Миранда Джеймс - Bless Her Dead Little Heart

“If Rosabelle has no objection,” An’gel said, “that is fine with me. I will ask her once she has finished resting. Now, if you will follow me, I will show the ladies to their room. Dickce will be happy to go with you, Mr. Pittman, to the garage apartment and check it out.” She did not wait for a reply but turned and headed for the stairs.

Bernice and Maudine glanced at each other, then followed their hostess. Juanita paused to smile at Dickce before she trailed after them.

Dickce turned to Junior Pittman. “If you will come with me, I’ll show you where you’ll be staying.”

Junior blushed. “Thank you, ma’am. It’s awfully kind of you and your sister to put us up like this. I know it’s a terrible imposition.” He stared at the floor.

Dickce could tell he was embarrassed by his family. “That’s quite all right. Don’t you even think about it.” At her feet, Diesel warbled as if he agreed with her.

The young man smiled at the cat. “He sounds like he’s trying to talk.”

“He is,” Dickce said. “He can be pretty chatty. Now let’s go out the front.” She thought it better not to disturb Clementine in the kitchen just now.

Cat and man followed her outside, and they walked without speaking along the driveway as it branched off behind the house. The garage, converted from the cookhouse it had been until the end of the Civil War, stood about fifty yards behind the mansion. It had room for three cars, and at the moment it held the sisters’ late-model Lexus and Rosabelle’s dusty Cadillac.

Dickce headed for a door near the empty slot and tugged it open. She reached in and flipped the light switch to illuminate the cramped staircase. Diesel scampered ahead of her and was about halfway up the stairs when he stopped, head extended, sniffing.

Probably mice , Dickce thought. It had been a few months since anyone had checked the place.

She turned to offer an apology for the apartment’s likely condition but instead froze, her mouth open.

Above them, the floorboards creaked, the sound much too loud to be caused by a mouse.

CHAPTER 5

An’gel opened the door of the second guest room and stood aside to let the women enter. Maudine brushed past her, still obviously rankled by An’gel’s refusal to let her check on Rosabelle.

“I suppose this will do,” Maudine said. Bernice nodded with a tentative smile at her hostess.

Annoyed by the rude tone, An’gel suspected that Maudine, as the elder of the two, took the lead in everything, leaving Bernice to follow meekly in her wake. Thank goodness Dickce had more gumption. An’gel couldn’t abide women who didn’t speak up for themselves.

Juanita slipped past An’gel to stand beside her mother. “What a lovely room,” she said, her face alight with obvious pleasure. “Miss Ducote, does all the furniture date from the antebellum period?”

An’gel noted that Maudine frowned at her niece’s enthusiasm. “Yes, it does, although the mattress is modern, I can assure you. You should find it comfortable.”

“What about the bathroom?” Maudine glanced around the room. “There’s only one door in here, and that has to be a closet.”

“The bathroom is next door,” An’gel replied, her tone pleasant despite the other woman’s rudeness. “You will be sharing it with your mother.”

“Oh, dear,” Bernice muttered with a glance at her sister.

“I suppose you have to expect it in an old house like this.” Maudine sniffed. “My house in California has four bedrooms, and each one has its own bathroom.”

Juanita frowned at her aunt. “Before this, I’ve never had the opportunity to be a guest in a house with such a long history, Miss Ducote. I’m sure I’ll enjoy every minute I spend here.”

An’gel smiled at the young woman. At least one member of Rosabelle’s family had manners, though An’gel had to wonder how on earth Juanita had learned them. Miss Manners would have a field day with the rest of the clan.

“Thank you.” An’gel noted that Maudine didn’t appear to have paid any attention to Juanita’s rebuke, although Bernice at least had the grace to appear slightly abashed.

“Where did you put Wade and Marla?” Maudine asked.

“They have the guest room upstairs,” An’gel said.

“Don’t tell me we have to share the bathroom with them, too?” Maudine glowered at An’gel.

“No, there is a bathroom upstairs,” An’gel said, already anticipating Maudine’s sour reaction to this bit of news.

“I can’t believe Marla gets a private bathroom while we have to share one.”

The way Maudine’s nostrils flared, An’gel thought, she looked like an irritated horse. Dickce was hard put not to laugh.

Bernice touched her sister’s arm. “Now, Maudine, it won’t be that bad. It wouldn’t be right for Wade to have to share a bathroom with Mother, after all.”

Maudine frowned at her sister. Before she could speak, however, Juanita intervened. “Perhaps it would be better if we went to a hotel. I’m sure you can recommend a good one in town, Miss Ducote?”

Both Maudine and Bernice appeared aghast at Juanita’s suggestion. Maudine opened her mouth but nothing came out.

Appreciative of the young woman’s tactics, An’gel nodded and smiled. “The Farrington House is the oldest and most highly regarded hotel in Athena. I’d be more than happy to call and make a reservation.”

“No, that won’t be necessary. I’m sure we’ll be perfectly comfortable here.” Maudine smiled weakly. “After all, it is really kind of you to open your home to us like this.”

Maudine changed her mind pretty quickly, An’gel was amused to note. She was also pleased that the woman finally made an effort to behave in a more polite fashion.

“My sister and I are delighted to help our old friend and her family. I’m sure you all must be in need of refreshment,” An’gel said briskly. “If you would care to join me in the front parlor in about ten minutes, there will be iced tea for you. Miss Cameron, we’ll get you settled once your grandmother is finished resting.” She paused long enough to get nods from the sisters and a broad grin from Juanita before she left the room, pulling the door closed behind her.

An’gel had begun to descend the stairs when she heard whistling from nearby. Startled, she turned to her left to see Rosabelle, her door cracked about two inches, mouth pursed to whistle again.

An’gel approached the room, and Rosabelle stood back to let her enter. She closed the door and leaned against it.

“What are they doing here?” she asked.

“The same as the rest of your family, I suppose,” An’gel replied tartly. “They’ve come to check on you.”

“To murder me, you mean,” Rosabelle muttered. She moved away from the door and sank into a chair in front of the vanity. “I have nowhere else to go and no money to get anywhere either. So I guess I’m stuck.” She closed her eyes and sighed.

“You ought to be safe enough here,” An’gel said. “They’d have to be crazy to try to harm you while you’re our guest.” Given what she had observed thus far of Rosabelle’s family, she couldn’t put a lot of conviction in her tone. She felt she had to try to reassure her old sorority sister, though.

Rosabelle’s eyes popped open. “You don’t know how desperate they are.” She shuddered. “They would throw me to a pack of ravenous dogs if they thought they could get away with it.”

An’gel wanted to shake her. She understood that Rosabelle was badly frightened, but her tendency to overdramatize got old quickly.

“There’s no pack of ravenous dogs here, and you’re certainly not Jezebel,” she said in a mild tone. “So you’re safe from that.”