James, Miranda - Out of Circulation (CAT IN THE STACKS MYSTERY)

“Okay, Dad.” Laura came closer and dropped a quick kiss on my cheek.

“You’re hobnobbing with the society crowd these days.” Sean finished with the salad and moved to the sink to rinse his hands. “Having tea with the Ducote sisters may put you on the A-list in Athena.” He grinned as he dried off with a tea towel.

I put on my best aristocratic drawl. “Yes, I’m thinking of hiring a chauffeur to drive the new Rolls I ordered. I can’t be seen driving myself around town now.”

“Wonderful.” Laura clapped her hands. “Does this mean I can have that diamond and emerald tiara I’ve always wanted? Christmas is only a couple weeks away, after all.”

“How about a Lamborghini for me?” Sean smirked at me. “I’ve been a good boy lately.”

“Whatever you want,” I said airily. “The sky’s the limit.”

We all had a hearty laugh, and as I watched my two children making merry I felt a deep sense of satisfaction. Having both of them with me these past few months was a great blessing, and I didn’t want to think about Laura heading back to California after the holidays. Sean could be moving out also, but perhaps not for a while. He seemed comfortably ensconced here, but if he and Alexandra did get married, they would want their own home.

The ringing of the front doorbell interrupted my journey down Melancholy Lane. “I’ll go,” I said. “I’m sure it’s Helen Louise.”

Sean and Laura exchanged a smile, and Diesel, hearing the name of one of his favorite people, loped after me as I headed out of the kitchen.

He reached the front door before me and reared up on his hind legs. With both his front paws he started twisting the knob. He had learned this little trick some time ago, and I suspected Justin had taught him to do it.

“Hang on, boy, there’s a dead bolt, too.” If he ever learned to open that, I could have real trouble on my hands. With my help at the dead bolt Diesel was able to open the door. We both moved back to admit Helen Louise. She looked lovely tonight in a crimson midlength skirt and jacket over a cream-colored blouse. The crimson suited her dark coloring perfectly.

“Charlie, Diesel, am I glad to see the two of you.” Helen Louise slipped off her jacket after giving me a kiss and the cat a scratch of the head. “I’ve spent the most frustrating hour. I’m about ready to take somebody’s head off.”

“Uh-oh. What happened?” I took her hand and tucked it into the crook of my arm. I led her toward the kitchen, while Diesel made circles around us on the way.

“Vera Cassity. That’s what happened.” The venom in Helen Louise’s voice didn’t surprise me, considering Vera was the cause of her distress.

“What did she do?” I asked as we walked into the kitchen.

“All she’s doing,” Helen Louise replied, eyes flashing hatred, “is trying to run me out of business.”

EIGHT

Helen Louise sank into the chair Sean pulled out for her. Diesel put a paw on her leg and laid his head beside it. He warbled for her, and she sighed and rubbed his head. “Oh, you sweet boy. You’re just what I needed.” She glanced at me and then at the other two faces regarding her with concern. “All of you.”

“How is the Wicked Witch of North Mississippi trying to run you out of business?” Laura handed Helen Louise a glass of iced tea.

Helen Louise took a quick sip before she responded. “Delicious. Vera had the gall to come into the bakery around four thirty this afternoon and inform me—in a voice loud enough for everyone within five miles to hear—that the Friends board was canceling its order for the gala. Do you know how much money I spent on the ingredients for all those pastries and cakes?”

“Why on earth would they cancel? The gala’s only a few days away.” Laura frowned. “That doesn’t make any sense.”

“No, it doesn’t,” I said. “Did Vera give you a reason?”

“She certainly did. She had the colossal nerve to say someone on the board had heard that several people came down with food poisoning after eating some of my food.” Helen Louise drained the rest of her tea. “That was an out-and-out lie.”

“Of course it was.” I squeezed her shoulder, and she put a hand over mine as she smiled up at me.

“How about a refill?” Sean reached for Helen Louise’s glass.

“Definitely,” she said. “Slip a little bourbon in it while you’re at it.”

Sean grinned. “If that’s what you want, I think Dad’s got some stashed away somewhere.”

Helen Louise laughed. “No, only kidding. If I start on the bourbon, I’ll just get maudlin, and none of you needs to see that.”

“What did you say to Mrs. Cassity about the food poisoning?” Laura asked. She bent to peek in the oven. “Time to get this out.”

“I lit into her like a wild dog after Jezebel.” Helen Louise offered a grim smile. “I told her exactly what I thought of her, and I also told her my lawyer would call her first thing tomorrow and she’d better be prepared for the biggest lawsuit for slander the great state of Mississippi has ever seen.”

Sean whistled as he handed her a fresh glass of tea. “I bet you were terrifying. What did Mrs. Cassity have to say then?”

“Not a blessed thing. She turned white as the proverbial driven snow—which she sure isn’t—and almost ran out of there.” Helen Louise swigged down half her glass with evident satisfaction.

“I’m proud of you for standing up for yourself like that.” I bent to drop a kiss on her cheek. “Vera is a nasty piece of work, that’s for sure.”

Helen Louise frowned. “She did say something odd, though, in the midst of all those lies about the food poisoning. Now, what was it? Oh, I know, she said I ought to be more careful about the company I keep. What do you think she meant by that?”

I felt my blood pressure start to rise, and if Vera had been anywhere near, I think I would have set aside the manners of a lifetime and slapped the pee wadden out of her. It took me a moment to calm myself enough to speak.

“I know exactly what she meant, that vicious harpy. She’s angry with me because I wouldn’t let her snoop around in the Ducote family papers. She threatened me, but Miss An’gel thwarted her, so she decided to get at me through you.”

Helen Louise used a word I had never heard her speak, disconcerting me. Diesel drew back in alarm at her tone, however, and Helen Louise hastened to reassure him. He calmed under her touch.

Laura said, “Amen to that. That woman ought to be put away somewhere. Who does she think she is, anyway?”

“Evidently she thinks she can run roughshod over everyone in town.” Sean shoved his hands in his pants pockets as he leaned back against the counter. I could see his hands ball up inside the fabric as his face darkened in anger. “Dad, we can’t let her get away with this.”

“She won’t, I can promise you that,” Helen Louise said. “The minute Vera was out the door I got on the phone and called Miss An’gel to tell her about it. She advised me to call my lawyer, as I threatened Vera I’d do. She also said she had plans to give Vera the comeuppance she so richly deserves.” She laughed. “She wouldn’t tell me what she meant. All she’d say was that I would enjoy this year’s gala more than ever and to go ahead and proceed as we’d planned with the pastries.”

That must have been the phone call Miss An’gel had to take as I was leaving River Hill, I realized.

“Who is your lawyer, by the way?” Sean asked as he set the heaping bowl of salad on the table.

Helen Louise’s expression turned impish. “Why, your future father-in-law, of course. I deal only with the best.”

Sean turned bright red, and Laura and I exchanged amused glances. Sean had been remarkably close-mouthed about his relationship with Alexandra Pendergrast since he’d begun working for her father. I could understand his reticence. His abrupt departure from Houston and his job there was connected to a prior romantic relationship.