“This one will. I feel it in my bones.” She put her hands on her hips and cocked her head with a huge grin. “We’re gonna be great!”

I lifted the pot off the table and set it on the floor. “Funny, that’s what Joe said.”

“I’ve always liked him.”

I snorted as I swept the loose dirt on my worktable into a plastic bin. “Yeah, that’s why you set me up on a blind date a couple of months ago while he was in Little Rock.”

Violet frowned. “We didn’t know anything concrete about Joe then, and he refused to tell us.”

“Well, you didn’t like him anymore when you pinned him down, and he finally told us about his family.”

She put her hands on her hips. “And you know darned good and well why. You still haven’t met them, have you? I’m telling you that little Rose Gardner from Henryetta, Arkansas, will not meet the approval of his rich, socialite, political family in El Dorado. Mark my words.”

“And yet you still have the audacity to say you always liked him?”

She laughed. “Okay. I guess he grew on me.”

“Me too.” I started to fold up the soiled newspaper on the table, when a headline caught my attention. Elderly Woman Found Dead. Leaning over the table, I scanned the article in the week-old paper. “Did you know our old Sunday school teacher, Miss Laura, died last week?”

Violet’s eyes widened. “What? No! How?”

I read more before glancing up. “It says they found her dead in her house. Her air conditioner was off. They think she died from heat exhaustion.”

“That’s so sad. I loved her.”

Amazingly enough, I did too. She was one of the few people at the Henryetta Southern Baptist Church who had been genuinely kind to me. “Why do you suppose her air conditioner was off?”

Violet shrugged. “Who knows? You know how miserly old people get. Look at Momma.”

I resisted a shudder. I always did everything in my power not to think about Momma. “It just seems weird, don’t you think? It’s been hotter than blazes outside. They’re calling it a record heat wave for September.”

“She probably figured it was autumn, so it was time to turn off the air, temperature be damned.”

“But her windows were closed…”

Violet pointed her finger at me with a stern look. “Your problem is now that you’ve had two run-ins with criminals, you think every death is suspicious.”

My mouth dropped. “That’s not true!”

“Why, just a couple of weeks ago, you thought that Old Man Hurley’s death needed to be investigated.”

I scowled. “You have to admit it looked strange. A grown man found dead sitting in his lawn chair in the backyard, not wearing pants.”

“Lots of old men don’t wear pants. Remember Mindy Draper’s grandpa?”

I pursed my lips. “He was senile.”

Violet bent down and grabbed both of our purses and walked around the counter. “You’ve got plenty of trouble in your own backyard is all I’m sayin’.” She handed mine over. “You don’t need to go borrowing more.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

She opened the door and paused. “Nothing. Forget I said anything.”

I followed Violet outside and waited while she locked up. “What aren’t you telling me?”

Her mouth twisted to one side as she considered what to say. Finally she lowered her voice. “There’s rumors going around town is all. But don’t you worry about it. That’s what I love about you, Rose. You don’t care what people say.”

That wasn’t true. I cared plenty. I’d been the topic of Henryetta gossip for as long as I could remember. But there wasn’t a thing I could do about it.

She kissed me on the cheek. “It’s nothing anyway. I’m the one people should be talking about.” She gave me a wicked smile. “Me and my scandalous almost-divorce.”

“I thought you and Mike were just separated.”

Violet ignored my statement, walking away from me. “I’ve got to get home to my babies, and you need to go home and get some rest. We’ve got a big day tomorrow!” Then she hopped into her car and pulled out of the parking lot.

I watched her drive away before getting into my old Nova and driving toward home.

When I turned down my street, my heart leapt with joy. Joe’s car was in the driveway. He sat on the front porch with a beer in his hand and a big grin on his face, filling the chair with his tall frame. He’d gotten his dark brown hair cut since I’d seen him on Sunday, his natural copper highlights not so prominent now.

I parked behind him, barely swinging the car door closed before I ran up to the porch and threw my arms around his neck. “Joe! What are you doin’ here?”

Joe lived in Little Rock, over a two-hour drive away. We spent every weekend together and only occasional weeknights. It was an unusual occurrence for him to show up on a Tuesday night without warning.

His arm wrapped around my waist and held me close as he lowered his mouth to mine. He kissed me thoroughly before lifting his head to stare into my face. “Tomorrow’s a big day for you, Rose. Where else would I be?”

“You came for our grand opening?”

“Of course. I love you, darlin’. I wouldn’t miss it.”

I kissed him with all I was worth, certain my elderly neighbor Mildred was at her window with binoculars. She’d probably call the Henryetta Police Department about me fornicating in broad daylight. “You know Mildred’s watching, don’t you?”