CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Jamie awoke on Sunday morning and propped up on an elbow to stare at her daughter. How on earth she and Conrad had created such a delightful little girl was totally amazing. After reading through those letters, Jamie might even go so far as to say that her daughter was a miracle. With Conrad for a father, she could have been a conniving little girl, but she wasn’t. She was as open as a book and as sweet natured as Mama Rita.

She glanced at the clock and rubbed her eyes, then looked at it again. She had exactly forty-five minutes to get up, eat breakfast, and get ready for church.

She slung her legs out over the side of the bed and headed straight for the bathroom, knocking on Amanda’s door and Kate’s on the way.

“Rise and shine, ladies. We have overslept,” she called out and purposely slammed the bathroom door shut.

Amanda was standing at the bathroom door when she opened it again. “Pregnancy shrinks the bladder down to thimble size,” she grumbled.

“We’ve got to hurry, and it’s my turn to make the covered dish for the potluck.” Jamie moved to one side to let Amanda inside the bathroom.

“It can be my turn, Mama.” Gracie rubbed the sleep from her eyes. “We can take the cookies me and Amanda made.”

“Coffee is making,” Kate said when Jamie and Gracie made it to the kitchen. “I’m not going to church, but I’m in as big a rush as y’all. Waylon and I are skipping services this morning.”

Amanda arranged cookies on a plate. “Oh, really! Have you got a room reserved?”

“No, we do not!” Kate poured three cups of coffee and set them on the table. “Did either of you do any interesting reading last night?”

“I did,” Jamie answered. “That’s probably why I overslept. Talk about tangled webs and twists and turns. Now what? This place should go to a dead woman?”

“But since she’s already passed on, then we’re back to square one, right?” Amanda asked.

“Not necessarily,” Kate said. “She left a will, and whatever she wanted done with her possessions will probably be taken into consideration.”

“Well, crap! This is turning into a never-ending cycle.”

“Cereal, toast, and orange juice.” Jamie talked as she set things on the table. “Gracie, don’t diddle-daddle around now.”

“I won’t, Mama. I don’t want to miss church. Do I still get to go home with Lisa after church is over?”

“Oh, shoot!” Jamie sighed. “I forgot about that, but yes, you can go home with her. However, if you want to take your backpack with toys in it, you might have to let me bring them over later.”

“I got it ready. And I got my play clothes in there and my old shoes.” Gracie poured cereal into a bowl, added a teaspoon of sugar and milk, and started to eat.

“Miss Organization there.” Amanda buttered two pieces of toast when they popped up.

Kate patted Gracie on the shoulder. “That’s a good thing.”

“So are you going to sit with Waylon this morning, Kate?” the little girl asked.

“No, remember what I said while ago. I’m going to skip out on church. Waylon and I have some business to take care of,” Kate said.

“You can miss church one time, Kate, but if you miss two times it makes God cry, right, Mama?” Gracie said.

“That’s what Mama Rita says.” Jamie nodded.

It took some serious hustle, but Amanda, Gracie, and Jamie walked through the church doors with three minutes to spare. Folks were still meandering in from Sunday school and taking their seats. Hattie rushed over to Jamie and hugged her tightly.

“I’m so glad to see y’all. I was afraid Gracie was sick. Where is Kate?” she asked.

“We just overslept.” Jamie patted Hattie on the back. “Kate and Waylon are off to Wichita Falls this morning. I hope it’s something to help close the case. Why don’t you and Victor sit with us today?”

“We’d love to, and there’s plenty of room for Paul and Lisa, too, on that empty pew right there.” She motioned to Victor.

Amanda giggled and whispered, “They are playing matchmakers, but don’t say a word. And at least he is an intelligent man with a credible background.”

Jamie won the fight with the blush. “Yes, he is. I’ve already figured Victor and Hattie out, and we’ve got a lot to get settled before any of us can take steps even into friendships, don’t we?”

“You might preach that sermon to Kate.” Amanda giggled.

Kate wore one of the sundresses she’d brought along to Bootleg, topped off with a cute little turquoise and silver necklace and her sandals. Using a curling iron, she managed to give her hair some extra volume. Makeup consisted of a brush of light-brown eye shadow, mascara, and a little lipstick. And then the time was gone.

She picked up her purse and carried it to her favorite rocking chair on the front porch, but Waylon drove up in his big black crew-cab truck before she could sit down. She waved and started in that direction. He shook the legs of his starched and creased jeans down over the tops of his boots when he got out of the truck and rushed around to open the passenger door for her.

“You look like a fresh breath of spring after a long winter,” he said.

“Thank you. I hope that is a good thing,” she answered.

He pulled the seat belt across her body and snapped it shut, and then brushed a soft kiss on her lips before shutting the door. She watched him in the side mirror until he disappeared. Good Lord, but he did fill out those jeans well. She would far rather be looking at him than singing hymns.

“So how was your weekend in Dallas? Was what I gave you any help at all? I let Amanda and Kate read the letters,” she said.

“And?”

“And they said they wanted to finish every one and then we’d talk about them tonight. Your turn, even though I know you can’t discuss the case,” she said.

“The information was a tremendous help to my partner and his new partner, whom he’s bitchin’ about.” Waylon chuckled. “Anyway, between the three of us, we’ve got some solid suspects on the list and aren’t out there chasing our tails. It’s lookin’ good, so thank you.”

“The letters?”

“I’d like copies of them for the evidence files just so we have something tangible with all those names he’s used. We’ll run our own investigation, but if we had a copy of the old report, it would be good,” he answered.

“I’ll get that done this week.”

She had to clasp her hands in her lap to keep from clapping and doing a wiggle dance right there in the truck. To keep from acting like she felt, she turned on the radio and flipped through several stations with preaching before she found one that played only country music.

She could tell by the way he had fidgeted that he was nervous that morning, not wanting to tell her something and yet needing to do so. The closer they got to Wichita Falls, the more he relaxed. Was she losing her famous ability to read people, or had the music calmed him down?

If she’d been in her office trying to broker a deal to buy a smaller oil company that was failing, right then would have been the moment when she made her big move. The buyer would have arrived all tense, and with a little small talk, he would relax and then she would ease into the business aspect of the deal.

Suddenly, she realized that she didn’t miss the business. It was her turn to tense. Maybe Hattie was right and she was ready for a big change. Her hands went clammy and her chest felt like it had stones in it.

“You okay?” Waylon asked.

“Yes, why do you ask?” She’d admitted that she liked working on the ranch. She’d owned up to the fact that she loved Gracie. Jamie and Amanda could pick up and move, but she shouldn’t entertain such a foolish notion.

“You went all stiff and the air in the truck got heavy,” he answered. “So what were you picturing in your mind that made it hard for you to breathe?”

“I was thinking about work, and it hit me that I didn’t miss it. I’m a workaholic like my mother. I love my job. I hate change. I should miss being there at the office, right?”