She crossed her arms and looked down her nose at me. “And who’s askin’?”
“I’m sorry.” I took a step closer. “I’m Rose. I’m a friend of Dolly’s, and I haven’t seen her in days. I know you’re her best friend, so I figured you’d know how she’s doin’.”
She still eyed me with suspicion. “How do you know her?”
“Uh . . .” I panicked, forgetting Neely Kate’s coaching. “We work together.” Oh crappy doodles. I didn’t even know where she worked.
Her arms dropped, and she looked less defensive. “At Gems?”
Gems? Billy Jack said she’d run off with the bartender from where she worked. Gems had to be a bar or a restaurant. “Yeah, that’s right.”
A slight smile lifted her lips. “Why didn’t you say so?” She looked me over, shaking her head. “I have to say that you don’t look the type. But then, Mud’s one for the unusual.”
I had no idea what she was talking about, but at least she was still talking. “She hasn’t shown up for work in a few days. And neither has the bartender she’s been seeing. Do you happen to know where she is? Her momma’s worried.”
She shook her head with a frown. “I told her not to take a job there. Gems is nothing but trouble.”
“Why’s that?” I asked.
“Everyone knows that Mud is up to no good. It might pay better than the other place, but it’s not worth the risk.”
“What’s he up to?”
She looked at me like I was a crazy person. “You’re the one workin’ there. You tell me.”
Oh, yeah.
“So you don’t know where she’s run off to?”
“I don’t know what she’s up to half the time anymore. Not since her bitch of a cousin’s wedding. If anyone knows what Dolly’s up to, that woman would know.” Disgust covered her face. “Neely Kate River.”
What on earth had happened to make her hate Neely Kate so much? And she knew Neely Kate was married, but she’d called her by her maiden name and not her married name—Colson. Based on the timing, the fight had to be related to Neely Kate’s wedding. Maybe Tabitha was upset she hadn’t been asked to be one of Neely Kate’s many bridesmaids, since nearly half the county had been in the wedding.
“Her boyfriend, Billy Jack, said she took off with a bartender from Gems.”
“Oh, really?” she asked, getting excited. “Which one?”
Panic set in. “Cute. Brown hair.”
A sly grin spread across her face. “Good for her. I told her that weasel Billy Jack was foolin’ around on her.” She laughed. “I heard from a girl at the club that Dolly busted his ginormous flat screen a couple of weeks ago.”
Huh. Billy Jack had told us she’d busted it just a few days ago, right before the bartender picked her up. “Okay, thank you.” I handed her one of my business cards. “If you hear or think of anything, could you let me know? Like I said, her momma’s really worried.”
She looked it over. “This says you own a landscaping business, but you said you work at Gems. Which is it?”
“Uh . . .” I hadn’t even considered that. “Both. Do you have any idea how much business a landscaping company gets in December?”
She gave me a blank stare.
“None, that’s how much it gets. Christmas is coming, and I need to buy presents.”
Tabitha seemed to accept my answer and stuffed my card into her bag. “I hear you there, girl. We’re all desperate in our own way.”
One of the older women walked up and asked, “Tabitha, you said that hip gyration could be used in sexual intercourse. What about with an inflatable pump? Won’t it break it?”
My eyes flew open. “I gotta get going. Thanks, Tabitha.”
She snickered and turned to answer the woman as I hurried out the door.
At least I knew what our next steps should be. Neely Kate and I needed to go to Gems to see if the bartender was really missing and if anyone there knew what was going on. In fact, I couldn’t believe that Neely Kate hadn’t thought of that first.
I had made it out to the parking lot and was walking toward my truck when Neely Kate sat up in the passenger’s seat.
“You’ve got to be kiddin’ me!” Tabitha shouted from behind me, rushing past me. “You get out of that truck, you lyin’ whore!”
I stopped, watching in horror as Tabitha wrenched open the door and started to pull Neely Kate out of the truck.
“I’m not the lyin’ whore!” Neely Kate yelled as she stumbled to get her footing. “You are, you back-stabbing witch! You tried to steal my husband!”
“Me?” Tabitha screeched, lunging for Neely Kate’s hair. “He was mine to start with!”
“Let go of me!”