Joanna was tempted to ask, What went wrong? How could two people as squared away as Molly and Clayton Rhodes raise a daughter who was that screwed up? Instead, she allowed herself a discreet “You knew her back then—when she was little?”
“Yes, I’m afraid we did. One of the things Hank and I liked about coming down to see Molly and Clayton was that they didn’t even have a TV set. It wasn’t until Reba went away to college—to the university in Tucson—that she discovered that Hank, her father’s dear old friend, was on television up there. Then she raised all kinds of hell with her parents because she wanted her dad to have Hank help her get on television, too.”
“And did he?”
Carol nodded. “Of course he did. That’s the kind of guy Hank was. Once Reba managed to pick up a degree in broadcast journalism, he put in a good word for her here and there. Hank knew people who knew people. That’s how those things happen in broadcasting, through connections.”
Jenny turned in her chair so she could watch Reba and Marliss making the rounds of the room. “You mean she’s on TV, too?” Jenny asked, her eyes wide with wonder.
Carol smiled. “She was, but not anymore. It’s sad but true that most male news anchors have a much longer shelf life than female anchors do. She’s been off the air for years now. According to Clayton, she’s been married and divorced several times since then, but she’s always managed to marry up. I think her current husband is some kind of bigwig in computers out in Silicon Valley.”
Carol shook her head and laughed. “My goodness. Whatever did you say to set my tongue to wagging so much? You must think I’m a terrible gossip.”
Joanna looked around the room, scanning faces. “So is your husband here as well, Mrs. Hubbard?”
“My second husband,” she corrected. “Hank died years ago. A couple of years after that, Molly died as well, but Clayton and I remained friends. Force of habit, I guess.”
“Why, Carol Hubbard,” Reba Singleton said from just over Joanna’s right shoulder. “I didn’t know you were here. I almost missed you.”
Carol held out her hand long enough for it to be pressed by Reba’s ring-bedecked fingers. “Your father was such a good man,” Carol Hubbard murmured. “And such a dear friend, too. I’m so sorry he’s gone.”
With a curt nod, Reba acknowledged Carol Hubbard’s comment, then she rounded on Joanna. “Isn’t it bad enough that you’ve taken away my father’s ranch?” she demanded in a loud voice. “Do you have to steal his friends as well? Don’t you have any shame? How dare you!”
As conversation in the rest of the room came to a complete standstill, Joanna felt her cheeks turn hot. “Reba,” Joanna began. “Please.”
“Please what?” Reba demanded. “Please shut up and don’t let anyone know what you’ve been up to? Please go away so people won’t know about your underhanded dealings and how you’ve cheated me out of my birthright?”
“Reba,” Joanna said. “I’ve done nothing of the kind.”
“The hell you haven’t!” Reba Singleton snarled back while her whole body trembled in a fit of ill-suppressed fury. “I guess you don’t want these nice people to know that their little Miss Goody Two-shoes of a sheriff is actually a double-dealing bitch! What I want to know is what makes you think you can get away with it? Who says I’m not going to stop you?”
Behind Reba, Marliss Shackleford’s eyes widened. Like Joanna, she too must have feared that Reba’s attack would escalate from verbal to physical. “Come on, Reba,” Marliss said, grabbing the other woman by the arm. “Let’s go.”
They left then, leaving behind a silent room full of people and a stunned and flushed Joanna Brady. Reeling like the victim of a hit-and-run, Joanna could think of nothing at all to say. Gradually the level of conversation in the room resumed its former level, while Carol Hubbard shook her head.
“I take it from that she’s learned about Clayton’s will,” Carol said in a low voice.
“You knew about that too?” Joanna asked in surprise. Clayton may have kept the news from Joanna, but obviously he hadn’t kept it to himself.
“Oh, yes. Clayton told my husband and me all about it when he first had his will redrawn. He and Reba had that huge falling-out when Molly got so sick. Reba wanted her father to send Molly out to California to some specialist she knew about, and neither Clayton nor Molly wanted to do that. When they refused, everything went downhill in a hurry. It was right about then—right after Molly’s funeral—that Reba went to court and tried to have her father declared incompetent. She wanted to be appointed his legal guardian so she could have power of attorney over him and manage his affairs. But Clayton fooled her. He hired his own attorney. The guardianship petition never went through.”