“Oh, I guess I missed him.”
I walked over to the garment bags and unzipped the top one, amazed to find it stuffed full. “There must be five dresses in this bag.” The top one was a deep ruby-red formal dress, and there were two more bags underneath. How many dresses did Violet own?
“She sent a bunch of shoes too. They’re still in my car.”
“Witt,” I said, “why don’t you go help Maeve carry them in?”
He looked torn, but finally nodded and headed out the door, with Maeve following behind him. I stood behind the closed door and watched them, starting to feel a little stir-crazy.
Joe was still on the phone, watching me through the windshield of his car. He gave me a wave. Then a frown tugged at his lips as he glanced down at his lap and started talking in what appeared to be an intense conversation.
Movement in the street caught my eye, and I spotted Dena making a beeline across the street, heading directly for me. Great. I really didn’t have the time or patience for her nonsense right now.
She was momentarily distracted when she caught sight of Joe in his running sedan talking on his cell, but she seemed to think better of interrupting him and headed straight for me.
I pushed the door open and met her on the sidewalk. “Hey, Dena.”
“Oh my word, Neely Kate. I heard about what happened today. Are you okay?” She sounded genuinely concerned.
I offered Dena a smile. “Yeah. Thank goodness for Joe and my cousin Witt. And Muffy. She’s the true hero.”
I caught Joe’s terrified gaze on us, but he was still trapped in his animated phone call.
Dena didn’t seem to notice. “You must be scared spitless with Kate on the loose. Was she behind the attempted kidnappin’?”
I shrugged. “I have no idea who was behind it. But Joe’s making a call about the whole thing right now.”
She glanced back at her boyfriend, then turned to me with worry in her eyes. “Is there anything I can do for you? Do you need a place to stay?”
I tried to hide my surprise. “Joe’s watching over me today, and I’ll stay with my boyfriend tonight.”
I expected her to make a comment about my imaginary boyfriend, but instead she asked, with barely concealed eagerness, “So Joe’s free tonight?”
Figured. I gave her a saccharine smile. “You’ll have to talk to him about that.”
She gave me a stern look. “Surely y’all aren’t goin’ to that benefit tomorrow night.”
“We haven’t decided yet.”
She cast a disgruntled look toward Joe. “What is that man thinkin’, puttin’ you at unnecessary risk? He needs to get his priorities straight. He should stick around here and find that crazy sister of his.”
Once again, she caught me by surprise with her concern. I would have expected her to insist Joe take her instead.
“I’m not a total bitch,” Dena said, then grinned at my shock. “I know what you think, and I concede that I’ve had some jealous moments I’m not so proud of, but I’m not that awful of a person, Neely Kate. You used to like me before Joe and I started datin’.”
“You’re right,” I said, “but I saw Joe’s dysfunctional relationship with Hilary up close and personal, and parts of what I’m seeing are too close for comfort. He’s come a long way since February, and I’d hate for him to fall back into those patterns.”
“I’m not a manipulative bitch who will try to kidnap and kill his ex-girlfriend.” She gave me a wry look. “Yeah, I know about Hilary.” She took a breath. “I’m not anything like her. I promise. I just know what a great guy he is, and I guess I was a little overzealous at tryin’ to keep him. Joe Simmons is like a dream come true.”
A little overzealous? I would have picked another term to describe it, but she seemed sincere. “For one thing, you can’t keep him. Joe has to be with you of his own free will, and he seems to want to be. Just relax and trust him, otherwise all of your crazy shenanigans are only gonna drive him away.”
She looked embarrassed. “I can see some truth in what you’re sayin’.”
“And I can see that I’ve made things a little difficult.”
A soft smile lit up her face. “I think we might be makin’ progress.”
“Yeah,” I said. “Maybe we are.”
Witt rounded the corner with Maeve, carrying a tall stack of shoeboxes that he struggled to see around. I hurried over and took the top three boxes. “How many shoes does Violet think I need?”
“What are you doin’ out here, Neely Kate?” he asked in an irritated tone.
“Joe’s watchin’ me through his windshield.”
“He was watchin’ you while you were in the damn restaurant,” he grumbled. “And look how that turned out.”
I shot him a glare.
Dena opened the door to the office, and we dumped the boxes on the floor next to my desk. Muffy had crawled under Rose’s desk and was curled up in her dog bed.
“I need to get back to the nursery,” Maeve said. “I’d love to take Muffy with me if you need someone to watch her.”
Something in my heart twisted. I felt an even bigger connection to her since she’d proven she would risk her own life to protect me. But that only proved I couldn’t put her in that position again. I needed to keep her safe.
I nodded, tears stinging my eyes. “Yeah. Take her.”
Maeve pulled me into a hug. “I’ll take good care of her. I promise.”
“I know you will.” I wasn’t sure there was anyone I trusted more.
We helped Maeve collect Muffy, and Joe walked in the front door just as she was going out.
“Is everything okay in here?” he asked in a worried tone. His gaze landed on me and Dena.
“Everything’s great,” Dena said.
“I was just dropping off Violet’s dresses and shoes,” Maeve said, patting Joe’s arm. “And now I’m taking Muffy so y’all don’t have to worry about her.”
“Thanks, Maeve. Let me walk you to your car.” He pushed the door open and headed back out, strolling past the office windows with her, already deep in conversation.
“Are y’all plannin’ on stayin’ here very long?” Dena asked. “I can bring you dinner.”
Witt patted his stomach. “I could eat.”
I almost countered that he could always eat, but he hadn’t eaten any lunch, and that was on account of me. “That would be really nice of you, Dena. Thank you.”
She gave me a warm look, and I started to wonder if we’d just had a huge misunderstanding. “Y’all don’t worry about a thing. I’ll be back in about an hour.”
“Thanks, Dena.”
She went outside and spent a few moments talking to Joe as he was coming back in. I tried not to stare, but I couldn’t help noticing how relaxed Joe seemed with her and how she beamed up at him. My gut told me that Dena wasn’t good for Joe, but his gut told him that Jed was wrong for me. Were we both wrong? Were we both right?
He gave her a long kiss goodbye, then came back inside. Without saying a word, he rolled Rose’s chair over to my desk and sat down. “The Dallas detective I spoke to was aware of Alonzo Adkins. He’s a low-level flunky with the Hardshaw Group.”
Neither Witt nor I said anything for several seconds before Witt asked, “So you’re telling me the fucking Hardshaw Group is after my cousin?”
Joe didn’t say anything.
My heart skipped a beat, and I suddenly ached for Jed. I’d relied on him the last month, and even though he was helping me another way, I selfishly wished he was here. The independent me was frightened by the needy part. I’d fought hard to become this person and leave the woman I’d been in Ardmore behind, but I also realized that Jed had been in the thick of this, and I valued his opinion. He needed to hear this too. “I’m calling Jed.”
Joe didn’t protest, so I placed the call.
“You okay, NK?” Jed asked as soon as he answered.
“I’ve been better.”
“I wish I was there with you. You have no idea how hard it’s been not to drop everything and come see you for myself, but I’ve set up a meeting with Gerard Collard. My gut says he knows something.”
“I’m okay,” I said. “And you’re on speaker… with Witt and Joe.”