Chapter 11
Chapter Eleven
L uke was standing outside my office when I pulled up to the curb. I’d already called him and let him know I’d left to check on my house and would probably be there right at noon.
He walked out into the street and opened my car door, giving me a kiss when I got out.
“You sounded off when I talked to you on the phone,” he said with a worried look. “Everything okay with the house? Do you need me to talk to Buddy?”
I gave him a grateful smile. “No. The house is coming along great, and everything’s on schedule for me to move in next week.”
“Something happened,” he said, studying me as he took my hand and led me to the sidewalk. “Did that crazy fan find the farm?”
“No,” I said, shaking my head. “But I had a chat with Meemaw.”
Understanding widened his eyes. “Is she in a mood today?”
“When isn’t she in a mood?” I said wryly. “But not how you think, at least not today. She talked about my mother.”
“Your mother?” His jaw tensed. “What’s she up to now?”
“Nothing…that I know of, anyway. Meemaw talked about when I was a little girl.”
“Oh.” He hesitated, as though unsure whether to continue asking questions.
I pulled him over toward the front door of my office and into the shade. “She talked about when I was little and how Momma was wild and rarely took care of me. Then she dropped a bombshell. She said my grandfather wanted to take legal action to get custody of me. But Meemaw stopped him.”
His eyes flew wide. “ What? ”
I knew I’d shocked him, but now wasn’t the time to get into it.
I shrugged. “It’s in the past where it belongs. Not that we can’t talk about it, but I don’t want to talk about it in the diner, okay? I’ll tell you about it tonight. If Maybelline catches wind of any of it, it’ll be all over her Facebook page.”
“You mean the town’s Facebook page,” he said in a dry tone.
“Same difference.” Maybelline ran her own café, but she was also the owner of the Sweet Briar gossip page—“Sweet Happenings in the Briar.” Supposedly the purpose of the page was to disperse information to the town’s residents. While it did share information, quite a bit of it was who had been seen with whom and if someone had something odd for lunch. Pure gossip, but most of it was true. “I don’t want anyone to know about our conversation. I’m going to have a hard enough time quizzing Maybelline about Magnolia’s mother.”
“Did your grandmother know anything helpful?”
“Not much,” I said. “She’s roughly between Meemaw and Momma in age, so she didn’t know her well. She had a younger sister who died and her father was a mean drunk.” Then I added, “Oh, and her maiden name was Brewer.” I held a hand up to shield my eyes from the sun creeping over the top of the building. “I think I may have heard her name last April when I first came back to town, but I’d forgotten. To be honest, I hadn’t been paying much attention.”
He turned pensive. “I don’t remember any Brewers.”
“It sounds like they may have died or moved away years ago, but Maybelline’s sure to know. The question is how to ask her without alerting her to what’s going on.”
“You’ll think of something,” he said. “You always do.” He leaned over and gave me a kiss. “I’m starvin’. Let’s go eat.”
The café was about two-thirds full, but we found a booth and sat on opposite sides. We caught Maybelline’s attention as we took a seat, and she waved to let us know she’d be over in a minute. She had a few waitresses, but it wasn’t uncommon for her to come around the counter and wait on customers herself.
“You really think your house will be done in time?” Luke asked, sounding dubious.
“Buddy was talking about his upcoming appearance on Darling Investigations , so you bet it will.”
He frowned. “What if he cuts corners to make it happen?”
“It’s gonna be fine, Luke,” I assured him, patting his hand that was resting on the table. “But if it makes you feel better, feel free to go check it out for yourself.”
He brightened at that. For all his enlightenment, Luke was very much tied to his upbringing. His father had been the breadwinner and his mother had run the house and raised their two sons. When we were teens, Luke had hinted that was what he wanted for his wife and kids, but this past summer when we’d talked about getting back together, I’d made it clear that if he was expecting me to fill that role, he’d be sorely disappointed—because that was never going to happen. He’d wholeheartedly agreed, but I could still see signs that he found it difficult not to jump in and try to “save” me at times. I knew his eagerness to help me was born out of love and not a belief in archaic gender roles, but after my mother controlled me into a career implosion, I now refused to let anyone control me in any way. Thankfully, Luke recognized that and didn’t feel threatened.
