“Sounds good. I’ll call a few people on the Tutoring Club list and have them spread the word that we’re canceling today. No one will be surprised because of the electricity.” Then I added, “Say, did you interview Ruth’s friend? If she’s starting, we should probably let her know she doesn’t need to come in.”
Blinking, he took a second to switch gears. Then he pointed a finger at me. “Ah! Good catch. She was supposed to come in at eleven and start the noon shift. I’ll have Ruth let her know.”
Max hurried off to his office, and I used the phone underneath the bar to call two of the mothers at the head of the phone tree we’d set up for Tutoring Club, and by the time I finished, Max had a short grocery list and some cash.
“You may have to go to a couple of places,” he said, handing them to me. “In fact, I may head down to Dollar General and buy them out of hamburger.”
“It’s Thursday,” I said, shaking my head. “They won’t get a delivery of meat until Friday morning. If they have anything left, it won’t be much.”
He laughed. “Look at you. No one would ever guess you’ve lived here less than a year.” Then he gave me a bear hug. “I couldn’t be happier about you and Marco. Really.” He released me and patted my cheek. “If I couldn’t keep you in the family with Wyatt, at least I’ll get you through my best friend. He’s one lucky son-of-a-bitch.”
“Thanks, Max.” Tears stung my eyes. It was wonderful to feel so wanted.
“This is gettin’ sappy,” he said, stepping back and shuddering as though I had cooties. “Go visit your friends and be back by four.”
As soon as I got cell service at the edge of Ewing, I put in a call to Marco, but it went through to his voicemail. “I’ll be in Ewing for the next few hours, so if you get a chance, give me a call.” Usually, I would have left it at that, but I’d finally let myself acknowledge that I loved him, and the floodgates had opened. “I can’t wait to see you tonight. I can’t wait to spend many nights with you, and not just for sex, although that was amazing.” My face flushed. What was I doing? “Anyway, you just really make me happy, Marco, and I know I see you all the time, but I still can’t wait to see you again.” I knew how pathetic I sounded, but all these feelings were catching me off guard. While I’d loved men before, I’d never felt like this. I was like a stereotypical schoolgirl with a massive crush. “Okay, that sounded clingy, but if I haven’t scared you off, call me. I love you.” Then I hung up and tossed my phone on the passenger seat.
I’d be lucky if that message didn’t send him running.
I’d planned on going straight to the nursing home, but curiosity drove me down a different path. I found myself cruising past Jim’s insurance office. The memorial was bigger today, but there were fewer people standing in front of it. I parked in front of a laundromat across the street but stayed in my car and watched the people paying their respects. It was obvious people had really liked and respected Jim Palmer.
“Why did Pam kill you?” I said out loud.
Most of the circumstantial evidence pointed toward the possibility Bart might have guided her, but there was also the Baptist church connection to consider.
Behind the memorial, the front door of the insurance office opened, and a pretty blond woman walked out. She wore a mint green skirt and a short sleeve, button-up white shirt, both of which looked like they came from a Lilly Pulitzer store, along with a pair of black espadrilles. She looked remarkably put together for someone in Ewing. She walked toward a white, newer model sedan, and as she turned her face toward the street, I realized she was Melinda Palmer.
People walked over to her and several of them hugged her and patted her arm or her face. She started to cry and got into her car. It backed up, then she drove to the entrance of the parking lot and turned left.
Before I thought about what I was doing, I pulled out of my parking space and turned onto the street and started to follow her.
This was crazy. I had no idea where she was going, and I didn’t really know what I hoped to accomplish, but I decided to do it anyway and hope I didn’t get caught.
I didn’t expect her to drive to the First Baptist Church.
She pulled into the parking lot, and I drove past it, turned around, and then drove by again in time to see her walk inside. But then I nearly ran off the road because about ten to twelve teens—boys and girls—were working in the flower beds, and one of them was Ricky Crimshaw.
I turned around again and pulled into the parking lot, making sure to park a couple of rows away from Melinda Palmer’s car. Several of the teens watched me with wary expressions as I walked toward them. Ricky was on his knees, weeding around a bush. When he realized something had caught his friends’ attention, he glanced up. His eyes widened, and he looked even more surprised when he realized I was walking toward him.
“Ricky?” I said as I got closer, standing about twenty feet away on the grass. “Can I talk to you for a moment?”
Several of the boys laughed, and one said, “Way to go, Crimshaw! Older women are where it’s at!”
“What do you expect?” another boy said. “His mom went for a younger man too.”
“Watch out,” a girl called to me. “The Crimshaws are murderers.”
“That’s enough of that nonsense,” I said in my strictest teacher voice. The look on her face told me it hadn’t totally lost its effectiveness.
Ricky’s face flushed, and he hurried to his feet and came over. The group got back to work, but they kept casting curious glances at us.
“What was that about?” I asked, lowering my voice so I didn’t embarrass him any further.
He shrugged. “Some people are saying my mom was sleepin’ with the guy she killed.”
“Do you think she was?” I asked.
“No way,” he said in disgust. “She was always around, so I don’t know when she would have found time for anything like that.”
People found ways, but it didn’t seem prudent to tell him so. “Say, did Ashlynn come home last night?” I shot the group a glare as they continued to watch us.
“What? No.”
“Do you know where she is? Because I dropped her off…” I stopped and started again. I doubted she’d want her family to know she’d almost visited her mother in jail. “I went by the pharmacy yesterday afternoon, and she never went in to work. Her boss told me to tell her she’s fired.”
He laughed, but it sounded forced. “That’s Ashlynn. She works somewhere until she doesn’t want to work there anymore, then she just stops goin’.”
“But do you know where she was last night? Selena’s worried,” I fibbed.
He gave me a look of surprise. “You know Selena?”
“Yeah,” I said, not wanting to admit I’d just met her the day before. “Small town.”
“I guess…” he said, glancing back at his friends.
“So do you know where your sister might be?” I prodded. “Do you think she might have stayed with Chuck?”
Again, he looked surprised that I knew his sister’s boyfriend’s name. I supposed this was putting me in stalker territory. “Fuck no,” he scoffed. “The night he left, I heard him tell her he’d shoot her with his shotgun if she tried to follow him.”