Ripple of Secrets: Rose Gardner Mystery Novella #6.5 (Rose Gardner series Book 3) (4 page)

He grinned, his eyes twinkling. “You give me far too much credit. I’m just an observer in this situation.”

None of this made sense, but there was no denying he had me freaked out. “I can’t sit back and let this happen.”

“But if you don’t know any details, how can you put a stop to it?” He leaned his elbow on the arm of his chair. “Which brings me to another topic.” His brow furrowed. “You will propose to Hilary and marry her within the next few months.”

“You can’t be serious.”

“Totally.”

“I don’t love her. I don’t even
like
her.”

“You
liked
her enough to get her pregnant.”

I stifled a cringe. “I’m not going to live in a loveless marriage.”

“Consider it a marriage of convenience. It won’t be the first and it won’t be the last. Besides,” he said with a smirk. “Look how your last love-based relationship worked out.”

I clenched my fists. “You are unbelievable,” I spat out in disgust. “Our breakup had nothing to with our feelings for each other. You were going to make her give up her entire life for me.”

He looked unimpressed. “She claimed she loved you, but she wouldn’t sacrifice for you. You were willing to give up your entire life for
her
.”

“That was different!” I rose to my feet and shouted. “I actually wanted that life. I still do. Why do you think I moved there?”

He pressed his back into his seat, then placed his hands together in front of him, as if puzzling out a particularly perplexing riddle. “You still want that girl. Even now.”

“You know her name. At least do me the respect of saying it.”

My father studied the wall for several seconds before turning to look at me with a gleam of excitement in his eyes. “What if I told you I would give you my blessing to marry Rose Gardner?”

I shook my head. “She won’t marry me. She already refused your conditions.”

He held his hands out, palms up. “No conditions.”

My mouth dropped open. “You’re saying I can marry her without her changing anything in her life? She can keep all of her friends and continue working at the nursery?”

“I said no conditions.”

I shook my head, but my heart beat fast with excitement. “I don’t get it. Five seconds ago you ordered me to marry Hilary.”

“I realize now that I might have been wrong about the situation.”

My father rarely admitted to mistakes, but this was no time to gloat. “There’s obviously something in it for you.”

“I’ll let you marry Rose Gardner, but only if you do as I ask in regards to the Fenton County situation.”

There had to be something huge brewing in Fenton County if my father was willing to allow Hilary to give birth to a Simmons bastard in exchange for my cooperation. “I let Gentry murder Skeeter Malcolm?”

“He’s a criminal, Joe. Malcolm got himself into this situation. You’re just allowing the natural order of things to take place.”

“And Mason Deveraux?”

“Call it a blessing in disguise.”

Rose

Every Christmas before this one had been a mixed blessing. While I loved spending time with my Aunt Bessie and Uncle Earl, Momma had always gone out of her way to make the day difficult for me. After learning some of the details about Daddy’s affair with my birth mother, Dora, I finally understood why she’d treated me poorly, and with Jonah’s help, I was working on forgiving her.

But Christmas this year was everything I’d always hoped it would be. We gathered together at the farmhouse my birth mother had owned—me, Mason, his mother, Violet and the kids, Jonah, and Bruce Wayne. The only ones missing were Mike—who was spending the day with his parents—Aunt Bessie and Uncle Earl, who’d gone on a cruise with their friends, and Neely Kate, who was with her crazy family. She’d texted to tell me that Ronnie had begun drinking around ten in the morning in preparation for a day with her cousins.

When we sat down to Christmas dinner, I looked around the table, thankful to be blessed with so much love and friendship.

But if I were honest, part of me wondered how Joe was doing. Christmas had been difficult for both of us growing up, so when we were together we’d promised each other to make this Christmas a holiday neither one of us would ever forget. Now I was surprised that I found myself wondering if he was spending the day with his parents. It made me sad to think of him being sent back to the prison of his past when I’d escaped mine. But I reminded myself that I wasn’t responsible for Joe’s happiness. While I knew that to be true, why did it weigh so heavy on my heart anyway?

I glanced up at Mason and my chest warmed when I found him looking at me with unabashed love. I reached my hand toward him and he took it in his and squeezed.

“How was your trip?” Violet asked, scooping a small helping of lasagna onto Mikey’s plate. Violet hadn’t been happy that I’d decided to go non-traditional with the meal, but she hadn’t put up too much of a fuss either. It was more progress for us.

I blinked at her in surprise. “What trip?”

She looked up and scowled. “I know you left town for a few days, Rose Gardner, so don’t you try to lie to me.”

Crappy doodles.

I glanced at Mason, unsure of what to say. He’d taken a short trip to Little Rock, and he’d given me the early Christmas gift of a girls’ trip to New Orleans with Neely Kate to see the musical
Wicked
. But he’d asked me not to tell anyone, not even Violet. And although he’d refused to tell me why, I suspected it had more to do with his trip to Little Rock than it did with my vacation with Neely Kate. Still, I’d respected his wishes, so I had no idea how my sister had figured it out.

“Maeve stopped by the nursery and she had Muffy with her.”

Mason’s mother gave me an apologetic look. “I’m sorry. I didn’t realize it was a secret.”

Mason squeezed my hand, then cleared his throat. “It wasn’t necessarily a secret. It all just came together quickly.”

Violet pinned my boyfriend with her gaze. “Where did you go?”

“Rose and Neely Kate were in New Orleans while I was in Little Rock on business.”

