Blind Dates Can Be Murder (22 page)

Danny finished the last song before the sermon, put down his drumsticks, and followed his mom and sisters to the empty pew down front. He had been afraid that the tie might get in his way as he played, but everything had gone fine. He was feeling good, really good, and he had to admit that Diana had worked wonders. The whole family had gone nuts when he showed up looking so different. And though he wasn’t one to enjoy being the center of attention, as long as Jo was pleased with his new look, it would be worth all the trouble.

He snuck at glance back at her now, but she was staring straight ahead, her eyes on the pulpit. It was just as well. It was time for worship, not flirting.

The sermon was about the Good Samaritan, a topic that was always rich for discussion, but something about it struck Danny as disconcerting. Maybe it was the way the minister described the attack—a poor guy was just going along the road, minding his own business, when he was mugged by thieves and left for dead—but it reminded Danny too much of the attack on Brock Dentyne in the parking lot of Tenderloin Town.

And though Danny wasn’t happy that Dentyne had ended up being so good-looking and clever and persistent, he also had to admit that being knocked unconscious and locked in a car trunk was an awful thing to happen to anybody. Right there, Danny repented of his bad feelings toward the guy. Just because the fellow was interested in Jo was no reason to dislike him. After all, the two of them met through a dating service. It wasn’t as though he had hit on her at a bar or something.

I’m so sorry, God
, Danny prayed earnestly.
I ask that Your will be done in Jo’s life and mine
—
no matter how many Brock Dentynes stand in the way between us
.

Your
will be done, not mine
.

Lettie was relieved to find that, except for the music and the way people were dressed, the church service had ended up being rather conventional. The sermon sounded like what Billy Graham would say on TV, or one of those guys on the radio. She liked the pastor and his notion that she was a “neighbor” just because Jesus said she was.

She did get a little squirmy when it came time for communion, though, because the pastor talked about sin. He said if you had unconfessed sin in your heart, you shouldn’t take the cup or the bread until that sin had been confessed and things made right. She wasn’t sure what she thought about sin or confessing—or even Jesus, for that matter—but she wasn’t taking any chances. When the grape juice and bread came down her aisle, she just passed them along without taking any. Better safe than sorry.

When the service was almost over, she gritted her teeth for the social interaction that was bound to come next. This Marie person was so friendly, and while Lettie would have liked to slip away without having to talk, she knew that would be rude, not to mention she needed to seize the opportunity to meet Jo.

Sure enough, once the benediction was said and people got up and started milling around, Marie was warm and welcoming, telling Lettie how glad she was to see her there.

“We’ve got all kinds of small groups and Bible studies and everything,” Marie told her. “You’ll have to let me know what your interests and availability are, and we’ll see if we can’t get you plugged in.”

Plugged in? What am I, a lamp?

“Oh, uh, thanks.”

Marie turned to Jo.

“Lettie, this is my friend Jo Tulip. Jo, this is Lettie. She and I met at the tennis courts yesterday.”

Jo Tulip was really pretty, with blond hair and thick eyelashes and deep green eyes. Jo smiled and shook hands and welcomed Lettie as warmly as Marie had. Instantly, Lettie felt a surge of guilt for being so duplicitous.

“Do you play often?” Jo asked.

“Play?”

“Tennis.”

“Oh,” Lettie said, “n-no, not at all. I was just taking a walk, and I stopped to watch people play.”

“She didn’t stick around long enough to see me my game with Anna,” Marie said. “Lucky for her. That could have been painful.”

“No, I’m sure you’re real good,” Lettie said softly, feeling shy. “I mean, you had the little tennis outfit and everything.”

Marie laughed and put an arm around Lettie’s shoulder.

“I like this gal!” she cried. “You should come around more often.”

Marie dropped her arm as she and Jo began to talk about the afternoon. Lettie didn’t know what she was feeling.

A sense of belonging, maybe. For a brief moment, while she stood there in the middle of their conversation, she felt just a little bit like a part of something.

Of course, she soon realized that she needed to be paying attention to what Jo was saying. The whole point was to observe her and learn more about her.

Apparently, Marie was trying to gather up a gang to go out and eat lunch, but Jo was leaving town to visit her grandmother in the Poconos.

“Danny’s going with me,” Jo said. “We’ll probably be gone all afternoon.”

Just then, a guy walked up and joined them. He was extremely cute, with deep blue eyes and short brown hair. He looked familiar, and then with a gasp Lettie realized it was the photographer from Dates&Mates. He looked so different!

“Hi, guys,” he said, standing there, smiling. “How’s it going?”

Jo Tulip didn’t say a word, but Marie went nuts, throwing her arms around Danny and exclaiming how fabulous he looked.

“I didn’t even recognize you!” she cried. “It took me ten minutes to figure out who was up there playing Danny’s drums.”

He seemed flattered by the attention, but he kept stealing looks at Jo. Finally she forced a smile and said something complimentary, but it sure didn’t seem very genuine. Lettie wondered if they were a couple and they’d had a fight. Jo, at least, seemed upset about something. Poor Danny just seemed confused.

In the end, Jo left by herself, Danny went up onstage to put away his drums, and Marie had gathered six other people to join her at the restaurant.

“Of course you’re coming too,” Marie said to Lettie. “I won’t take no for an answer.”

