Twenty-Nine and a Half Reasons
Page 80

The neighbor boys were playing in their backyard when I got home, and Heidi Joy chased after them, looking frustrated. I smiled. I had a couple of hours before Violet was going to pick me up—plenty of time to make a pie to take next door. The police had taken the wooden rolling pin used to kill Momma, but I still had the marble one. I’d make two pies and prove to Joe that I could bake when he showed up the tomorrow night. Plus, it got me out of packing boxes.
I made the piecrust dough and stuck it in the freezer to cool it off before rolling it out. Since I didn’t have any fresh fruit, I decided to make French Silk pies instead. An hour later, I walked next door, pie in hand, while Muffy followed behind, jumping around in excitement.
Heidi Joy had moved to her chair, reading a magazine under the shade tree while the boys ran in and out of their plastic pool. Enough grass floated on top of the water to stuff a straw mattress.
I held the pie toward her and smiled. “Welcome to the neighborhood!”
“Oh, my! What do you have there?” Heidi Joy stood and waddled toward me. Her t-shirt stretched across her rounded tummy.
I stifled my gasp of surprise. Heidi Joy was pregnant. She was still early and she’d worn loose shirts before so I hadn’t noticed. How in the blazes would they fit another child in that tiny house?
“Oh. It’s a French Silk pie. Sorry it’s late.”
She grabbed the pie out of my hands. “Honey, the words French Silk pie and sorry shouldn’t be anywhere near each other.”
I laughed. “True. You might want to put that in fridge. It still hasn’t set up long enough, but I’m goin’ out tonight and wanted to make sure you got it.”
“Thank you so much!” She cast a glance around the yard, uncertainty wavering across her face.
“I’ll watch the boys if you want to run that in.”
“You don’t mind?”
“No! Of course not. Muffy’s havin’ fun with them.”
Heidi Joy ran inside and I sat on the quilt next to the baby. He looked up at me with wide eyes while he alternated chewing and sucking on his fist.
“Does that hand taste good?”
“He ain’t gonna answer you.” Andy Jr. sat in the middle of the pool, dead grass clinging to his chest. “He don’t talk yet.”
I laughed. “Is that so?”
“We ain’t got to play with your dog all weekend.”
“My dog has a name. Muffy.”
“Yeah, I know.”
I shook my head.
“I heard you tell my mom that you was goin’ out tonight.”
“I am.”
“Can Keith and I babysit your dog?”
I raised an eyebrow.
“Can I babysit Muffy?”
“Well…” That would appease my guilt over leaving her, but I still wasn’t sure I trusted Andy Jr.
“I promise to take extra good care of her. She likes me. See?”
Muffy stood on her back legs in the pool and licked Andy Jr.’s face.
“Let’s talk to your mom first.”
Heidi Joy was thrilled to let Muffy stay. “She’ll entertain my boys. Anything that keeps them busy is a welcome relief!”
The boys set about teaching Muffy how to sit. Good luck with that. That dog had a mind of her own. But she looked happy, so I relented. And although I knew she’d be happier with the kids, it was hard to leave her.
My kitchen sink was full of dirty dishes, but I only had forty-five minutes before Violet was going to pick me up and I needed a shower. The dishes could wait. Joe said he had a dishwasher in his condo. Maybe I’d never have to wash dishes again.
Violet pulled into the driveway right at six forty-five. I went out the side door, watching Muffy in the neighbor’s backyard. It was obvious she was having fun. I was worrying for nothing.
“You look very pretty tonight.” Violet said when I climbed into the passenger seat.
I’d worn a floral pink skirt and a white blouse with a pair of sandals. I didn’t trust her motives and decided to be on guard. “Thanks.”
“How’s Joe?”
I clasp my hands in my lap. “He’s good. He’s coming down tomorrow night.”
“That’s good.” She smiled, her voice cheerful.
She was definitely up to something.
The meeting started promptly at seven in the Henryetta Southern Baptist Church fellowship hall. Miss Mildred caught a glimpse of me after she sat down and frowned. I was probably contaminating the Garden Club with my demon-possessed presence.
Two more days and then I wouldn’t have to put up with her meanness.
The thought made me happy. After seeing my huge smile, her eyebrows lowered in suspicion.
The speaker, Mrs. Annabelle Perkins, was a self-proclaimed prize-winning rose expert, but after looking at the fine print in the program, it became apparent that her award was third place in the Fenton County Fair. Five years ago.
Loneliness for Joe washed over me. I hadn’t talked to him in twenty-four hours and I needed to hear his voice. I leaned over and whispered in Violet’s ear. “Let’s leave early.”
She pinched her lips together in disapproval and shook her head. “Rose Gardner,” she hissed in my ear. “If you want to fit into this town, you need to make more of an effort.”
Scowling, I reached into my purse for my phone. I didn’t want to fit into Henryetta. I wanted to run away and never look back.
She must have known what I was thinking. Wearing a smug smile, she whispered, “You think the Henryetta Garden Club is stuffy? They’re nothing compared to Joe’s family and the company they keep. Consider this practice.”