Down Home and Deadly (11 page)

I glanced at Carly. She must have read my mind. There were some gift horses you didn’t refuse. An offer to clean the men’s room definitely fell in that category. “Sure. You can if you don’t mind.” She handed him an apron. With the extra help
,
it didn’t take but a few minutes to finish up the cleaning and put the supplies away. As we gathered up our personal things, Carly stepped back and looked at
Marco
’s face. “Are you getting enough sleep?”

“Between studying and working here, I don’t sleep a lot. But I rest plenty.” He pulled off his latex gloves. “I need to work all the hours you will let me have so I can make enough to pay for school.” He tossed his apron into the laundry hamper. “And I have to maintain good grades
,
so I have to study a great deal
,
too.”

“Wow, you do have a full schedule. Not much time for a social life
,
I suppose.” Carly smiled at him.

“Social life? What
i
s that?”
He grimaced. “The only females I see are right here at the diner. Remember the woman with the snake tattoo?
”

I smiled as I thought of Jolene.

“Hiding from her. That
i
s my idea of a social life.”

“You need to get out more, honey,” Carly said as she carefully locked the front door.

We walked out onto the
back
porch.
Carly locked it
,
too. We all started out to the vehicles together.
Marco
veered off toward
his old van
.

Carly looked at me. “I forgot I parked around front.”

I motioned toward my car a few feet away.
“I’ll give you a ride around
there
. It’s safer that way.”

She climbed into the passenger seat
,
and I started the car.

“Poor
Marco
. He looked so exhausted tonight. Kind of overwhelmed.” My tenderhearted sister sounded distressed.

“Well, no wonder with his busy schedule. I don’t think I could face going to school and studying plus working here as many hours as he does.” I put the car in reverse and slowly drove around the building.

Carly sighed. “Yeah, and he looked worried, too. I guess he really needs the money.”

A sudden memory of
Marco
standing by the cash register when we’d walked into the dining room an hour earlier flashed through my mind. “You don’t think he needed it bad enough to kill J.D. and rob him do you?” I dismissed the idea as soon as the words came out of my mouth.

Carly shook her head. “No way do I think that sweet boy would even think about such a thing.”

“Me either. But you know Mama always told us some people would do anything for money.”

“True. But I don’t think
Marco
falls into that category. Do you?” She glanced at me as I pulled up beside her car. “Besides
,
I hadn’t heard J.D. was robbed. Was he?”

“No idea. If he was, that bit of gossip hasn’t hit the streets yet.” I wondered if I could pry that information out of John with a free piece of pie. Probably not.

Carly turned toward me. “Not to change the subject or anything, but I hope you have a good time tomorrow.” She leaned back in her seat. “Are you nervous about spending the day with the ‘in-laws to be’?”

I shook my head. Then I nodded.
Then I shrugged.
Talk about mixed signals. “I don’t know. You know I always loved Alex’s parents even when we were kids. I guess I’m afraid our engagement will change things some.” I turned off the motor. “But having premium seats at a Cardinal’s game will be worth overcoming my nerves.” I grinned at Carly.

“I’m sure they knew that
,
too.” She climbed into her car. “Have a good time. Call me when you get home.”

“I will
, but it’ll be really late
. Don’t work too hard without me.” As I pulled out of the parking lot, I realized that Carly and I hadn’t ended up getting to talk alone
after all
. Pretty soon we’d
just
have to sit down and visit.

*****

Dear Pru,

I’ve been married three months to the man of my dreams. Our marriage couldn’t be better. Except for one minor detail. His parents hate me. They tell him they like me, but I know they don’t. They’re not rude, but if you could see how stilted they act when I’m with them, you’d know they can’t stand to be around me. I really don’t know what to do.

More Outlaw Than In-law

*****

Dear Outlaw,

Be patient. Chances are that if you find a common interest and work to get to know his parents better
,
they’ll like you. And even though I know you can’t see it, some reserve could be normal for them. Sometimes our imaginations wreak havoc in our lives. Be sure paranoia isn’t part of your problem.

*****

*****

Chapter Seven

Everything is lovely and the goose hangs high
.

When Alex rang the bell,
it was morning but still dark outside.
I yanked the door open and pulled him inside. “I need your help.”

“Whoa, water girl. What’s wrong?”

“Is this shirt okay?”

He looked at my red Cardinal’s shirt then back up at my face. “Is this a trick question?”

“No!”

“Of course, it’s fine.”

“Just fine?”

“Perfect. As usual,” he said with a slightly uncertain smile.

I stared in the foyer mirror at my wild curls. “Why did I leave my hair down? Everybody knows you wear a ponytail to a baseball game.” I swooped my hair up
and
secured it.

“Uh-oh,” Alex said.

I turned to him. “Uh-oh
w
hat
?
”

“Uh-oh, I didn’t get the ponytail memo.”

I smacked his arm. “Very funny.”

He held up a bag. “But I did bring you something that actually goes with that hairstyle.”

I opened the bag and pulled out two red caps emblazoned with the team logo. “Thanks.” I froze with it halfway to my hair. “You don’t think it’s too much for us to be matching?”