Lettie must have looked at her with panic in her eyes because that was surely what she was feeling inside. Lunch? With a whole big group? She wouldn’t know what to say. She wouldn’t know what to do.

She couldn’t afford to spend the money.

“My treat,” Marie added. “As a welcome to our church. Come on, Lettie, you have to come with us.”

Lettie never actually said yes, but soon she found herself swept up into the moment. They all headed outside and down the sidewalk, and she realized they were walking to the restaurant, not driving. As they went, Lettie couldn’t help thinking how much Marie reminded her of a mother duck gathering all of her little ducklings around her.

The restaurant was in the next block, a cute little Italian place with red-and-white checked tablecloths and a little bouquet of fresh flowers at every table.

“Eight, please,” Marie said to the hostess.

“Just a moment.”

While they waited to be seated, Marie introduced Lettie to everyone, and they were all quite friendly. Lettie recognized Anna from yesterday at the tennis courts.

“Okay,” the hostess said, reaching for a stack of menus. “Your party can come this way.”

They all followed the hostess, and as Lettie went, she couldn’t help marveling at how very unusual this was for her. She was in restaurant, having lunch with friends.

Your party can come this way
.

Lettie allowed herself a small smile. For the first time, maybe ever, she was part of a party.

12

D
anny felt sick to his stomach.

They had been driving for fifteen minutes, Jo at the wheel and Danny staring absently out the window. While Jo had been polite to him, he could tell she wasn’t as enthusiastic about his new look as he had hoped. She also seemed very distracted. If not for Chewie panting excitedly from the backseat, there wouldn’t have any sounds in the car at all.

Danny didn’t know what had changed. All he knew was that the day had gotten off track from the moment the service ended until now. Jo had been oddly cool to him after church, so much so that he was afraid she had gone home and left town without him. He had put his drums away quickly, however, and raced home to change into outfit number two. Number one had been such a dismal failure that he was almost afraid to move on to the next one, but he didn’t have anything else clean to wear.

Once he had changed clothes, he grabbed a Pop-Tart and a Coke and ran across the back lawn to Jo’s house. She was just loading Chewie into her car. Though she hadn’t seemed surprised to see Danny, she hadn’t been overly excited, either.

He tried to make light of things, cracking a joke, attempting to start a conversation. But she hadn’t been very talkative, and eventually the conversation had dwindled.

After an hour on the highway headed toward the Poconos, Danny knew he couldn’t take her strange reticence much longer. This wasn’t how they did things. This wasn’t what their relationship was like at all.

“Is it the curls?” he asked finally. “’Cause I can grow them back if you want.”

Jo gave him an odd glance and kept driving.

“What do you mean?”

“Why are you acting so strange? Is it my hair? I thought you’d like it, but I’m wondering if maybe you don’t.”

Jo exhaled slowly, and in the lines of her face he could tell that she was really bothered by something.

“No, it’s not about the hair. You look wonderful. I just don’t know how to respond to you.”

“What do you mean? You’re really confusing me here.”

She drove on for a full minute without speaking. Finally, much to his surprise, he glanced at her and realized that there were tears in her eyes.

“What is it, Jo?” he asked, leaning toward her. He knew she was bothered by something, but he had never expected her to cry.

“Your big news that you’re coming along to tell me. It’s a woman, isn’t it? You’ve fallen in love and you’re going to get married.”

Danny sucked in a breath, forcing himself not to laugh.
Yes, it’s a woman, and I have fallen in love, but it’s not what you think
.

“I don’t understand,” he said. “Why are you crying?”

“I thought I was your best friend, but there’s so much you haven’t told me that you have told other people.”

What on earth does she mean?

“Tiffany,” she said. “Last night Tiffany said you have strong feelings for someone. I’m just really surprised that she knew and I didn’t. How stupid do I feel? I didn’t even realize you were dating anybody.”

Danny sat back, everything coming clear to him now. Jo was jealous!

The question was, was she jealous of Tiffany for having an inside scoop on her friend Danny? Or was she jealous of the nameless woman for whom Danny supposedly had such strong feelings? Danny suspected it was a mix of both, though he was hoping more for the latter.

“I can’t believe you would have developed this relationship without ever sharing it with me,” she said. “I know you have every right to your own life, and yes, I know that I did the same thing with Bradford, but I thought we had learned from that. I thought I meant more to you than that.”

Her words hung in the air between them. Danny wanted to respond, but he had to think carefully about how to put out this fire without ruining the moment for later.

“I’m not dating anyone,” he said, trying not to smile. “Tiffany has things mixed-up.”

“She seemed pretty sure last night. She wouldn’t say who it is, but I think I know. It’s Monica, isn’t it? Monica O’Connell?”

Monica O’Connell? Danny didn’t even know who she was.

“I’m afraid I’m not familiar—”

“The cute little cop!” Jo cried. “Monica O’Connell! She told me just yesterday that if you fixed yourself up a little bit she’d be all over you ‘like the peeling on a potato.’ And now look at you. You’re beautiful!”

All Danny could do was bite his lip and try not to laugh. He wasn’t sure who Monica O’Connell was, but while her language was quite descriptive, he simply wasn’t interested. He was in love with Jo.

“Look, let’s not ruin this day,” he said. “There is no mystery woman whom you’ve never met. I don’t know any cute little cops or anyone else named Monica. The big news I have to give you today is totally good news, Jo. Good for you and for me. Can you trust me on this?”