Running into the powder room, I fought a fresh wave of nausea. I dug the phone out of my pocket with shaky fingers, both relieved and strangely disappointed to see it was from Bruce Wayne…until I read the message.

Skeeter wants us to meet him at the pool hall at 12:15

I wasn’t sure I could do this. I wasn’t sure I should do this.

It was time to pull out my excuse.

When I found Mason, he was in his office talking on the phone. He gave me a sheepish grin and held up a finger. “Thanks, I’ll see you in a bit,” he said before hanging up.

“You’re going somewhere?”

“Only for a little while. We have a strong lead on your store’s break-in.”

“You do?” I asked in surprise. If they arrested the robbers, I might be able to cancel my meeting with Skeeter. “What is it?”

“I can’t give you too many specifics since it’s an ongoing investigation, but all evidence is pointing to Brody MacIntosh’s wife.”

“What?” I felt vindicated—after all, Joe and Violet had blamed me for the destruction of the store—but this also meant I was nowhere close to getting out of my date with a hardened criminal.

“Looks like she figured out that Brody and Violet were sneaking around again, meeting at a motel outside of town.”

I sank into the doorjamb. Oh, Violet. What had she done?

“Joe is going to tell Violet the news. They seem to have gotten closer. It will probably be easier for her to hear from him than from Detective Taylor. Taylor agreed to make the arrangements at my suggestion.”

I nodded, feeling numb. “Good idea.”

“You okay?”

I took a deep breath and forced a smile. “I will be. I’m just sad for Violet.” I paused. “What would drive her to this? This isn’t the behavior of the sister I know.”

“People change, Rose. And not always for the better.”

Or sometimes they didn’t change at all.

I took several steps into the room, my eyes landing on the papers on the desk.

Mason lifted his hands in defense. “I know I promised not to work today, but I figured you and Mom were busy in the kitchen, and that if I knocked out some work now, I’d free up time for this weekend.”

“It’s a great plan.”

“I need to run into the office, though. I might be gone for a bit.”

“Oh.” I hoped they weren’t planning to arrest Brody’s wife on Thanksgiving Day. Although rumor had it she liked to shop, so arresting her on Black Friday might even be worse. She may have destroyed our business, but part of me understood why. Her husband had cheated on her, and his status as mayor made that transgression all the more embarrassing. But I decided to take Mason’s errand as a blessing in disguise. It would make it easier for me to slip away.

He stood and moved toward me. “I hope you’re not too disappointed in me.”

“Mason, it’s fine. Do what you need to do and we’ll plan something fun with your mom for Saturday. Maybe we can drive down to Shreveport and do some early Christmas shopping.”

A smile lit up his eyes. “That sounds perfect. It’s a date.”

I pulled him into a hug. “When this is all done, let’s try to have more of those.”

“When what’s all done?”

Oh, crap. “You know. The bank robbery nonsense and the mess with the nursery.”

He gave me a kiss, amusement written across his face. “Is there ever a dull moment with you, Rose Gardner?”

“I used to be dull as dirt. Now…”

He kissed me again. “Sweetheart, I wouldn’t want you any other way. So put away whatever thought’s putting that worry on your face. I’ll run into town and hopefully this won’t take too long.”

“You take as long as you need.” It meant I didn’t have to come up with an excuse he might not believe.

He left soon after and I gave his mother my excuse about Neely Kate needing my help.

“Go help your friend, Rose. We’ve got everything covered here.”

She was so nice that I felt bad about deceiving her. But no matter how nice she was, I couldn’t very well tell her I was going into Henryetta so I could attend an underground auction.

I ran upstairs to change, unsure what the appropriate attire would be for such an event. I decided on jeans with my leather boots, a cream-colored turtleneck sweater, and my brown leather jacket.

I had almost made it into town when a sheriff’s car headed in the opposite direction turned on its lights and did a U-turn on the highway, pulling up behind me. Groaning, I steered my car over to the shoulder and stopped, the sheriff’s car stopping too. I hadn’t been speeding, so I had no idea why I was being pulled over. Or at least I didn’t until I saw who was sidling up to my car.

Joe.

I rolled down my window, my irritation growing. He was gonna make me late for my meeting with Skeeter.

“What do you want, Joe?” I asked as he reached my door.

He was wearing his sheriff’s uniform. The sun made his copper highlights stand out more than usual and damned if he didn’t look good. He had to have every single girl in the county after him. Why was he wasting his time on me?

Joe ignored my question. “License and registration.”

My mouth dropped. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

“License and registration.” His voice was firmer this time.