Chapter Twelve
“I DON’T KNOW WHY YOU’VE ALWAYS GOT TO RIDE SHOTGUN,” DAISY grumbled from the back seat. She had the window down and her hair protected by a sheer scarf.
“Because I’m an old soul and you’re young at heart,” Belinda Sue said.
Arline grunted, and Daisy shot her a dirty look. “Don’t tell me you like it back here any more than I do.”
“I don’t care where I sit, so long as we get where we’re going,” Arline said.
Daisy was in a right foul mood, and Cordelia had no doubt it was due to none of them taking Honey Stevens as a suspect seriously.
And while Belinda Sue’s narrow focus on the Abernathys was also based on a grudge, Cordelia had to admit they were the most likely suspects.
They had the best motive, and it was suspicious as all get-out how they happened to be on that near-empty stretch of prairie at just the right time to watch them drive the pastor’s car and body back to the church.
But so far, no one had the means or opportunity.
Except Daisy. Which made it that much more imperative that they link the wine to someone else.
Bramble Park was an hour and a half from Sarsaparilla Falls, but it might as well have been another world away.
Nestled close enough to the Gulf of Mexico to be a beach town, it was all high-end homes and boutique shops.
A charming facade. The kind of place that would have no tolerance for aging sex workers and a reluctant madam.
“Ooh, look, they have an ice cream shop.” Daisy pressed her face against the glass, her eyes big and full of wonder. “I bet they sell fudge. Can we get some fudge while we’re here?”
It amazed Cordelia how fast Daisy could flip from crotchety old granny to a child trapped in a senior body, but if a little fudge was all it took to cheer up her, she’d buy a trunk full.
“Sure.” Cordelia gave her a patient smile, even though all she wanted to do was nail down their suspect and head back to Sarsaparilla Falls, where things felt familiar.
Funny how quickly the town had become a part of her again, and how uneasy she felt being anywhere else.
Like she’d never really left, just stepped away for a while before she could go back home.
Even her more unpleasant childhood memories were beginning to fade, the edges growing dull and soft, like a photo left in the sun.
Cordelia parked her car in front of a fancy brass meter with a green patina. She dug a few quarters from her purse and fed the machine while the chicks got out of the car and stared, slack-jawed and stupefied, like they’d never been to a tourist town before.
The buildings all came in candy colors like pink, peach, and baby blue.
Iron lamplights with electric bulbs lit the sidewalks at night.
The cobblestone streets were kept clean with sections roped off for plastic tables with striped umbrellas, and big pots spilling flowers of every hue were spread along the walkway.
“You could eat off this sidewalk,” Daisy said.
“Some people already are.” Belinda Sue nodded to a couple seated on the curb, balancing plates of pizza on their bare knees. “I ain’t ever seen anything like this.”
“You’ve never been to the Gulf?” Cordelia gave the three of them an incredulous look. “How is it you’ve lived in Texas your whole lives and never been to the Gulf of Mexico?”
“We’ve got a watering hole just outside Sarsaparilla Falls,” Belinda Sue said. “And a real nice pool at the Chickadee. What do we need to go to the Gulf for?”
Cordelia had to concede that she had a point.
And really, who was she to judge? She’d only ever been to the Gulf once herself, when one of her momma’s boyfriends promised them an all-expenses-paid trip to Galveston, only to stick them with the hotel bill before the week was up.
Sherilynn had to take up a second job for six months just to break even again.
“Look at these little knickknacks.” Daisy tapped on the glass of a storefront with her overly long nail, drawing a few side-eyes from tourists. “Have you ever seen anything so useless and adorable in your life? They even got a stone hippo. Miss Penelope would’ve loved it here.”
“We can look around later if you want, but we should probably take care of the business we came here to do first.” Cordelia consulted her phone in search of the market.
A bell chimed over the shop, and Cordelia looked up in time to see all three chicks disappear through the door. She supposed it couldn’t hurt to let them have a little fun first.
Sighing, she moved to join them when she spotted Stella across the street with a woman who was quite a bit taller, long and lean, like a living strand of ivy.
She wore her strawberry-blond hair short, and her pointed features and tweedy academic style of dress gave her an Ichabod Crane look.
Cordelia locked eyes with Stella, who widened hers in return.
Stella immediately whispered something to the woman in her company and the two of them hustled up the street and out of sight.
