“She was Iris’s daughter who died not long after Iris,” Hattie said.
“Did Darcy have children?” Kate asked.
Hattie shook her head. “Poor little thing never married and never had kids. Iris wanted grandbabies so bad. Me and Victor tried to share ours when they came to visit, but it wasn’t the same.”
“So you and Victor have lived here your whole lives?” Kate asked.
“Yep, and been best friends since we was little kids in the church nursery. We’ve been fightin’ and tellin’ each other our secrets for over eighty years,” Hattie said proudly.
“And you never dated?” Amanda raised her eyebrows.
“Lord, no, darlin’. I wouldn’t date this old fart.”
“And I couldn’t date her. She knew too much about me. Wouldn’t be no fun in that.” Victor laughed. “Thanks for the tea, but we got to get going. Got to get my lawn mowed this afternoon. Y’all want me to ride my mower up here and take care of yours?”
“How much do you charge?” Amanda asked.
“Well now, I reckon if you’d make up another pitcher of tea and maybe if you brought out some homemade cookies that would be plenty of payment.” He grinned.
“You make the tea, I’ll bring the cookies, and we’ll have a front porch visit,” Hattie said. “Say about three o’clock?”
“Sounds great to me, but do you have to ride yours up?” Jamie asked. “Maybe there’s a mower here.”
“There’s not,” Victor said. “Conrad had it done by someone out of Seymour, but now that things have changed, I’ll be glad to take care of it for you this summer.”
“He’s got a new riding mower. One of them zero-turn things and the new ain’t wore off yet,” Hattie teased. “You know what the difference between men and boys is?”
Kate thought they were the same, especially the ones she’d met.
“What?” Amanda asked.
“The price of their toys.” Hattie giggled.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Kate almost didn’t answer the phone, hearing a ringtone she’d rather avoid. But on the fifth ring, she relented. “Hello, Mother.”
“I hate to do this to you as you are trying to get all this crap sorted out, but there’s one small project that you were working on that we can’t finish without a couple of hours of work from you. If I e-mail it, can you—”
“Yes,” Kate butted in, “I’ll take care of it.” She paused a moment. “I probably should tell you that both of his other wives showed up here the same day I did.”
“That’s horrible. Why haven’t you left?” Teresa’s voice went all high and squeaky, but by golly, not a single I told you so came out of her mouth.
“Conrad brought all three of us here for our honeymoons, and we’re trying to find some closure,” Kate answered.
“That pregnant redheaded one is liable to kill you in your sleep. You can see it in her eyes. Even after all the theatrics, my money would be on her as a suspect in the murder. She might not have done it and she might be sorry about it, but I bet she knows something. Now I’ll worry about you,” Teresa said.
Kate held the phone out from her cheek and stared at it. Where was her mother and who had taken over her body? Kate’s father had worried about her, but Teresa? Never. She barely had time to acknowledge that she even had a daughter. A savvy business partner, yes, for sure. But a daughter that she worried about?
“Are you there? Did we lose the connection?” Teresa yelled.
Kate put the phone back to her ear. “I’m fine,” Kate said. “And I would love to work from home on whatever you need done. Just send it to me and I’ll get right on it.”
Teresa chuckled. “We’re workaholics. I’ll tell Joyce to send it over to you, and maybe it will keep you from killing off the other wives for one day. But if you get really bored, I could send work every day.”
“It might keep them from killing me if I get bitchy from boredom. I’m not sure I want a daily regimen, but if I change my mind, I will let you know.” Kate laughed.
“I haven’t heard your voice that cheerful in years,” Teresa said.
“Crazy, isn’t it?” Kate said. “I’m in a situation that borders on bizarre and I’m actually kind of content. Tell Joyce hello for me, and I’ll have the work done by quittin’ time today.”
“It’s on the way. Keep me up-to-date on this soap opera. I never had time to watch those things, but then my daughter wasn’t starring in one.”
“Will do, and thanks,” Kate said.