1 In For A Penny (19 page)

The Boar’s Head was outrageously expensive. I had griped about their price gouging for years. “Don’t be thinking you’re dining on lobster, stuffed mushrooms, and swordfish tonight. You’re eating Rainbow Surprise at my house.”

“Tick, tock.” Jonette pointed to her watch. “Ten minutes or I’m digging out my Sunday best for a nice evening on the town.”

I squeezed past Christine and Alveeta. Rafe’s masculine scent made my blood vibrate with need. “About that lesson.” My voice trailed off so that he’d lean closer. “I decided to reschedule.”

“Reschedule?” His sandpaper voice caressed my ear with heat and lust.

“Yes.” A lightning bolt of excitement raced through my hand as I touched his arm, setting my nether parts on fire.

Rafe clamped his hand on my arm and propelled me towards the pro shop. “My calendar’s inside.” Panic joined the other dangerous emotions zooming through my veins. If I didn’t do something, I’d be paying through the nose for a formal dinner with Jonette.

I stumbled over nothing, but it stopped our forward momentum and got me square in his arms. Exactly where I wanted to be, dare or not. All thoughts of murderers and logistics and twenty-year-old lingerie winked out of my head.

His brown eyes darkened with desire, then his lips covered mine. A familiar light storm took hold of me and bathed me with radiant masculine heat. Passion gripped me in a way I hadn’t known was possible.

Carnal and wickedly seductive, his kiss fried every nerve ending I possessed. I was lucky I remembered my name, and even more surprised to find that I was still fully clothed, when we came up for air.

Silent expectation warmed my skin. I knew we’d finish this. Not here, not now. Later. The new Cleo was ready to take on the world, or at least, this one man.

With self-control I hadn’t known I possessed I stepped out of his embrace, ignoring the shell shocked expressions on Alveeta and Christine’s faces. Sauntering past Jonette, I mumbled, “Rainbow Dinner. Six-thirty.”

Chapter 22

“Hey, Aunt Jonette!” Charla said. “I heard you won dinner at our house today at the golf course.”

I put down the folder I’d been reviewing in the living room and rushed to intercept Jonette. I wasn’t exactly keeping my activities with Rafe a secret, but I wasn’t broadcasting them either. I was just in time to see Jonette give Charla a warm hug.

“But did you hear how I won, Beautiful?” Jonette’s amber-flecked eyes sparkled. “On a dare. Your mother kissed the pro in broad daylight in front of God and everybody.”

My heart sunk. I wanted to chide Jonette for mentioning the kiss, but she only reported the truth. Worse, she looked thrilled to be sharing the news. I wasn’t sure how Mama or Charla would react. Lexy was in the backyard with the dog so I didn’t have to worry about her reaction just yet.

“Mom!” Charla stomped her foot loudly. Her wonderfully expressive face darkened with anger. “How could you do this to me?”

I wasn’t the type to sit idly by when accused. The first words out of my mouth were unfiltered. “I don’t recall you being involved. This was between me and Rafe and Jonette.”

As soon as I heard what I’d said, I felt heat rush to my face. Hell. I’d made an innocent kiss sound like a hot love triangle.

Well, maybe not an innocent kiss. I’d been fairly captivated by that kiss and Jonette darn well knew it, which was why she was crowing now. She hadn’t really wanted that dinner at the Boar’s Head. What she wanted was for me to admit that I had desires, that I was still human after Charlie.

I was human, all right. And if I was eighteen, I’d be sneaking out my window tonight to meet Rafe somewhere to do more kissing and whatever else it might lead to. However, I had spent the afternoon thinking things through and sneaking around wasn’t the wisest course of action for a mother of two.

“Do, Jesus!” Mama exclaimed, one hand over her heart. “Are you so hard-up for a man that you have to throw yourself at the first one to come sniffing around?”

I had behaved shamelessly, but I wasn’t ashamed of my behavior. There was a difference. “I’m not desperate, Mama, just exploring my options. I don’t quite have the hang of dating just yet.”

“But Mama,” Charla wailed. “He’s kissed you two times now and you haven’t been on the first date with him. If I did that, I’d be under house arrest for a month.”

Damn straight. Maybe even grounded for life.

No wonder the double standard had been invented. Ah, the thrills of parenthood.

How did Mama survive me and Jonette growing up? Not that I wanted her advice, then or now, it’s just that there was more to parenting than I’d given her credit for over the years. “It’s not the same thing, Charla, and you know it. I’m single, but I’m not dead. You make it sound like it’s my fault the guy is interested in me.”

Lexy walked in with Madonna. She embraced Jonette and Madonna went crazy licking Jonette’s ankles.

Charla waved a wooden spoon at Lexy. “You’re never going to believe what Mom did today. She kissed that golf guy. Again. I’m never going to be able to hold my head up after this.”