Odd. Did Stella recognize her after all these years? And if so, what was she so afraid of?
Cordelia entered the store and tapped Daisy on the shoulder, who jumped and nearly dropped the snow globe she was holding. “I just saw Stella.”
“No kidding?” Daisy passed the globe off to Arline. “Did you say hi?”
Cordelia shook her head. “I couldn’t say anything. She was across the street with another woman. As soon as they spotted me, the two of them ran for the hills.”
“Probably Gladys, the two of them are thick as thieves.” Daisy picked up a crystal duck and tapped its beak. “That’s weird, though. Stella is normally real friendly. Maybe she thought you’d judge her for taking a vacation when she’s supposed to be mourning her husband.”
“Maybe.” She nearly laughed at the idea of Stella Reed-Smythe being worried about Cordelia West judging her. Times sure had changed. “We should get going.”
Pulling Daisy away from every store they passed turned out to be a Herculean task.
Every time she saw something cute, she had to stop and coo over it.
A purse shaped like a frog. A fountain made of hand-blown glass.
Clay Christmas ornaments molded to look like Norman Rockwell figurines.
Everything in the town had been built to be cute.
It took half an hour to reach the brick facade of Val’s Vino, a charming wine shop that boasted a vine-covered courtyard for tasting parties.
The owner, Val Kirkland, greeted them with a warm smile that dimmed significantly as she took in the chicks.
While Cordelia had opted for her usual attire of a pencil skirt and cream shell top, the chicks had dressed in their usuals: hot pants for Daisy, skin-tight leather for Belinda Sue, and a floral caftan for Arline.
With their big hair and makeup, they looked like they were auditioning for a rodeo sideshow.
“Are y’all here for the tasting?” Val asked, a clear note of hesitation in her voice.
“We sure are.” Cordelia stepped forward and offered her hand and her most professional smile. “My . . . um . . . aunts and I have heard such good things about this place.”
Belinda Sue snickered at being referred to as an auntie, and Cordelia shot her a look over her shoulder.
“Okay.” Val didn’t look convinced, but she led them toward the back anyway.
The store had that shabby-chic style that some Texas women went gaga over.
It was how her momma’s business became so profitable.
Val’s Vino even had crackle-paint shelves and gray oak floors, right out of a stylish farmhouse magazine.
Little seating areas with mismatched chairs that still went together perfectly held hand-embroidered pillows.
“It looks like a spa in here,” Daisy said.
“You don’t know what a spa looks like,” Belinda Sue said.
“Sure I do.” Daisy rolled her eyes at Belinda Sue’s need to always be contrary. “I got cable, don’t I?”
“Would you two knock it off?” Cordelia hissed under her breath. “You’ve been picking at each other like hens over the last ear of corn all afternoon. I’m one wheel down and my axle is dragging. Give it a rest already.”
Cordelia rarely snapped at them, and even though it was in Belinda Sue’s nature to start a fight in an empty room, they respected her position and let it go.
Val opened a set of French doors that led out to the prettiest little brick courtyard.
A fountain of marble cherubs sat at the center, with black wrought-iron tables covered by red umbrellas spread around the open space.
Ivy climbed the walls and the Texas sun beat down from where it rose high in the sky.
“This is lovely, thank you.” Cordelia took a seat. “I’m really looking forward to trying your Dew Valley Cabernet. It’s getting rave reviews.”
“Yes, that’s a popular one,” Val said. “People drive in from all over for it.”
Cordelia opened her mouth to ask if anyone had driven from Sarsaparilla Falls recently for a bottle, but she took one look at Belinda Sue and closed her mouth again. The knot on her calf where she’d gotten a swift kick the other day was still tender enough to keep her quiet.
A young girl with a slick, dark ponytail and an all-white uniform brought out the first round for tasting.
A Chardonnay from the coast of California.
Considering Cordelia wasn’t much of a drinker, she barely managed a sip.
Arline, on the other hand, downed her serving in one gulp and stuck the glass in the pocket of her caftan.
“This tastes like pure sunshine.” Daisy licked her lips. “I feel real fancy sitting here like this, drinking wine like a lady.”
If Cordelia had proper girlfriends, this might’ve been something they would do together, but she’d never really been part of a friend group.
She had a habit of keeping folks at arm’s length, afraid that if they got close enough, they’d see her roots.
The parts of herself she tried to hide behind neat clothes and a cautious manner.