I pulled away, and my eyes narrowed in anger. “Don’t you ever say that again. We couldn’t be truer sisters than if we were identical twins. Even if we didn’t share a father—or heck, even a single drop of blood—everything we’ve been through together would make us sisters.” I grabbed her hand and clasped it tight. “I owe you more than I could ever repay, Vi. A few months of fighting isn’t gonna make me forget that.”
“Thank you,” she said through tears.
“Oh, Vi. I love you. You could never lose me, no matter what. I couldn’t have survived without you when we were kids. And that’s something I will never forget.”
“But I know how terrible I’ve been.” She searched my face. “How can you forgive me?”
“I’m not going to lie. It’s not easy. But we’re off to a good start, don’t you think? Let’s just take it a day at a time.”
She nodded. “Okay.”
My phone dinged with a text, and I dug it out of my pocket, trying not to cringe when I read it.
If you don’t come see me, I’ll find you.
Crappy doodles.
I stuffed my phone into my coat pocket. “Vi, I have to go. I’ll call you tomorrow about picking up Ashley.”
Her gaze landed on my pocket, then rose to my face. “Is everything okay?”
I forced a smile. “Of course. I just remembered that I need to stop by the store to pick up something for dinner. Maeve’s spending the night. She did all the cooking last time she stayed with us, so I want to make sure she takes it easy.”
Violet looked suspicious. “I thought you were still banned from the Piggly Wiggly.”
I scowled at the reminder. “Mason’s working that out.”
“Then how are you going to shop there today? And what about Muffy?”
At the sound of her name, Muffy came running out from the back room and sat at Violet’s feet.
I bent down and scooped her up. “Maybe I’ll order take-out from that new Mexican restaurant. Jonah took his secretary there a couple of days ago.”
“Jonah Pruitt’s dating his secretary?”
I shook my head. “You’re slipping, Vi. I told you that days ago.” I gave her a quick hug and moved toward the door, Muffy following. She’d eagerly sniffed every last corner of the store. “Now I really have to go.”
“Be careful, Rose.”
I was sure gonna try.
Chapter Four
Skeeter Malcolm was not a patient man. I wasn’t sure why that irritated me so much. It wasn’t like it came as a surprise. He couldn’t expect me to drop everything and come running, but after his last text, I couldn’t very well continue to ignore him. I wouldn’t put it past him to show up at my front door during dinner, asking me to set an extra plate.
I started my truck and drove out of the parking lot while I called him back.
He answered on the first ring and laughed. “I figured that would get your attention.”
“What do you want, Skeeter?”
“I need your help.”
“I already gave you my help and almost got caught!”
“But you didn’t. I made damn sure of that.”
“I helped you before because I needed my money back. I don’t need anything from you this time.”
He paused. “Are you sure about that?”
Something in his voice gave me pause. What was he talking about?
“What do you want, Skeeter?” I repeated, not feeling as cocky as before.
“I need you to read someone.”
“Excuse me?” I pulled up to a stop sign. “What does that mean?”
“You know,” he fumbled. “I need you to tell me if somebody did something.”
“I’m not a living lie detector, Skeeter Malcolm. I see visions of the future, not the past. I have no idea how I’d go about doing something like that, even if I wanted to. Which I don’t.”
“Well, I need you anyway, so figure something out.”
“I can’t. I have to get home to make dinner.”
“What is it with you and making dinner?” he asked in disbelief. “What are you? Julia Crocker or something?”
I groaned. “It’s Julia Child and Betty Crocker. And no, I’m just a normal person going home to make dinner like most normal people do.”
“Baby, there’s nothin’ normal about you. Get over to the pool hall in ten minutes.”
“Skeeter!” I protested, but he hung up. Damn him.
A car behind me honked, and I realized I was still at the stop sign. I drove through the intersection and pulled into the parking lot of the Burger Shack, going over my options.
First, I could ignore him, but I was certain he’d send someone for me or even come himself. How would I explain that? Which of course was what he was hoping would drive me to my second option: go to him and do as he asked. But if I jumped as soon as he called, I’d be setting a bad precedent. Maybe we could figure out some sort of compromise. I had Muffy with me right now, and I really didn’t want to expose my poor dog to the seedy underbelly of Henryetta. She’d already endured enough.
Instead, I sent a text. I’ll meet you tomorrow morning. But not at the pool hall. I can’t be seen there after what happened on Thanksgiving. Pick a place where no one will know me or my truck.
He took so long to answer, I was sure I was gonna turn up dead in a ditch, just like Mr. Sullivan from the bank. Instead, he texted me back five minutes later as I was pulling into the Mexican restaurant’s parking lot.
Fine. I’ll let you know when and where.