“It was on another call,” someone shouted back.

“Where’s the other ambulance?”

“It’s in the shop. It hit a deer this morning.”

Mason grumbled, then turned back to me. “Are you dizzy? Do you feel like you’re about to pass out?”

“No. I keep telling you I’m fine.”

He paced again, more agitated than I’d ever seen him. “If they don’t keep you at the hospital, we have to find somewhere for you to stay tonight. I’ll have Taylor put you under twenty-four-seven guard.”

“Mr. Deveraux, stop overreactin’.”

He stopped and turned to face me, his eyes burning with anger. “Overreacting? Overreacting?” He pointed to the front door. “Your bathtub was full of water, Rose. He was going to drown you!”

“What?” I felt lightheaded and began to sway.

He hurried over and sat next to me, wrapping an arm around my back. “I’m sorry. God, I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have blurted it out like that.”

“Mason.” I looked up into his face. “I’m okay. See?” I wasn’t sure why I was so surprised about the tub full of water. The man tried to strangle me on my living room floor.

“I almost didn’t stop to check on you. I almost didn’t go to the door.” His voice hitched.

“Why were you here?”

“I came to check on you. I called you a couple of times to make sure you went to your sister’s, but you didn’t answer. So when I left my office, I drove by and saw your car in the driveway. I kept thinking you were mad and you’d be even more furious if I showed up. I figured that you probably wouldn’t answer the door. I almost left when I heard you shout that you wanted to be left alone.”

Fatigue surged through me with a ferociousness I wasn’t prepared for and I rested my head against his shoulder. “It’s okay. I’m not mad.” Neely Kate’s earlier statement came back to memory. He wanted to be friends. As foreign as the concept had seemed at first, it sounded nice. Mason Deveraux III was an egotistical man, but he had moments when he let his guard down. I liked the man I saw when that happened.

“I…sometimes what I say…it just doesn’t…”

“Shh. It’s okay. Thank you. You saved my life. That makes up for anything you didn’t mean to say.”

His arm tightened around my back, as though the intruder was waiting for Mason to let his guard down so he could snatch me away. He rested his cheek on top of my head. “You scared the hell out of me. If I’d been here two minutes later…”

“But you were here. See? All’s well that ends with the bucket in the well as my grandma used to say.”

“Uh, I don’t think that’s right.”

“Wisdom according to my grandma. She was the oracle of LaFayette County. What she says goes.”

He turned to look into my face, confusion in his eyes, when Joe’s angry voice made me jump. “What the hell is going on here?”

Oh dear. This had to look bad. Mason was sitting next to me on the porch in the dark, his arm around my back, leaning into my face and probably looking like he was about to kiss me.

Mason sat up, dropping his arm and looking guilty. “It’s not what you think.”

“Try me.” Joe stood six feet away in my yard, hands clenched at his sides, chaos swirling around him.

My anger let loose. “You walk up and find half the Henryetta Police Department in front of my house and the first thing you notice is that it looks like the assistant district attorney is sitting too close to me?”

He didn’t say a word, but the anger I’d seen in his eyes faded.

Mason stood. “Rose had an intruder in her house. The police are here investigating.” After my reaction to his blurting out the drowning intent, Mason must have decided to ease his way into it with Joe.

“And you didn’t think to call me?”

“Joe, calm down.” I stood up and my legs gave out. Mason grabbed me before I hit the ground, but Joe walked over and shoved him out of the way.

“Get the hell away from her, Deveraux.”

Mason backed up. “I assure you, Detective Simmons, it’s not how it appears.”

“When you told me you’d keep an eye on her, I didn’t know what you really meant.”

“Joe!” I’d seen Joe jealous before, but nothing like this. “If it wasn’t for Mason Deveraux, I’d most likely be dead in my bathtub right now, so you treat him with respect. He saved my life.”

His body stiffened. “What are you talking about?”

“If you would stop jumping to conclusions I could tell you. Someone was in my house when I came home from the Garden Club meeting and attacked me. He meant to kill me. Mason showed up and scared the guy off.”

“Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.”

“And what were you doing here?” Joe asked.

Mason had recovered, his condescending attitude returning. “I was here making sure she’d gone to her sister’s like she promised me earlier in the day. But I’m sure you know how stubborn she is.”

“I’m very acquainted with her stubbornness.” Joe angled his body, making his statement a challenge. “Why did you make her promise to stay with Violet?”

“I felt responsible for giving her name to Skeeter Malcolm. And when he put that threatening note on her windshield this morning—”