Thirty-Two and a Half Complications
Page 25

“If you did, you’d put them out of business in a week.”
As much as I distrusted them, I had to admit it was tempting.
***
The next afternoon, I arrived at Merilee’s at noon to meet Neely Kate. Whenever we made plans for lunch, she usually arrived first, eager to leave the office she hated. But today she was conspicuously absent. I glanced at my phone to check the time and make sure she hadn’t called or texted to cancel, but there was nothing. So I got a table and waited several minutes until she came through the door, looking paler and thinner than I was used to seeing her. Just how bad was her morning sickness?
I stood as she slid toward me down the narrow aisle between the tables. “Neely Kate, have you been to the doctor lately?”
Her mouth puckered with disapproval at my question, but she sat down without commenting.
I took my seat again and leaned across the table, lowering my voice. “How much weight have you lost?”
She studied me for several seconds. “Eight pounds. I thought you were supposed to gain weight when you had a baby,” she said, forcing a laugh.
“Neely Kate, I’m worried about you.”
“I’m fine. I’m telling you that morning sickness is a good sign. Even the doctor says so.”
Guilt washed over me. I hadn’t noticed the extent of her sickness because I’d been a terrible friend lately. Neely Kate and I used to have lunch several times a week before Mason and I got together, but lately I’d been eating lunch with him nearly every day since he worked so late at night. Without meaning to, I’d neglected my best friend.
A waitress checked on us and Neely Kate ordered a bowl of chicken noodle soup while I ordered two salads—one for me and one to go.
“For Mason?” Neely Kate asked.
“He gets so busy he forgets to eat lunch if I don’t bring it to him. It’s a wonder he didn’t starve to death before we started seeing each other.”
“Nah,” she laughed. “He was too busy eating lunch here hoping to run into you.”
I blushed. I suspected she was right.
She winked. “Besides, all the waitresses here have a crush on him. They would have brought him food just to get a chance to flirt with him.”
I knew that had to be true too. I was thankful they didn’t seem to harbor a grudge against me.
“How are your sessions with Jonah going?”
“Great. In fact, I have one with him later this afternoon.”
“I bet you have a lot to tell him about the bank robbery. What’s going on with the case?” she asked, playing with a strand of her hair.
“It’s looking pretty likely that Mr. Sullivan had a part in it. He appears to have left town.”
“But he wasn’t one of the robbers?”
“No, I’m sure of it.”
“So that means there’s two guys still out there besides the loan officer.”
“Guess so.” I told her about Joe’s shenanigans, and how it had caught me off guard to realize how much time he’d been spending with Violet and the kids.
“I don’t trust him,” she said, taking a sip of the soup the waitress had brought out.
“I don’t either, but I’m not sure what to do. I’ve done a great job of avoiding him for the past couple of weeks since he came back to Henryetta. Besides, I agreed to be friends with him.”
Her mouth gaped open. “Why on earth would you do such a thing?”
“Because he’s being persistent in his attempts to win me back and this way he’ll at least back off.”
She shook her head, her mouth puckering with disapproval. “That’s never gonna work.”
“That’s what Mason said, but he told me he was gonna leave it up to me.” I sighed. “It’s the best way to handle it. I’m stuck with him until they catch the bank robbers.”
“So why wait for someone else to do it? Let’s catch them ourselves.”
I laughed. “I suggested to Mason that you and I should form our own detective agency and he said we’d put the HPD out of business in a week.”
“Then let’s do it.” She looked halfway serious.
I choked on a bite of my salad. “I didn’t know pregnancy made expectant mothers delusional.”
Neely Kate rolled her eyes.
“How on earth would you propose we do that?”
“Your visions, of course.” She shook her head and lifted her spoon. “You know that you don’t use them nearly enough.”
“Who do you propose I have a vision of? Should I wander up and down the street with a sign asking people if I can touch them to see if they know the robbers? Or maybe I should just hang out at the Trading Post bar out on Highway 84 and have visions of their patrons?”
“Of course not.” She waved her hand. “The sign part would be way too conspicuous and I suspect you’d probably better stay away from the Trading Post for good. Maybe Skeeter Malcolm’s pool hall.”
I dropped my fork into the bowl with a clang. “You’re serious.”
“Well, not about the sign part, but us finding them? Yeah, I am.” She set down her spoon. “Then once this case is closed, you can go back to making goo-goo eyes at Mason without Joe getting in the way.” She tilted her head to the side and added, “Besides, look how many cases you’ve solved without hardly trying. Imagine what we could do if you put your mind to it.”