“Softie,” he accused.
“Cynic,” she shot back. But she smiled and jabbed a finger into his ribs. “Hi, Joseph,” she said when he answered. “Listen, I need Linda’s number… She’s there? Well, let me talk to her.”
“She’s fixing my toilet that isn’t flushing properly,” Joseph was replying when she put the call on speaker. “Means she’s busy.”
“Do it.” Melia sighed. “This’ll only take a minute.”
“Linda!” Johnny heard him shout. He added a sarcastic, “I’m fine by the way. No more ruffians on my doorstep waiting to beat the crap out of me because of you—or more likely Johnny.”
“So nothing unusual has happened since those two men did their nasties?”
“Cas Travers was skulking around. I caught him coming out of my shed yesterday. But other than that, nothing overly weird.”
“Why was Cas in your shed?”
“How the hell would I know? He babbled something about popping rats instead of weasels. Then he grabbed the water pistol he had inside his backpack and took off into the woods. I’d have given him a ride home if he’d asked, but he was gone before I could open my mouth. That kid’s got serious problems, Mel. Someone—his father or you—should be addressing them.”
“I’m not qualified to work with Cas on a professional level,” she reminded him.
“Sheriff “Rocky Mountain High” might think differently. Anyway, no harm done, I guess. Linda!”
Johnny spoke up. “What do you keep in your shed, Joseph?”
“I should have known you’d be with her. Stuff.” He made a cranky sound. “Gardening shit. Boxes and cans of whatever Carl uses to get rid of pests, a bicycle pump, paint, solvent, an extra propane tank. A dirt bike. I’ll lend it to you if you’re looking to get out of town in a hurry.”
He could have been a coiled snake for all the warmth in his tone. Johnny’s lips quirked as Melia injected an extra dose of sweetness into hers. “Still wanting to talk to Linda, Joseph.”
He snorted and shouted for the woman again.
This time, Linda came to the phone. Less than a minute later, she had Gert’s job on a temporary basis, and her husband, Carl, was on call to deal with the yard work.
“Win, win,” Melia said. Then she noticed which direction they were turning. “Why are you heading away from my house?”
Johnny checked his mirrors, saw nothing. “Because I’m about to pass out from lack of food, and Mabel makes good burgers.”
“You just want to mooch a piece of that cake you didn’t get to eat last night.” A savvy brow went up. “And maybe have a chat with Cas if he happens to be hanging around her back room?”
“Not everything I do has an ulterior motive attached to it. But in this case, you’re right. Cas Travers has something to say. I’m just not sure we’re hearing what that is correctly.”
“Johnny…”
“I’m not pointing fingers. All I want is clarification in a few areas.” His gaze circled the parking lot outside the diner. “Seems we’re in luck. I see a squad car.”
“Cas doesn’t ride shotgun with his father, you know.”
“But you told me his other grandmother’s in Orlando, so unless he manages to sneak off while they’re not looking, which I’ll agree he’s done on a regular basis up to now, I figure Grandma Mabel and County Roads daddy will be keeping fairly close tabs on him.”
“Maybe.” Melia gestured sideways while he parked. “That’s Dick Brewer’s truck over there. We’re not going to tell him about Lowell, right?”
“No point. We have no idea where he fits into the big picture. I’m thinking he probably does, but I’m not sure how.” Johnny rounded the hood and took her hand as she climbed out. “Does Mabel do fried green tomatoes? I’m in the mood for something southern.”
“You’re going to have a heart attack before you’re forty, Johnny.”
“If I do, it’ll be because of overexertion during sex and not enough calories taken in to compensate for the outgoing energy flow. I took chemistry in college, same as you.”
“You’re such an ass,” she said, laughing.
Mabel’s was less than half full by midafternoon. Johnny didn’t see Dick Brewer, but Susie was having a soda and a hot dog with her younger sister. Cas was there, as well, huddled in a corner playing with an even larger version of his black water pistol.
Ethan emerged from the kitchen, red-faced and thin-lipped. His mother followed him out. She glanced at Cas, then spied Melia and waved a cheerful hand.
Ethan gave a polite nod. “Melia. Johnny. It’s nice that both of you could come last night. I’m sorry you didn’t want to stay longer.”
“Couldn’t stay longer,” his mother corrected him. “You had a medical emergency, didn’t you, Melia?”
She nodded. “Yes. I—Gert’s in the Bellwater hospital.”
Mabel gasped. “What? Why?”
“We’re not sure. Doctors there are running tests. They’ll let me know as soon as they know anything. Her face was a deep pink color when we found her.”
“Is alcohol poisoning a possibility?”
“I really don’t have any answers yet, Mabel. I doubt it. Gert knows her limit even if Bette occasionally tries to push her over it. I’ll have more information later today.”
Johnny noticed that Ethan’s gaze shifted back and forth between him and Cas. Mabel’s switched from Melia to her son and stayed there. At length, she nudged him between the shoulder blades. “I think you have work to do in town, don’t you? And poor Johnny here looks half starved.”
“I am,” Johnny agreed. “You order, Mel. All I want at this point is something I can eat.”
Melia regarded him doubtfully as Ethan left by the front door and Mabel disappeared into the kitchen. “I don’t trust you. Why the concession to what you know will end up being a healthy meal?”
“I’m hoping to trade a small concession for spectacular sex sometime in the near future.”
“Ever hopeful,” she said. But she couldn’t quite swallow her amusement when he pinched her butt.
She placed a large order, then took a seat at the table next to Susie and Cady Brewer.
“Why so glum?” she asked Susie, whose elbows were propped beneath drooping shoulders.
“Bored stiff.” The girl’s lower lip jutted. “Ever since that jerk Lowell hightailed it, there’s nothing to do at the farm. I want Daddy to find new renters, but he says no. Lowell’s roommate’s still paying for space even if he hardly ever comes around.”
“The roommate’s name was Andy, right?” Johnny asked.
“Sometimes he calls himself Andy. Sometimes he call himself Drew. Guess it depends on his mood. Anyway, he’s okay, but he got kind of pissy when his wallet went missing.” She squirmed in her seat. “Asked if any of us had seen it.”
“Lowell said you’d seen his wallet,” Johnny remarked with a grin. “But then, a jerk like him would say anything, right, just to prove that he is, in fact, a jerk?”
“Yeah.” Susie perked up at the thought. “Yeah, he would, wouldn’t he? Anyway, Drew didn’t make a big stink about it. He just asked, then he shrugged when we said no and drove off.”
“He’s kind of cute sometimes,” Cady remarked. “When his hair’s all curly and clean. I wish he’d be around more often. Then at least there’d be someone to look at when we put on our bikinis.”
“Got mine on right now.” Susie straightened to show off her breasts. “D’you wanna see?” she asked Johnny.
“Almost old enough to be your dad here, kid.”
Susie moved a dismissive shoulder. “So what? So was Lowell. I never saw curly and clean very much,” she said to her sister. “Saw a big blotch.” She flexed like a body builder, then laughed at the poor imitation. “I thought at first he might have money, but probably not. He’s Drew Jubal Bigalow from Little Rock. That’s what he had scribbled on his wallet, anyway. But I guess he’s poor as a church mouse, like Lowell.”