Maybelline came around the counter and bustled over with two glasses of water. She was an elderly woman with shockingly orange hair—the shade varied every six weeks or so after her latest rinse. And while she was a terrible gossip—hence the Facebook page—she had a huge soft spot for me. Her affection for me had existed even before I’d gotten famous, so I trusted that she liked me for me and not because I had brought a TV show to town and boosted her business.
Well, I mostly trusted her…
“How’s my favorite couple?” she asked, beaming as she set the glasses on the table.
Luke looked at me first, then took the lead on this one. “We’re both great, but starving. What’s the special today?”
“Pulled pork sandwiches. Jimmy Dean smoked a pig.”
“I’ll take one of those,” I said. “But I want a salad instead of fries.”
“What we want and what we get are two different things,” Maybelline scoffed. “You’re starting to look skinny again.”
Some days it felt like Maybelline’s sole intent in her life was to fatten me up like a Christmas goose. While I wasn’t even close to being overweight, I wasn’t skinny either. Between Meemaw’s cooking and Maybelline’s specials, I’d gained a good five pounds since coming back to Sweet Briar. “Maybelline, maybe it doesn’t have anything to do with my weight. Maybe I just want some vegetables instead of grease.”
She gave me a look of disgust and turned to Luke. “What can I get you, Chief?”
“The same, only I know better than to ask for a salad.” He shot me a wink, and I kicked him under the table. “Ow!”
Maybelline narrowed her eyes at me. “Behave.”
Then she hustled back to the kitchen.
“You should know better than to ask her for a salad,” Luke said with a grin.
“There’s nothing wrong with wanting vegetables,” I insisted. “There’s nothing wrong with wanting to be healthy.” Although calling Maybelline’s salads healthy was a stretch.
“Maybelline has vegetables,” he said with a look in his eyes that suggested he was trying to rile me up. “Okra, zucchini, potatoes.”
“All of which are fried, and it’s the same at Meemaw’s house. Sure, she serves plenty of vegetables at dinner, but they’re either slathered in butter or fried or both.”
He lifted his hands in surrender. “No complaints here.”
“And your arteries probably look like a sixty-year-old man’s,” I scoffed. “All the more reason to move into my own place, so I can eat healthier without offending anyone.”
Concern filled his eyes and his hand closed around mine. “Hey, this isn’t like you. What’s really goin’ on? Is it the conversation you had with your grandmother?”
I shook my head. “That and more. I knew Meemaw wasn’t happy that I was redoing the overseer’s house, but I think she’s taking it personally. She thinks I want to get away from her.”
He made a face. “Well…you kind of do want to get away from her. Don’t get me wrong, your meemaw is a strong woman, but she’s also a difficult woman. Plus, you’re nearly thirty years old. Most women your age aren’t livin’ at home.” His eyes turned lustful. “If I had my way, you’d be sleepin’ in my bed every night.”
“I know,” I said, refusing to take his bait. If and when we got married, I had no idea where we’d live. Luke liked being in town so he was closer to the police station, and even though I hadn’t moved in yet, I was already in love with my little house.
But I suspected this unsettled feeling involved more than Meemaw’s hurt feelings. She’d stirred up a lot of emotions about my childhood that I’d tried my best to leave buried.
“This is all nonsense,” I said. “She’ll be fine. I’m literally a short walk down the road. It’s not like I’m moving to California or even just into town.” Then I changed the subject. “I hear the mayor has big plans for the Thanksgiving Parade.”
“He’s even got a news crew from Birmingham comin’,” Luke said, picking up a sugar package and twirling it between his fingers.
“Does that mean you’ll be too busy to escort me to the parade?”
He grinned. “Probably, but I’d love to take you to the dance later.”
Whoever heard of a Thanksgiving dance? Although it wasn’t so strange in Sweet Briar.
I eyed him with a coy look. “I’ll see if I can fit you in.”