Lexy eyed me sharply. “Are you serious about this guy, Mom?”

Trust Lexy to cut right to the chase. “I don’t know that it’s serious per se, but it’s fun. Seriously fun kissing Rafe. There. I said it. Are you happy, Jonette?”

Jonette laughed aloud as she hugged Madonna. “Yes. I’m seriously happy. Deliriously happy. Couldn’t be happier.”

Mama pursed her lips momentarily and set the table in pointed silence. I could tell she had a lot on her mind, but thankfully she didn’t burden me with it. And she stopped clutching her heart, which was a good thing.

Lexy seemed okay with the news I was interested in someone. Charla wasn’t. I’d have to sit down with Charla and make sure she understood that her Mom and Dad weren’t getting back together. Maybe then she would accept that I was moving on.

Jonette sniffed appreciatively as she took a seat at the cozy kitchen table. “What smells so good?”

“Pork Chops in Paradise, better known as Green Night,” Charla said as she brought over the three bean salad.

How much food coloring were we going through these days? Thank God it wasn’t toxic. Surprisingly, green pork chops were edible. After dinner, I talked Jonette into walking the dog with me. We turned left out of my driveway and walked up Main Street to Elm.

Madonna didn’t bound playfully ahead the way she did when I normally walked her. Instead, she remained in Jonette’s path, obviously wanting Jonette to pay attention to her. Jonette obliged the dog. Madonna’s tail waved in broad strokes. “She likes you a lot,” I said.

“Madonna and I are good friends,” Jonette said. “I’m surprised you still have her. I meant to ask you about her at the bank the other day. I thought Bitsy was taking Madonna home with them after the funeral.”

“So did I, but Bitsy is having trouble handling the Saint Bernard she’s got. The two dogs together are like an X-rated circus act. We had to go to heroic measures to keep them apart. Every chance they got together, her dog would be on Madonna.”

“Hot damn,” Jonette said. “Is Madonna still in heat?”

Who knew these things? I hadn’t paid attention to the dog’s hormonal cycle. In a house with three menstruating females, what was one more? But wouldn’t I have noticed something messy like that? Wouldn’t there have been spots left around? “I don’t have any idea. I must be a bad dog mother.”

Wait a minute. Jonette had never owned a pet in her life. How did Jonette know more about Dudley’s dog than I did? “What’s going on here?”

“I spent some time with Dudley and Madonna.” Jonette shot me an enigmatic look and rubbed Madonna’s chin. “That’s why the two of us are such good friends, aren’t we, girl?”

At the intersection, we crossed Schoolhouse Road and entered Hogan’s Glen Park. I needed the additional distance of the park to walk off the calories from that heavy green dinner I just ate.

It occurred to me that Jonette’s friendship with Madonna was a solid link between her and Dudley. Was this why Jonette’s fingerprints were in Dudley’s house and car? “Did you and Madonna hang out together a lot?”

Maybe it was all very innocent. Dudley could have hired Jonette to be his dog sitter.

“You could say that,” Jonette said.

“I could, but why would I?” Getting information about Dudley out of Jonette was like pulling teeth. Her secretiveness irritated me to no end. “What’s this all about, Jonette? I know you’re holding out on me.”

“Don’t get all snippy with me,” Jonette warned. “We hung out. That’s all. Took a few day trips together.”

I hated it when she did this to me. What was she trying so hard not to say? “You traveled with Dudley and his dog? Is that why the police consider you a suspect in Dudley’s murder?”

Jonette gazed over at the deserted swing sets. Why wouldn’t she just come right out and say whatever it was she trying so hard not to say? I had no choice but to grill her. I started with a zinger. “Were you sleeping with Dudley?”

Jonette’s color paled. “Absolutely not.”

That seemed like a truthful response. I tried again. “Were you sleeping with his dog?”

She almost smiled at that question. “No.”

“Well then, what were you doing with the two of them? Wasn’t your life complicated enough without adding Dudley and his dog to the mix? What are you too chicken to tell me?”

I didn’t think Jonette would answer me. She was walking so fast I had to run to stay up with her.

“I’m not chicken about anything,” Jonette said. “I didn’t want to tell you this because you’re the only person who’s ever believed in me one hundred percent. I didn’t want you to know I’m such a loser. The truth is, I’m lonely. So lonely it hurts. You’ve got everything, Clee. I’ve always wanted to be you, even when you were married to that gigundo loser Charlie. You’ve always had people who cared about you. When I saw how attentive Dudley’s dog was to him, I decided I needed a dog like Madonna. Is that so bad?”

I dug my heels in and dragged the dog to a stop. “You want Madonna?” Did Jonette kill Dudley for his dog? I clenched my teeth so that question wouldn’t slip out.