Violet’s mouth dropped. “You went to New Orleans?
Alone?
”

“I wasn’t alone. I had Neely Kate with me.” My shoulders tensed as I waited for her verbal berating.

“That’s amazing, Rose. You’ve never been so far from Henryetta! Did you have fun?”

I let out a sigh of relief that she wasn’t holding this over my head. “It was an interesting experience.” If you called being a murder suspect, and Neely Kate seeing a ghost
interesting
.

Mason picked up the bread basket and winked at me. “Rose and Neely Kate seem to find excitement wherever they go.”

Violet shook her head. “No kidding. I can’t believe you were at…
that place
last week,” she finished, substituting
that place
for
strip club
. “Do you know how dangerous that was?”

I glanced at Ashley, my five-year-old niece, who was intently watching our conversation. “Violet.” I widened my eyes. “I think you’re exaggerating.” I shot my gaze back to Ashley to send her a silent message.

Violet’s lips pressed together. “We’ll discuss this more tomorrow at the shop when we finalize the plans for the grand reopening.”

“Okay.” We were in the home stretch for reopening the nursery and launching my landscaping business. We’d only just opened the nursery a few months ago, and although vandalism of the store had forced us to close for the entire Christmas season, I saw no reason for reopening with any pomp and circumstance. Given the way Henryetta was still gossiping about my sister’s affair with Mayor Brody MacIntosh, I’d prefer to keep it quiet.

We spent the rest of dinner hearing about the kids’ Christmas gifts, Bruce Wayne’s first Christmas Eve with his biological father’s family, and Jonah’s stint on Jeopardy.

“It was a nerve-racking experience,” Jonah said, wearing an ear-to-ear grin. “But I think my experience on camera helped with my nerves.”

“So how’d you do?” Mason asked.

Jonah’s grin turned ornery. “You’ll just have to wait and see when it airs.” He picked up his glass of water. “I’m bound to secrecy until then.”

“Not even a hint?” Violet asked, and when Jonah pressed his lips together to prove his point, she said, “Then tell us about your new girlfriend.”

Jonah’s cheeks turned rosy. “I’m not sure what there is to tell.”

I smiled at my friend. His relationship with Jessica was still so new, but I could tell he was happy. He’d even taken her with him to California for the taping of his Jeopardy episode the previous week.

“She’s the church secretary,” I volunteered. “And she’s had a crush on him since he hired her.”

Jonah’s blush deepened. “I wouldn’t be with her at all if Rose hadn’t intervened.”

“I’d like to think you would have found the courage to ask her out.”

Once Jonah got over his uncharacteristic bashfulness, he told us a bit about Jessica. She’d been born and raised outside of Henryetta, and she came from a large family. “Three brothers and five sisters.”

“Wow,” Mason said, taking another helping of garlic bread. “That’s a lot of kids.”

“She says she only wants a couple of her own.”

Jonah and Jessica were getting serious quick if they were already discussing children.

But while Jonah seemed totally at ease, I noticed that Bruce Wayne was quiet and more withdrawn than usual. He was typically a shy man, but I suspected something else was going on with him. I planned to corner him the next day to find out.

Everyone stayed well into the evening, laughing and having a good time. After our guests left, I stood in the kitchen doorway, looking at the last bit of mess left over from dessert. Mason walked up behind me and pressed his stomach against my back, wrapping his arms around my front.

“I’ll help you clean it up tomorrow night.”

I glanced up at him in surprise. With the long hours he worked, he always made sure to eat breakfast with me and clean up the kitchen before he left.

He grimaced. “I have to leave early tomorrow.”

He’d checked his cell phone several times during dinner, but he’d put it in his pocket when he noticed me watching. What was going on? Now I was really curious. “I thought you had a light week since it’s between Christmas and New Year’s.”

“I was off for several days, so I need to catch up.”

I spun around in his arms and looked up into his face. “What were you doing in Little Rock?”

“Official Fenton County business, Ms. Gardner.”

That was my cue to butt out. Too bad for Mason I didn’t back down so easily. “Why did you want me out of town while you were gone?”

He grinned. “I was under the mistaken impression you’d be safer out of town.”

I gave him an indignant glare. “What happened in New Orleans wasn’t my fault, Mason. I couldn’t help that the psychic Neely Kate went to see was murdered after Neely Kate threatened her.”

“I never said it was your fault. But I’ve pretty much decided that I should plan on trouble finding you wherever you go, and with that knowledge in mind, it was probably a mistake to send you to New Orleans of all places.”

I wrapped my hands around his neck. “Then where would you rather send me?”

His lips lowered to mine. “Our bed. You’re more than welcome to cause all the trouble you want there.”

He was clearly distracting me, but I knew when to pick my battles. I’d find out tomorrow. He had his sinfully evil ways and so did I.

The next morning, Mason’s alarm woke me and I was surprised to see it was still dark outside. He turned it off and pulled me to his side, nuzzling the top of my head.

“Why are you getting up so early?” I murmured.

“I already told you.” But he pulled me closer.

I propped up on my elbow and searched his face, barely able to make out his features in the dark. “No, you didn’t. Instead of answering my question, you distracted me.”

He grinned lazily. “I didn’t hear any arguments.”

“Mason, I’m serious. I understand you can’t tell me certain things about your work, but you need to tell me if it’s important. I had a right to know about your sting operation last week.”