A couple of minutes later, Maybelline came out carrying two plates. She set them on the table with a look of challenge, then grabbed a squeeze bottle of barbecue sauce from her apron pocket and placed it between us. My plate seemed to have even more fries than Luke’s, with a few pieces of parsley tossed on top.
“No substitutions,” she grunted, then headed back to the kitchen.
Luke broke into a huge grin. “I guess you got your vegetables.”
I shook my head with a frown. “This kind of isn’t funny. It’s not like I asked her to make something she doesn’t serve. Salad is on her list of sides.”
“It’s Maybelline,” he said as he grabbed the squeeze bottle and squirted some sauce on his pork.
Maybe so, but it still seemed wrong. Though I supposed it didn’t seem like something throwing a fit over. Especially since I was hoping to get some answers out of Maybelline later.
We ate in silence, and while I was partially stewing over Maybelline’s dismissal of my request, I was also mulling over my conversation with my grandmother.
I could have lived with my grandparents and been free of my mother’s chaos. I could have escaped the hell of working on Gotcha! . I could have been here when Dixie was going through her wild patch as a teen. I could have been here when my grandfather and her parents were killed. Or maybe it would have never happened at all.
“Hey,” Luke finally said. “Are you really that upset over the fries?” It came out with an air of incredulity but also a tiny sprinkling of judgment.
I stared at him in disbelief and was about to lay into him, but then I heard my cousin’s voice.
“I should have known you’d be here.”
Dixie stood next to the table, her blue eyes bright with happiness. Her long blond hair hung loosely over her shoulders. She was wearing a blue button-down shirt that was tucked into her jeans.
“Hey, Dix,” I said, trying to stuff down my irritation as I got up and gave her a hug. “I’m so happy to see you! Where’s Bill?”
“He’s back at the office. He wants to look over the list of potential clients for the next season and scope out the locations to get a list for the B-roll.” She glanced between us and frowned. “Looks like I’m interrupting something.”
“No,” I said in a tight voice. “You’re not interrupting anything at all.”
“Summer,” Luke said in a pleading voice, but then his cell phone rang.
He pulled it out of his pocket, then grimaced as he checked the screen before he answered.
“Hey, Amber.” He made a face. “Okay, I’ll go check it out now.”
With a heavy sigh, he gave me a pleading look. “Summer, I’ve got to go, but I don’t want to leave like this. Hell, I’m not even sure what this is.”
“We’re fine,” I said. “It’s me. Just go.” But was it just me? I was too irritated to tell.
“I’ll call you when I get a chance,” he said, sliding out of his seat.
“I’ll answer if I can.”
He hesitated, then leaned over and kissed me, searching my eyes as he pulled away. “I love you.”
“Love you too.” I gave him a tiny shove. “Go. I’m fine.”
He hesitated further, then finally walked out the door, Dixie watching the full exchange with a worried look. “Are you and Luke fightin’?”
“No, I’m just in a mood.”
She slipped into Luke’s seat and picked up a fry from his plate. “Everything okay?”
I could tell her about my chat with Meemaw, but I didn’t feel like dredging it up, so I leaned forward and lowered my voice. “We might have a job.” Then I whispered, “With Magnolia Steele.”
Her eyes flew wide. “She’s gonna be on the show?”
“Shh!” I whisper-shouted. “No. She might hire us for a PI job. She was meeting with Pierce Robbins after she and her sister-in-law met with me this morning. They said they’d get back to me after lunch.”
She blinked hard. “Wait. She’s here . In Sweet Briar ? Why didn’t you tell me? I would have come back earlier for the appointment!”
“I didn’t know,” I said. “Her sister-in-law scheduled it under her name and I didn’t make the connection. And this is all a secret.”
“There’s no way she can be in town and keep it a secret for long,” she said. “Now tell me what happened. Everything.”
So I did while she ate the rest of Luke’s lunch and then started on mine.
“Do you think she’ll pick us?” she asked after I finished.
“I don’t know,” I admitted. “Luke thinks so, but she might be wary of any additional attention I might bring.”
“There’s no way she’ll pick Pierce,” she said. “He’s a weasel.”
“Maybe so, but he’s a smart weasel.”
Unfortunately, all we could do was wait.