Carolyn and I had spent many a Saturday morning scouring estate sales and random garage sales in older areas of the city. I had thought bringing Ruby along would allow me to know her better, maybe get her interested in the challenge of a good find. The younger woman had seemed to enjoy learning about our inventory, and I envisioned us armed with Starbucks and the will to find treasure among old vacuum cleaners and baby furniture. “If you’d like. I do a lot of ordering from England and France, but many customers like traditional southern pieces, too. Never know what you might find in Aunt Ethel’s attic.”
Ruby bit her lip. “Um, well, I thought I would . . . I mean, I sort of need the hours because—”
“You’ll be on the clock. Of course.”
Relief flashed in her eyes. “Great. Yeah, that would be good, then. Meet you here? Or . . .”
“Here is fine.” Nodding again, I played the role of bobblehead, wanting desperately to get the hell out of there, away from everyone.
I needed to think. To process. To snoop.
Reaching beneath the chipped kitchen cabinet where we stored our personal things, I grabbed my purse before saluting Ruby with a half smile, trying to pretend I was the woman I’d been fifteen minutes before. Before I’d been stupid enough to eavesdrop through a closet vent. Before Julie and Bo Dixie had cut the rope to my anchor, setting me adrift, pushing me toward hysteria. Or cold numbness.
Which of those was worse—to feel or not to feel?
But wait, I couldn’t do either yet. Not over unfounded gossip. In fact, Julie and Bo Dixie might have known I could hear them. Those two little schemers could have winked at each other and dreamed up my husband receiving fellatio from some heartless skank named Steph. They’d probably stifled their laughter, tickled Phi Mu pink to play such a horrible joke on me. In my mind I pictured them—thin, pretty women with their shoulders shaking in silent mirth, a gleam in their mean eyes.
Gotcha, Cricket.
Ruby jarred me from my ruminations by attempting a smile of her own, shadows of concern flickering in her brown eyes. I turned away so I wouldn’t cry.
“Hope you feel better soon,” Ruby said, her voice soft like the worn hoodie she slunk into work wearing each morning.
“Thanks. Later,” I replied, slipping out the back door, blinking against the outside world as I walked to the minivan Scott had bought me when Julia Kate was six years old. Back then I thought I was pregnant with baby number two. Another baby never came, but I still drove the van because it made car pool easier . . . even if it made me feel as sexy as my aunt Clarice’s girdle. Maybe I should drive the Spider more. Put the top down. Let the wind blow through my hair.
That’s probably why my husband was cheating on me. I chose comfort over sexiness every time. But who wanted to wax her hoo-ha and wear a thong? Truly?
I refocused because I had work to do. Scott would be at the bank until five o’clock. Then he’d toddle over to the club to oversee Julia Kate’s lesson . . . or get a blow job. Whichever.
I had at least three hours.
If Scott were cheating, there’d be signs. Maybe nothing too overt, but the man wasn’t the most detailed of people. He dropped deposit slips on the floorboard of his truck all the time, and he’d been known to leave his sand wedge on random holes at the club. Locking himself out of the house was at least a yearly occurrence. Careless wasn’t his middle name, but it was at least a first cousin.
Time to figure out what the hell was going on before I tied myself up in knots. Everyone knew I hated complications.
Especially when they happened in the blink of an eye.
Damn it.
CHAPTER TWO
RUBY
Something was wrong with Cricket.
That morning she’d arrived with a smile and muffins from Sue Anne’s Bakery, determination on her face, an ugly shirt assaulting my eyes. But that was how Cricket always arrived, with the exception of exchanging muffins for doughnuts and the ugly shirt for one that wasn’t as garish but still didn’t flatter her. What I couldn’t do with a wardrobe if I had her curves . . . and money.
Me? I was what my gran called pioneer tough, with a whip-thin physique and hair that frizzed at the slightest hint of humidity. Sinewy, strong, and designed to withstand hot Louisiana summers. I might as well be a walking advertisement for a pickup truck.
I snorted as I thought about how I wasn’t made to be soft. Well, what of it? Tough wasn’t bad, and I didn’t mind being like rawhide most days.
Looking down at the check Julie Van—I squinted at the signature—Ness had written, I had a sneaking suspicion it was one of those pieces of fluff that had my boss looking like she’d eaten a beetle. But I didn’t blame Cricket. As soon as those two had waltzed inside, I had wanted to slink away and plaster myself against a wall, too. Julie and Bo Peep were the sort that made me feel substandard and twitchy. Both wore trim workout clothes that hugged their thin bodies, carried purses that had little gold letters that could have cost twenty bucks at Target or a thousand from some fancy store like Saks or Neiman’s, and carried themselves with the protection that privilege gave a person.
I shouldn’t judge someone based on the little symbol near the bottom of their yoga pants or the fact they drove a white sporty SUV that cost triple what I make in a year, but I knew they were judging me . . . because I heard them.
And for the record, I liked my tats and adored my diamond-stud nose ring, so they could go eat a bag of . . . worms.
Yeah, I was trying really hard to clean up my bad language.
The little bell rang over the door, and I glanced up to find the guy I had been thinking about more than I should lately.
Ty Walker.
The man was slick as greased owl . . . poop, and he seemed to know it. He wielded his charm like a Ginsu knife, cutting through every defense I threw up. His golden-streaked brown locks, baby blues, and very nice body had pinged on my radar the first time I’d laid eyes on him a few weeks ago, when he’d come in to arrange delivery of several pieces he’d bought one day when I’d had class. He was that guy—the one all the girls used to watch on the lifeguard stand with his mirrored sunglasses, bronzed shoulders, and flashing white teeth. The one you fantasized about but never had the balls—ahem, I mean guts—to talk to.
“Good afternoon,” I called out.
His smile flashed as he tucked his Ray-Bans into his shirt. A guy like him always wore Ray-Bans. Tom Cruise effect.
“Hey, I was hoping you’d be here.”
“I’m always here. Well, when I don’t have class.” I tried not to fidget. I didn’t want him to know how nervous he made me. Because he did.
He glided toward me, smooth and confident, propping a forearm on the glass countertop and leaning in. Expensive cologne wafted. Not overdone but noticeable. “I forgot that you’re still a college girl.”
“I’m twenty-eight years old. That’s not a girl.”
“I’ll say,” he teased, raking his gaze down my torso.
My immediate response was to look around for my hoodie. I had gotten hot earlier and had shed it when polishing the new silver service that we were going to put on the front table. Underneath, I wore a tight Lycra shirt that showed the skin between the hem and my favorite jeans. “You flirt too much.”
He gave me a gator smile. “Only ’cause I’m good at it.”
I snorted and tried to find my coolness. This guy melted me even if his words were a little too cocky, bordering on douchey. “I’m assuming you’re here to pick up the carpet Cricket ordered. It’s in the back.”