His mouth lifted into a crooked smile. “Hey, don’t worry. It’ll all work out.” He kissed me and looked into my eyes. “I wouldn’t have changed a thing, except maybe trust you a little sooner.”

I smiled, tears in my eyes. I couldn’t imagine not having him in my life. I climbed out of his lap and shut his car door.

“Have a good week, Rose. Call me tonight and tell me all about jury duty.”

I put a hand on my hip and teased, “And you can tell me absolutely nothing about your day. All that top secret police work.”

Shaking his head, he grinned. “If you only knew. It’s mostly boring.”

“Nothing about you is boring, Joe Simmons.”

He winked, a mischievous glint in his eyes. “Gotta keep the intrigue going.” He shut the door and gave me a half-hearted wave as he drove away.

“Your mother’d be rollin’ over in ’er grave.”

I turned to voice across the street. Mildred, my eighty-two-year-old neighbor, stood on her front porch wearing a pink fuzzy bathrobe and curlers, holding a watering tin in her hand. I realized I was wearing pajamas consisting of a spaghetti-strapped tank top and short shorts. “Good mornin’, Miss Mildred.”

“There ain’t nothing good about a mornin’ when you wake up and find a porno show in front of your house.”

I released a heavy sigh. “It wasn’t a porno show, Miss Mildred. I was tellin’ Joe goodbye.”

She shook her head, and even though I was too far away to hear, I knew she was clucking. “Fornicatin’ is what you was doin’.”

“Times have changed, Miss Mildred.”

“Times are always changing, Rose Anne Gardner, but the Good Book don’t and it says that what yer doin’ is fornicatin’. You was raised better than that.”

“I’ll keep that in mind. You have a good day now.” I gave her a small wave and called Muffy to come inside. As I entered the air-conditioned house, her words hung heavy on my conscious. Mildred was right. I’d been raised to believe lots of things, much of which turned out to be untrue. Still, I couldn’t ignore the weight of my guilt pressing on my shoulders.

Why didn’t I want to move to Little Rock to live with Joe? What held me back? I didn’t know. I only knew I wasn’t ready.

My stomach balled in knots as I picked up the phone to call my boss. She answered on the second ring, already knowing it was me from caller ID.

“What is it this time, Rose? A motorcycle gang? Did your Great Aunt Tilly die?”

I swallowed. “Jury duty.”

After a second pause, her voice returned, flat. “Jury duty. Today?”

“Suzanne, I’m sorry. I plumb forgot.” My grip on the phone was so tight I worried it would snap in two.

“I bet ten dollars and a lemon cream pie you don’t have jury duty, Rose Gardner. I suspect you’re just wantin’ to stay in bed with your highfalutin’ boyfriend all day. And when I find out I’m right, I’m firing your ass.”

First of all, I knew she couldn’t fire me. I worked for the state of Arkansas and government jobs didn’t work that way. I had an exemplary work history, considering they didn’t count busting your boss for extortion as a demerit. Although I’m sure my old boss, Betty, might disagree.

“I’ll see if the courthouse will give me a note to bring when I come back this afternoon. Okay?”

Suzanne responded by hanging up.

I kind of hoped jury duty lasted long enough that I didn’t have to go back in for the rest of the day. I’d rather wrestle a starving razorback in the woods than face Suzanne.

While I showered, I thought more about Joe. He was right. I did hate my job, and Suzanne had always scared the bejiggers out of me, even more so now that she had all the power that went with being the temporary acting supervisor of Satellite branch #112 of the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration.

Why didn’t I get a new job? There was nothing keeping me there. After Momma died, I’d found out that I’d inherited over a million dollars from my birth mother, yet I hadn’t touched a dime of it. With the few expenses I had, I could afford to quit my job and to stay home for months until I figured out what I wanted to do with my life. But I’d never do it. I was raised to be more practical than that.

Some lessons can’t be unlearned.

Chapter Two

Muffy stunk up the house while I got dressed, prompting another trip outside before I left, and stealing the extra ten minutes I had planned to get to the courthouse on time. I drove around the Henryetta town square looking for a parking spot close to the Fenton County Courthouse. It usually only took a few minutes to find an empty space, especially in the morning, but today every spot was filled. The first meter I found was several blocks away. Digging through my purse for change, I only came up with a dime and dollar bills. Of course, the meter took quarters.

The parking spot was situated in front of the floral shop where I’d bought Momma’s funeral flowers only a month before. A bell on the door announced my presence when I entered. I basked in the air conditioning, slightly chilled by the beads of sweat on my arms. Joe had been right. It might have been July, but the day was going to be hotter than usual. It already was.

A young woman wearing an apron emerged from the backroom. “May I help you?”

“Hi, I’m parked out front there.” I waved to my old Chevy Nova at the curb. “And I don’t seem to have any quarters. Would you mind breaking a dollar for me?”