his arms over his chest and grinned. “Why, Neely Kate Rivers, are you screening my invitations?”
“The last time you invited me to something, we painted your kitchen and Dena complained the entire time.”
“I wanted her to see how much fun we have paintin’.”
Considering our first big fight had been over Joe blowing off our “painting party” at his house so they could see a movie with her friends, I understood his motivation. He’d wanted to prove to her we really did have fun working on his house. Too bad it had backfired big-time.
“We both know how that went,” I said, picking off a piece of my blueberry muffin and popping it into my mouth. “When she left, she hated me more than before we’d started.”
“You didn’t have to get paint on her shirt.”
I held out my hand. “Who wears nice clothes to paint?”
“She told you she wasn’t paintin’,” Joe said.
“Then why did she come to a paintin’ party?”
His eyes lit up with mischief. “You have a point.”
“Thank you,” I said in a smug tone.
He chuckled. “Well, at least I’ve introduced you to who I’m datin’. You’ve been seeing someone for weeks and I have no idea who he is.”
“I’ll tell you when I’m ready.”
“And when will you be ready?”
When hell freezes over would sound too adversarial. “When I feel like it. On to more important things, like what you’re invitin’ me to.”
His smile faded, and he leaned forward, resting his forearm on the table. “I’ve been thinkin’ about something you said… that I was embarrassed to let people know you’re my sister.”
My good mood instantly vanished. This had been a huge source of contention between us. Joe and I had only discovered we were half-siblings back in February. His wealthy, influential, and sociopathic father’d had an affair (if you could call it that) with my then-seventeen-year-old mother. Since J.R. Simmons didn’t leave loose ends lying around, my mother had run away. She’d never told anyone, including me, the truth. I’d found out from Rose’s mother’s diary, and the information had been confirmed by Kate, my unstable half sister. She was now locked up in a psychiatric ward, though she still attempted to control my life like a puppet master.
The situation had ended up in the papers, but my peripheral involvement had not. Very few people knew the truth of my parentage, and Joe had insisted on keeping it that way, even though people had begun to notice how much time we spent together. At first, I’d assumed Dena was unpleasant to me out of jealousy, thinking Joe and I were romantically involved, but Joe had apparently told her I was his sister on their second date.
“Now hold up, Neely Kate,” he quickly added before my irritation could escalate into a tirade. “Hear me out. I keep telling you I’m not embarrassed of you, and I’m not, but I can understand why you have trouble believin’ it. So I want to fix that.”
I shot him a scowl. “Go on.” I suspected his idea of fixing it was completely different from mine.
“You know my biggest concern is that you’ll be hurt once people find out. While we knew our father was dirty and shady, it’s still big news to the rest of the world.” And a big scandal too. J.R. Simmons had been the most powerful, influential man in Arkansas, both in business and in politics. Joe made a face, then continued. “I guess I didn’t take into account that not tellin’ people was hurtin’ you too. Either way I’m hurtin’ you, Neely Kate, and it kills me.”
“The only way you can hurt me is to ignore me,” I said. “Like after we first found out. And when you picked Dena over me.”
“I know, and I’m sorry for being such a fool. It was wrong of me to make the decision for you. It should be your call, not mine.”
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. “You’re kiddin’.”
“I’m not, and if you’re up to it, I want to take you to a fundraiser dinner in Little Rock on Saturday night. It would be your debut as a Simmons kid.”
“You’d tell people that I’m your sister?” I asked in shock. “You won’t introduce me as your friend?”
“I’m not sure you realize how big this is. It’s likely to make the paper, so I want you to be certain this is what you want. People will probably stare and whisper about us at the dinner. Do you think you can take it?”
My back straightened. “Of course I can.”
He gave me a sheepish grin. “I know you can. You’re strong enough to withstand anything. I guess what I should have asked is if it’s really worth it to you. Is it worth facing so much scrutiny? Maybe you should think about it. It’s a big decision.”
He was right. Why did I want this so badly? I wasn’t sure, but it felt like I’d been missing a piece all my life and Joe had just handed it to me.
I shook my head. “There’s nothing to think about. I’d love to go.”
He grinned. “Great. I thought we could head up to Little Rock around three. I still have my apartment, so we can get dressed there. The dinner’s likely to go late, so we can stay in Little Rock overnight and come home on Saturday.”
Spend the night? That made sense, but two things gave me pause: One, my boyfriend Jed and I usually went to Little Rock together on Sundays. And two, Rose was going away for the weekend with Skeeter Malcolm and I’d promised to watch her dog.
“What bothers you about that?” he asked, studying my face.
“Nothing,” I said, concealing my thoughts. I wasn’t about to tell him about Jed, and Rose’s relationship with Skeeter was both brand new and top secret. When you decided to start sleeping with the king of the local crime world, it helped to keep it on the down low—especially when your best friend’s brother was the chief deputy sheriff. But Rose saw a different man than the rest of the world, and she swore that one of the reasons he kept his position was because he worried what would happen to the county if someone else took over. Turned out Skeeter Malcolm had morals. “I guess I’m still shocked that you changed your mind.”
He leaned back in his chair again, giving me a cocky smile. “Maybe your good sense is rubbing off on me.”
I laughed at that. “You’re probably the third person to tell me that.”
His brow rose. “Rose being the first? Who was the second? Witt?”
I just grinned. Jed was the other one who’d said it, but I knew Joe wouldn’t approve of me being in the same room as Jed, never mind dating him. Jed had been Skeeter Malcolm’s right-hand man for years, which meant he’d dirtied his hands in plenty of Fenton County messes. Even though he’d turned his back on that world and was starting fresh, he needed more time and distance before Joe would be willing to accept him.
Joe’s phone rang, and he made a face as he pulled it out. Shooting me a quick look, he turned off the ringer and set his phone facedown on the table.
“Not important?” I asked.