Part 15 (1/2)
The gate that led from the back yard to the front swung open, and Charity stood there for a couple of minutes staring at Seth and Felicity.
”What are you looking at?” Felicity snapped at her sister.
”Sorry, I-I wasn't expecting to see Seth here today,” Charity said.
”Yoo-hoo!” Missy called out and waved. ”Come on, y'all, let's eat.”
Within minutes the four of them sat around the patio table munching on ham sandwiches, chips and pickles and sipping on ice-cold sweet tea.
”Thanks for inviting us to lunch today,” Charity said. ”Mom's working at Treasures all day, and I dreaded having lunch with Grandma. I guess I shouldn't say such a thing, but-”
”But she's a weird old lady who scolds us all the time and reminds us to be good girls and watch out for all the evil in the world, especially evil men.” Felicity laughed.
With his gaze glued to Missy, Seth noted an odd expression cross her face. Just a flicker, there and gone in a second. Then he glanced at Felicity and couldn't help comparing the two girls. Missy was prettier in a wholesome sort of way. She wore very little makeup and dressed in what his granddad would call a demure, ladylike manner. Of course, with her being a Church of Christ preacher's daughter, she had been taught to walk the straight and narrow. On the other hand, Felicity, too, was a minister's daughter, but for some reason her parents let her get away with murder. If she'd take off some of that makeup, remove her violet contact lenses and quit dying her hair jet black, Felicity would be a cute girl.
”How was your first morning at Bright Side?” Missy asked Charity. ”Is it weird to be around all those people with mental handicaps?”
”I'm working in Mrs. Maxwell's office. She's a very nice person. I'm answering the phone and filing stuff and entering information in the computer. I won't actually be around the students all that much. My first morning there has been great, except-” She quieted abruptly.
”Except what?” Felicity asked as she finished off her second sandwich.
”Nothing. I shouldn't say anything about it.” Charity lifted her gla.s.s to her lips and sipped her tea.
”You have to tell us now,” Felicity said. ”Whatever it is, we can keep a secret, can't we, guys?” She looked from Missy to Seth and then back to her sister. ”Come on, spill it.”
”I really shouldn't, but...well...Mrs. Maxwell,” Charity cleared her throat. ”She told me to call her Kim.”
”Good G.o.d, stop hem-hawing around.” Felicity rolled her eyes in aggravation.
”Kim's father came by to see her this morning, and I couldn't help overhearing part of their conversation. They were talking pretty loud,” Charity said. ”Her father is a Presbyterian minister over in Decatur, and his wife is sick. From what I could make out, he doesn't want to take care of her himself, so Kim recommended one of her students to come live with Reverend Kelley and take care of his wife.”
Felicity groaned. ”Is that it? That's boring news. I thought you knew some deep, dark secret. Maybe something scandalous.”
”It is scandalous when a man doesn't want to take care of his sick wife, don't you think?” Missy said. ”If he really loved her...”
”The way your dad loved and took care of your mom when she was sick,” Charity said.
When Missy didn't respond to Charity's comment, Felicity grabbed the bag of potato chips and shook out a tall stack onto her plate. ”So were they arguing, Mrs. Maxwell and her father?”
”Yes, I think so.” Charity shook her head. ”I only heard bits and pieces of their conversation, but I think they were arguing about the best way to take care of Kim's mother. My guess is that Reverend Kelley wants to put her away somewhere so he doesn't have to be bothered with her.”
Felicity faked several yawns as she patted her hand over her mouth. ”Boring stuff. Let's talk about something more interesting.”
Frowning, Charity gave her sister a condemning glare.
To break the tension in the air, Missy asked, ”Are y'all going to the youth rally Reverend Floyd is hosting tomorrow night? Just about everybody from school is going.”
”A youth rally,” Felicity whined. ”Jesus, Missy, you're as boring as Charity. You two really need to get a life.”
”I'm going,” Seth said. ”To the rally. Granddad isn't much into my visiting other churches, but since this is being held at the community center and it's not any kind of church service, he's okay with my going.”
Missy smiled at Seth, and suddenly everyone else disappeared. They were the only two people in the world. ”I'm going, too. Would you like to ride with me? Dad's letting me take my car.”
”Hey, if you two are going, count me in,” Felicity said. ”Pick me up, too, okay?”
Seth wanted to tell Felicity that she hadn't been invited to go with them, but he'd been taught not to be rude. Besides, before he had a chance to do more than process the fact that Felicity had just blown his big chance to be alone with Missy, Missy said, ”Of course. All of you can ride with me. We'll make a night of it. You know the youth rally lasts until eight o'clock Sat.u.r.day morning.”
”Oh, I like the sound of that.” Felicity looked right at Seth. ”We could slip off in the night and have some real fun.”
Chapter Twelve
Jack's phone rang just as he unlocked the patrol car. He glanced at the caller ID and grinned.
”Yes, he showed up, in person. He's quite a know-it-all,” Jack said. ”A man with a great deal of information and some interesting theories, but unfortunately nothing that pinpoints our killer.”
Maleah laughed. ”You didn't like him.”
”Do not project your feelings onto me. You don't like him. I found Derek Lawrence to be intelligent, articulate and intuitive.”
”You didn't like him,” she repeated.
”I'm withholding judgment until I know him better.”
”What does that mean?”
”It means that Mr. Lawrence has decided to stay in Dunmore for a while. Our Fire and Brimstone Killer fascinates him.”
Maleah groaned. ”I'm sorry, but you did ask for his help. I had no idea he'd do anything more than send you his report. Just remember that if he steps on any toes and p.i.s.ses off the wrong people, I was just the go-between, at your request.”
”I promise I won't shoot the messenger,” Jack a.s.sured her.
”Are you at work or...?”
”Heading out for lunch. I'm meeting the contractor, a guy named Clay Yarbrough. Mike recommended him. He added on a sunroom and a deck at Mike's place.”
”Clay Yarbrough. The name doesn't sound familiar. He must not be from Dunmore originally.”
”He's originally from Athens,” Jack said.
”I still can't believe you're actually going to restore the old place and live there. A year ago, I'd have bet good money that you'd never ever even spend a night there.”
”A lot has changed in a year.”