Down Home and Deadly (10 page)

The kitchen window bell rang.
“Not yet.”
I walked over to pick up her order then set the full plate in front of her. She continued to talk as I sat back down

“Well, take my advice and steer shy of it. And if you do get married, make sure he ain’t a weasel. My man, Jimmy, he was slick. And sweet-talking? Why, that man could talk the bark off a tree.” She paused to take a gulp of tea. “This tea’s good. Anyhow, he was crooked as a snake. See this snake on my shoulder? I got that after Jimmy and me split up. That’s my reminder not to fall for any more snakes. Yeah, me and Jimmy got married when I was just a girl. Then I found out he wadn’t what you might call honest. No sirree.” She took a large bite of mashed potatoes and gravy
and
kept talking as she chewed. “But we did one thing right. We made wills. You got a will?”

“Yes,
m
a’am.”

“Smart girl. Yep. Me and Jimmy made wills and left all our worldly possessions—don’t that sound fine?—all our worldly possessions to each other. I never thought much about it until a lawyer called me a
couple
days ago. He told me Jimmy had done cashed in his chips in a little one-horse town nobody’d ever heard of. And I’m thirty thousand dollars richer. Best thing Jimmy Dean Finley ever done for me was die.”

“You mean—? J.D. Finley was your husband?”

“Ex,
h
oney. I divorced him for reasons we needn’t go into, over twenty years ago. But he never changed his will. So I came here on this pilgrimage to see where he bit the dust. And to celebrate.”

A loud clatter jerked my eyes to the kitchen area. Debbie stood in the midst of breakage, and I noted absently that her customer must’ve ordered strawberry shortcake. She looked as if she had been in a wreck, splashed with strawberry juice to her knees.

“I’m sure glad that little lady wadn’t bringing my food.” My companion winked at me. “I b’lieve you guys need to invest in some superglue for her. Stick that tray to her hands.”

“Excuse me a second,” I murmured and rushed to help Debbie and
Marco
clean up the mess. Only Debbie didn’t stick around. She simply turned and walked to the kitchen. But not before I saw the tears streaming down her face. Either Carly was going to have to find out what was bugging Debbie or buy unbreakable dishes. After we cleaned everything up, I went back to the table.

“Ain’t you
Mr. Clean
?
With hair, of course,
” she remarked sardonically. “That little gal needs to find herself another job. She ain’t cut out for waitressing. I oughta know. I been one my own self. Along with lots of other things.” A loud bark of laughter followed. “What time do you get offa work,
m
issy?”

“Me?” My mind was blank—or numb.

“Yes, you.” She snapped her fingers in my face. “Hello? You do work here, don’t you?”

“Oh. Yes.” I glanced at my watch. “In about twenty minutes.”

“Why don’t I wait for you outside under one
of
them big shade trees? I need somebody to show me around town
,
and I don’t know a soul here. Unless you count poor ole Jimmy’s
,
and that ain’t much help.” Another roar of laughter.

I debated. A little of this woman went a long way. On the other hand, she’d known J.D. in his youth. Perhaps she could shed some light on who would kill him, or at least, why.

“I’ll meet you in the parking lot in a few minutes,” I answered.

“Good girl.” She left a five
-
dollar bill on the table and gave me a wink. “That’s to celebrate my good fortune. I believe in spreading it around.”

As she exited, followed by many fascinated gazes, I went to the kitchen to see if Carly needed help in view of Debbie’s departure. To my surprise, Debbie, scrubbed clean of strawberries, though still somewhat stained, was dishing up food
,
keeping her eyes fixed on her work. I went back to waiting tables until the
noon
surge had subsided then hung up my apron
.

I stepped into the kitchen and quickly filled Carly in on my new acquaintance.

“You’re going for a ride with a stranger?” she asked, obviously puzzled.

I shrugged. “You’d just have to meet her. I need to find out as much as I can about J.D.
,
and I think she can help me.”

“Keep your cell phone on.”

“I will,” I called
and headed out to meet my new acquaintance.

“I was about to come hunting you, honey. But I figured you couldn’t get past me unless you went out the back door and hid behind the
D
umpster.” I shivered. The
D
umpster was the last place I would ever hide from anyone.

“Hop in this roadster of mine
,
and let’s see what this little
town
has to offer.” She opened the passenger door of an older Mustang, fire-engine red and well kept. I climbed in
,
and she
ran around and
sank into the driver’s seat, turned the key
,
and revved the engine. I glanced around. All I needed was for John or Seth to run up and write a ticket. I’d never live it down. But we got safely away in a spurt of loose gravel and headed down the main drag of
Lake
View
.

“We get lots of tourists, Mrs. Finley,” I began.

She
began to look
around, even craning her neck to look in the backseat. I clung to the seat
belt strap with white knuckles as the car careened from one lane to the other.

She brayed another of her loud laughs.

“What are you doing?” I asked.

“I was looking for Mrs. Finley. If you meant me, my name’s Jolene. I ain’t been ‘Mrs.’ nothin’ since I was a kid. And I took my maiden name after Jimmy Dean left me. Yep, Jolene Highwater, that’s me. Now, little lady, what’s your name?”

“Jenna Stafford.” I waited a beat,
al
though I doubted Jolene would be the type to watch
the
Olympics, much less remember one has-been from years ago. Apparently I was right.

