Neely Kate shook her head. “Aunt Wilma might be a lot of things, but she ain’t no thief.”

“Then what’s she in prison for?”

“There was an . . . unfortunate incident involving the first best bookkeeper. Which is how she took the crown for a time.”

I was afraid to ask how she’d advanced her position, let alone who was responsible for ranking the county’s bookkeepers. Some things about Neely Kate’s family were best left to the unknown.

“Yeah, it was a real shame when she got locked up. Totally changed my career path.”

That caught my attention. “How so?”

“I was studying accounting at the community college in Magnolia so I could go into business with Aunt Wilma. I was already working for her around my class schedule.” She sighed. “I needed a job when she got locked up.” Her lips pursed. “And that’s the sad story of how I ended up working in the Fenton County Personal Property Tax department.”

“You know bookkeeping?” I asked in surprise.

“Yeah. I was one semester shy of graduating with my associate’s degree. I’m a bit rusty, but I do most of my family’s taxes.”

“Perfect! Do you think you can look at my accounting? Well, I mean the nursery’s.”

“Is it on QuickBooks?”

“No. Violet gave me a ledger.” I slid my chair over to a file cabinet and opened a drawer, pulling out the blue book.

After I handed it to Neely Kate, she opened the cover and scanned a couple of pages before closing her eyes and groaning. “No wonder your money was a cotton-picking mess.” She sat up, pinning me with her gaze. “Not to mention that using a ledger rather than a spreadsheet would make it about ten times easier for your sister to skim money out of the company.”

“So, can you look at it for me?”

Neely Kate scowled.

“Please? Just help me out until I find someone else since your Aunt Thelma’s incarcerated.” I paused. “Say, when’s she gettin’ out?”

She turned a few more pages. “From the looks of this mess, it won’t be nearly soon enough.”

“But you’ll do it? I’ll do anything you want.”

“Anything?” she asked with an evil gleam.

Any other person would take advantage of my offer, but Neely Kate wasn’t like most people. I wasn’t worried.

“You have to go to bingo night with me and my grandma next week.”

Neely Kate had been trying to coerce me to go for ages. “Fine. But I’m not putting out any lucky charms.” According to Neely Kate, her grandmother brought so many tiny stuffed animals and knick-knacks for good luck, it took her ten minutes to set them up around her bingo cards.

She shook her head. “No can do. Granny’ll have a conniption. You know how superstitious she is.”

“Fine,” I groaned. “Deal.”

Neely Kate closed the cover. “No promises. I might not be throwing up as much anymore, but I’m still fast asleep by nine o’clock most nights. I’ll try to sneak a look while I’m at work tomorrow.”

“Well, don’t get into any trouble over it.”

My friend groaned as she stood. “Speaking of trouble, I need to get back. I’ve got a new manager, and she watches me closer than an aardvark studies an ant hill.”

I got to my feet and followed her to the door. “But I thought you were the boss now?”

“I am—of my department. But there’s a new supervisor in charge of all the departments, and she’s got it out for me.”

“You?” Everybody loved Neely Kate. “Why?”

An ornery grin lit up her face. “She didn’t appreciate my assessment of her friendliness.”

I gave her a blank stare.

“I might have mentioned she’d get along better with the courthouse employees if she took the hickory stick out of her behind.”

“You didn’t!”

“Well . . . not to her face. She overheard me telling someone in probate. And she’s been gunning to get me fired ever since.”

“Oh no! Don’t you need the insurance for the baby?”

“No, thank goodness. I went on Ronnie’s insurance. After all the county budget cuts, his is better than mine. Can you believe that? Besides, I’m hoping to quit when Ronnie Junior is born, so it wouldn’t be the end of the world. But I still need my income to buy all the baby things.”

“Then I guess you better get back to work, huh?”

“Yeah,” she sighed as she got up, tucking the ledger in her purse. “I don’t want a confrontation with Stella the Hun.”

I hopped up and gave her a hug. “Hang in there. Just think, if you’re due on July 1st, you have less than seven months left.”

She made a face. “Seven months? That’s supposed to make me feel better?” She shook her head, but she couldn’t shake the grin off her face. “Bye, Rose.”

“See you later.”

I watched her walk out the door as my phone dinged with a text. My stomach tightened when I glanced at the message from SM.

We need to talk.

Not if I could help it.

Chapter Three

I was worried Skeeter might come looking for me, so I left a note for Bruce Wayne, telling him I was leaving for the day. I loaded Muffy into the truck and drove to the nursery, pulling into the parking lot with the intent to check in on the progress of the cleanup and reconstruction of the store. I sure wasn’t expecting to find Violet’s car in the parking lot. There wasn’t much to do in the store until the construction guys finished their patch-up work, and they weren’t scheduled to come in until later in the week.