Jonette shook her head in denial. “I don’t want Dudley’s dog. I want a puppy. I worked out a deal with Dudley. If I helped him with Madonna during her pregnancy and when the puppies were little, then I could have a puppy for free. I didn’t want a little yippy dog like my mother has. I want a big kick-ass dog that will eat any bad people that knock on my door.”

I sighed with relief. Her explanation rang true. Why didn’t she say something before about being lonely? I could have made more time for her. Not that I’d been much fun recently, but, hey, I would have made an effort if only I’d known. “Saint Bernards aren’t kick-ass dogs. Madonna has been friendly with everyone who’s come to our house.”

“So what?” Jonette squatted down and hugged Madonna. “She’s big and that’s enough to put most people off.”

Poor Jonette. It must have cost her plenty to confess her loneliness. I couldn’t believe that she wanted to be me. My life had been just as screwed up as hers, but at least my mother had never thrown me out and disowned me. Even when I got pregnant in college and married Charlie instead of finishing my education, Mama was always there for me. “Do you want Madonna?”

“Thanks, but no.” Jonette sniffed. “I love this dog, but she’s settled in with your family. Would you let me have one of her puppies? Please?”

“Puppies?” My knees went weak, almost as if one of my daughters had come home from school and announced she was pregnant. I stumbled over to the nearest park bench and sat.

“She should be pregnant,” Jonette said. “Dudley and I took her to be serviced by a stud dog three separate times, one day at lunchtime. If that didn’t do the trick, Bitsy’s dog might have closed the deal. I’d help you just like I was going to help Dudley. What do you say?”

Puppies. I just couldn’t get past that part. It appeared that I now owned a dog and puppies were in my future. I wasn’t ready for labor and delivery. I had assumed Charla and Lexy’s husbands would attend them when their times came. I planned to sweep in and be the devoted grandmother every other Friday evening.

Hell. I didn’t even know if the dog was pregnant. How did one determine such a thing? “Do I have to get her to pee on one of those little home pregnancy kits?”

“I have no idea,” Jonette said. “Dudley was taking care of that part. What does her vet say?”

I blinked. “She has a vet?”

“Of course she has a vet. Grady Murphy over at the Animal Clinic. You should take her in for a check-up and get your name on her file. Dudley had an electronic ID tag inserted under her skin in case she was ever stolen or lost. You’d need to get that record updated too.”

“Puppies. Ohmigod. Does that make me a step mom or a grandmother?”

“You’re taking this rather hard, Cleo,” Jonette said. “She might not be pregnant. I mean, what if she’s barren like me? Maybe she can’t conceive.”

Jonette sat down beside me and Madonna promptly put her head in Jonette’s lap. I felt as if I were nine months pregnant again and it was too much to take in. Was I so close to the edge that a little unexpected news would push me into the loony bin? “I hardly know what to say. I’ll have her checked out. But please, don’t mention puppies to the girls until we know if she’s pregnant.”

“I’d never do anything to hurt those girls,” Jonette said. “I love them as if they were my own. Although I have to say, your Mama and Charla in the kitchen are a little scary.”

“Hey, I warned you it was going to be a crazy meal. I’ve eaten orange eggs, blue pancakes, red grits, and God only knows what all else recently. Mama says I was stifling her creativity by not letting her cook. I hope that the color thing wears off soon.”

“My dinners are always straight out of the freezer case,” Jonette mused. “It’s a treat to eat green pork chops. I’m relieved you can appreciate their need for creativity. I was pretty worried about you.”

“Me too,” I said. “I don’t know how long I’ve been operating on automatic pilot, but now I feel like I’m in an ‘all systems go’ mode. I can’t thank you enough for not giving up on me this past year or so.”

Jonette reached over and squeezed my shoulder. “That’s what friends are for. You’ve always been there for me.”

This was getting entirely too sappy for me. Time for some sarcasm. “Yeah, but you’re still six months older than me.”

“And I got to experience everything first,” Jonette bragged. “I got my driver’s license first, I got to vote first, and I got to drink legally first. You can’t beat that.”

Jonette stood and stretched. “Time to go. I’ve got to pee.”

Some things never changed.

We headed home at a fast pace. The things Jonette had experienced first hadn’t been all good. Even so, I was glad she had known what to do after my divorce. I never knew she had experienced all this numbness and anger and grief as part of her divorces, at least, not until I experienced it for myself.

All I’d ever done was to make sure she was still a part of my life, no matter what. I hoped that was enough. It would truly suck to be a bad dog mother and a bad best friend.

Jonette and I told each other everything, but Charlie and Dudley had never operated that way. How had Dudley reacted to Charlie’s accusation that he was sleeping with Denise? I knew they had argued.