“Oh.” I wasn’t expecting that. “Well…”

“I know I haven’t put my best foot forward, but I was hoping we could start over. Maybe we could meet for…” She glanced around the square. “What do you all do around here? Meet for moonshine?”

“Or coffee.” She’d just confirmed why this was a terrible idea. “Look, Kate. I’m not sure why you’re here in Henryetta, but if you’re trying to get Joe and me back together, it’s a wasted effort. We are over. I’m with Mason and I love him. I have no plans of leaving him. In fact, we plan on getting married.”

All expression left her face. “So you really are engaged.”

I wasn’t sure why I’d added that last part, other than to drive home that she’d hopped onto the wrong bandwagon, but something told me it might not have been the best tactic if I wanted to encourage her to back down. “Not officially. But we’re living together.” What was I doing spilling my personal life to her? “Honestly, Kate. It’s none of your business.”

“Did you talk to Mason about Hilary?”

“And why would I do that?”

She grinned. “You did. You asked him because you had to know. What did he tell you?”

Now I was getting angry. “I know what you’re doing. You’re trying to cause strife between Mason and me, but it’s not gonna work. I know all about Hilary and Mason in Little Rock.”

“So you know that Hilary wanted Mason Deveraux instead of Joe?”

I shook my head. “I have no idea where you got such ridiculous information, but it’s not true. Besides, you weren’t even around. How would you even know? You were in California.”

Her eyes widened and a wicked smirk spread across her face. “Was I?”

“What the Sam Hill are you doin’?” I shook my head in disbelief. “I’m done with all this double talk nonsense.” I pushed past her, my anger spurring me forward, and she didn’t try to stop me this time.

I’d taken several steps when she called after me. “I know things you need to know.”

Against my better judgment, I spun around to face her. “About Mason?” Did she know something about who was trying to kill him?

“Think bigger, baby girl.”

My breath caught. “About your father?”

She waggled her eyebrows. “Maybe. Maybe not.”

“So you’re not going to tell me?”

Her eyes twinkled with mischievousness. “Not yet.”

I had no idea what she was talking about and I was done with this game. “Go home, Kate, wherever that really is. Go home and leave me alone.”

She grinned. “I’m not going anywhere yet. When you’re ready—and you’ll know when that is—I’ll fill you in.”

I spun around and hurried away, suddenly wondering whose side Kate was really on.

Obviously not mine.

Chapter Eleven

Neely Kate didn’t look too happy when I got back into the truck.

“Did I see you talkin’ to Kate Simmons?”

“Yes,” I groaned as I tossed my purse on the seat, remembering too late about the brownies.

“I thought you were getting Miss Mildred something from Ima Jean’s.”

“I did. It’s in my purse.”

She pulled it out, holding it between her thumb and index finger. “What in tarnation is this?”

“Miss Mildred’s laxatives.”

She dropped the bag with a screech. “What?”

“It’s a long story.”

“Lately it seems like everything with you is a long story.”

I sure as Pete couldn’t argue with that.

I pulled my truck up in front of Violet’s house, the house I’d grown up in, then cast a glance at the tiny house next door. Joe no longer lived there, though, having moved into the farmhouse that bordered the southern edge of my property.

Right now, it was the house across the street that had my interest. Miss Mildred’s house. I decided to approach her with hat in hand—or, more literally, crushed baked goods in hand—and go from there.

“I still think you’re crazy,” Neely Kate grumbled as we walked up to her door. “She’s never gonna tell us anything.”

“Maybe she won’t. Or maybe she’ll give us a lead, unwilling or not, that will point us in the right direction.”

“Or maybe monkeys are gonna start flying out of my butt.”

I put my hands on my hips. “I have to at least try.”

She smirked. “Oh, I’m not trying to stop you. This should be fun to watch.” She held up her phone. “Heck, I plan on recording it.” She grinned. “I’m just tellin’ you how it’s liable to turn out.”

I rolled my eyes. I wanted to protest, but I suspected she was right. I pointed at her hand. “You better not use that phone unless it’s to call 911. One of us might need medical attention after this.”

I knocked on the front door and stepped back. Neely Kate was standing right by the steps to the porch, as if she were ready to take off running if we needed to escape.

Miss Mildred opened the door leaning on a cane, surprise then suspicion flitting through her eyes as she stood in the frame.

“Good afternoon, Miss Mildred,” I said as sweetly as I could muster. I held up the bag, suddenly questioning the wisdom of giving it to her. “I brought you a gift.”