He
placed
his own cap on his head. “Too much?”

“Too
.
 
.
 
.
l
ike we’re shoving our engagement in your parents’ face?”

He laughed then stopped when he saw my face. “Honey, let’s sit down and talk about whatever’s got you so frantic.”

“We can’t sit down. If we’re late, we might miss the beginning of the ball
game.” Or worse, cause his parents to miss it. I’d looked on the
I
nternet after Alex told me about their engagement gift to us. I felt sure they’d had to pay at least a hundred dollars each for four tickets right behind home plate.

Neuro and Mr. Persi paced around me
as if
they knew my happy ending was about to explode into a million pieces. I gave them each a pat. “We’ll be back late tonight, guys. Zac will be by a few times to visit. Be good and take care of each other.”

Alex escorted me onto the porch then put one hand on my back as we walked to the truck. He helped me in and shut the door. I think by now he wasn’t sure I wouldn’t run.

We didn’t speak until we were leaving
Lake
View
,
and he glanced over at me. “Want to tell me what that was all about back there?”

“What?” I stared out the passenger window at the trees and pastures flying by.

“The meltdown.”

“Just because I had a hard time deciding what to wear? That represents a meltdown?” I joked. “Remind me never
to
take you shopping with me.”

“Fine,” he said, a slight frown crossing his face. “Obviously, we’re going to
spend a four
-
hour drive
pretend
ing
that nothing’s wrong.”

I forced my shoulders to relax and blew out the breath I hadn’t realized I’d been holding. “I’m a little nervous about seeing your parents.”

“You saw them when they came through town a few weeks ago,” he pointed out in a reasonable tone.

“Yes, but then I was just your girlfriend
,
and they were in town about an hour. This is going to be an all
-
day thing, including going to their house after the game.” I cut my gaze over to him. “And now we’re engaged.”

He shook his head and tapped his hand on the steering wheel. “Which my parents are thrilled about.”

I snorted. “Of course that’s what they’re going to tell you.”

He drove for a minute then sighed. “You want to know the truth? If I married anyone else, they
’d be
disappointed.”

I opened my mouth
,
and he held up his hand.

“And no, that’s not why I’m marrying you.”

I sighed. He knew me too well. But he’d calmed my nerves. For now, anyway.

*****

“He’s out of there,” Coach Campbell roared.

The
Cincinnati
batter didn’t move out of the box
,
and Alex’s dad threw out his hands in disgust. “What was that?”

Demaree patted her husband’s arm. “Honey, just because we have seats behind home plate doesn’t mean you’re the ump.”

“Maybe I should be,” he grumbled, but his grin gave him away. He leaned forward and looked across his wife at me. “What do you think, Jenna? Was I right or wrong?”

Alex cleared his throat. “Now, Dad. Jenna—”

While Alex was trying to protect me,
St. Louis
’s pitcher wound up for another pitch and released it. The umpire called strike three
, a
nd the inning was over.

I laughed and interrupted. “Coach, I think you were absolutely right. He’s out of there.”

“You always were a wise one,” he said.

Yeah, like when I was wise enough to know my swimming career was all washed up.
I pushed the negative thought away and scolded myself like Carly and I always did when the kids got a little self-centered
.
It’s not all about you,
I reminded myself.

Demaree slipped her hand in min
e
and gave it a small squeeze. She leaned over and spoke softly in my ear. “Forgive our enthusiasm, Jenna. We’re so happy that you and Alex are going to be married. I’m afraid we’re a little giddy.”

“Are you sure?” I blurted out.

Puzzlement crossed her face. “Of course I’m sure. Why would you ask that?”

I shrugged. “No reason, I guess. I know I let Coach down when I lost the Olympics.”

Her pretty face grew stern. “Let him down?” she said, no longer lowering her voice. She flashed a look at her husband. “Mike, Jenna thinks she let you down by losing in the Olympics.”

His eyes widened with surprise
,
and either he missed his calling as an actor, or his shock was genuine. “How did you let me down? You were the best swimmer I ever coached. You did everything I asked of you, even when you thought you couldn’t. You were a joy to coach, Jenna.”

I resisted the urge to go into it f
u
rther. Now was neither the time nor the place as the first Cardinal batter approached the batter’s box. “Never mind,” I said, smiling. “Thank you.”

By the time the Cards won a rowdy victory, I’d almost managed to stop thinking of Alex’s parents as my ex-coach and his wife. If they could get over my early failure and the impact it no doubt had on their lives, surely I could
,
too. I was a grown woman, after all.

But when we got to his parents’ house after the game, all my earlier nervousness returned with a vengeance. I climbed down from the truck. “Whoa, it’s beautiful,” I said to Alex, as we approached the white two
-
story house with its bright green roof. “I especially love the front porch and the swing.” His folks came out just as I finished speaking. They’d left the ball
game only a few minutes before us, but when Alex called them ten minutes ago to tell them we were stopped for road construction, they were already home. One of the joys of being a local and knowing all the shortcuts.

They accepted my compliments and ushered us into the house. We bypassed the formal living room and went straight to the family room, a comfortable area with overstuffed chairs and a fireplace.