“Pleased to meetcha, honey
.
”
S
he removed her right hand from the steering wheel and stuck it out. I shook it and released it quickly, hoping she’d return it and her attention to
where they belonged
. She noticed my nervousness and laughed again. She certainly was a happy woman. “Jimmy always said I was the worst kinda driver, a polite one. When I talk to someone, I look at
’em
.”

“Well, we have several hills and curves in this part of the country, so that may not be a good idea
.
” I spoke quickly, lest she look too long and miss a curve.

“You know, I hadn’t even hardly thought about Jimmy Dean for the last few years. I’d really put him out of my mind. He was just a youthful mistake, you know?” She looked over at me
,
and I nodded.

After what seemed like an eternity, she looked back at the road. “But ever since that lawyer guy called, I keep remembering when we was together. I thought there wadn’t no good memories, but now most of
’
em seem good. Ain’t it funny how our minds can play tricks on us?”

It was. My mind was tricking me into believing that if we didn’t stop while we talked, somebody might be cashing in on
my
will. “There’s a scenic overlook up here on your left that’s really beautiful.” I crossed my fingers that she’d pull in.

She obligingly whipped the little car in and killed the motor. We got out and looked across mountains faintly colored with fall leaves. My legs still trembled a little, but I walked over and sat down, willing myself to relax.

In front of us, mountain after mountain fell away until they faded into blueness. I never tired of looking at the majestic beauty of this scene. Jolene stared at it a long time without speaking. Almost a miracle. Then she slowly lit a cigarette and took a long drag.

She loosed a stream of smoke and looked at me. “I’d like to ask you a favor.” She spoke soberly. “I know we just met, and you don’t owe me a thing. But I’m kinda in what you might call a pickle. Turns out I’m the executor of Jimmy’s will. He hadn’t got no close kin left. So I have to decide how to dispose of the body
when they
get done with it and
release it
.” She stared out at the mountains then back at me. “I thought I’d just have him cremated and get on back to my life, but now
that
I’m here, I don’t think I can do that.”

I wondered again about Jimmy Dean Finley. What kind of life must he have lived to have no one who wanted to plan a funeral for him? “You know, his grandma lived here. She died a little while back. He came to the funeral and just stayed on.”

“Yeah? Her and him never did get along when I knew him. But I guess
,
like they say, blood’s thicker’n water. You think I oughta have him buried here?”

“There were folks in town who were quite fond of him,” I said carefully. “They might get a sense of closure if you have a funeral.”

She snorted. “Closure? Reckon that’s why someone killed him? So they could get closure?”

“Do you know why someone might have killed him?”

She threw her cigarette down and ground it into the dirt with her heel. Then she carefully picked up the butt and stuck it into her pocket. “I have no idea. Unless Jimmy changed quite a lot, it could
a
been just about anything. Wonder how much a funeral would cost? I could spend a thousand or so of what I’m getting, I guess. After all, if it wadn’t for him, I wouldn’t have any.”

“I could show you where the local funeral home is.”

“Tell ya what
—
you do that later on. Right now I’m ready to find the nearest watering hole. I’ve had about as much of this dry
-
county stuff as I can handle for one day.”

We climbed into the Mustang
,
and the engine roared to life. She spun gravel as she peeled onto the road and headed back to town.

*****

The next night
,
Carly walked into the deserted dining room as I was wiping the crumbs from the last dirty table. “Think you and I can handle the cleanup if I let the others go on home?”

“Sure.” We hadn’t had a chance to talk since the diner opened. I followed her into the kitchen.

Debbie and Susan both looked relieved when Carly told them their shifts were officially over.

Susan picked up her purse. “I’m dog tired. I’d forgotten how hard this was.” She must have noticed Carly’s funny look, because she quickly clarified, “I’m thrilled to have the job. It’s just been several years since I’ve waitressed. I’ll have to get back in the groove.”

“You’re doing great,” Carly assured her. “Thanks for pulling a double yesterday.”

“See y’all tomorrow.” Debbie followed Susan out the door. “I’m going home to put my feet up.”

Carly and I finished putting the dishes away. Together we walked out to do a last
-
minute check of the dining room before tackling the bathrooms.

Marco
was standing near the front door.

“
Marco
!” Carly said. “I thought you were already gone.”

“No. Is there anything else I can do? I will be happy to put the dishes away or sweep.” Dark circles under his eyes made him look exhausted.

Carly and I exchanged glances. “Um,
Marco
, I told you your shift was over. Why don’t you go on home now and get some sleep?” Carly smiled at the waiter. “I appreciate your willingness to work, but we’re almost finished.”

“Okay. If you
are
sure there isn’t anything I can do.” In spite of his agreeable words, he didn’t move. “I just wanted to help out. I really appreciate you giving me this job.”

“You do a great job.
Harvey
says lots of people ask to be seated in your section.”

“I do my best.” He smiled modestly. “I make good tips, too. I think a lot of people just like to hear me talk.”

His accent did stand out in our little
S
outhern
town. Not to mention his European charm and Italian good looks. And according to Harvey, older women, especially, liked to sit in his section. Maybe because he had the courtliness of an old-fashioned gentleman.

“Well, we have to finish cleaning up, hon.” Carly made a shooing motion at him. “You probably need to go on home and study.”

“Yeah, I get to clean the restrooms.” I pulled latex gloves out of my pocket. “I can’t wait.”

“Would you like me to help? I can do the men’s room.” He picked up a pair of gloves.