“Um…can you come here?”
“Why?”
“I want to whisper it.”
Katie felt her eyebrows gather and glanced at Booker questioningly. “That means it was a woman.”
“Just say it out loud,” Booker said, sitting on the edge of the bed while pulling on his boots.
“Her name was Chevy,” Delbert said. “Chevy, like the car. She has a car name. Isn’t that funny, Booker? She wants to come over. She wants to see you.”
Katie struggled to sit up while keeping Troy at her breast, but Booker pressed her gently back against the pillows. “Relax,” he murmured, and leaned across Troy to kiss the top of her head.
“Go ahead and call her back,” he told Delbert.
“Me?” Delbert said.
“Yeah. Why not?” Booker got up without bothering to lace his boots, and put on a ball cap.
“What do you want me to say, huh, Booker?” Delbert asked. “What should I say?”
Booker’s eyes rested on Katie, and she watched him slowly grin. “Tell her I’m getting married.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
REBECCA STOOD IN THE feminine hygiene aisle at Finley’s Grocery, staring at the pregnancy tests. She bought one almost every month—had tried every brand—but it was getting harder and harder to go through the checkout line and face the sympathy in Marge Finley’s eyes.
She took a test off the shelf, a brand she hadn’t tried in a long time, wondering if she’d have better luck trying it again. Then with a sigh, she put the box back. She’d wasted enough time and money—and hope—on pregnancy tests. Josh was tired of the whole thing. He’d given her one more month to realize her dream, and now that month was over. She’d taken her fertility shots until the very end, but she knew she didn’t need to buy a pregnancy test. She couldn’t be pregnant; she’d just started her period.
Slowly she meandered around to the next aisle, inexorably drawn to the baby supplies: bottles, rattles, diapers, rubber-tipped spoons, powder and diaper ointment. She’d pored over every item in this aisle so many times she could have quoted the prices. She’d even bought a few things—and hidden them in the attic so Josh wouldn’t see them and become forlorn that he couldn’t give her what she wanted so badly.
Running a finger over the picture of a baby on a box of Oragel, she felt the familiar yearning and closed her eyes. She needed to accept that she and Josh would never have children of their own—accept it and forgive herself. Almost everyone she met suggested she adopt. But she was too angry and bitter to consider that an option yet. She’d imagined holding Josh’s child in her arms too many times, could already picture what his child would look like….
Suddenly she heard Mary Thornton’s voice. Hoping to escape before Mary saw her in the baby aisle, Rebecca immediately headed in the opposite direction. If Josh had ended up with Mary, she would’ve been able to give him children, and Mary wasn’t about to let Rebecca forget that. Whenever they bumped into each other, Mary made a point of asking if Rebecca and Josh were planning to start a family soon, even though she must have heard about the fertility problems they were facing. Rebecca always pretended the question didn’t bother her and responded with “Maybe someday.” But it did bother her. And now she knew “someday” would most likely never come.
As she hurried away, she heard Mary say something that made her pause.
“If Booker’s going to steal a car after all the time he’s been out of jail, he hasn’t learned his lesson.”
“Stealing a car isn’t necessarily the same as robbing someone’s house,” another voice said. Rebecca couldn’t figure out who the second voice belonged to, but it sounded familiar.
“Why not?” Mary went on. “Booker has no scruples. You should’ve seen how he treated me when I went to his garage a few weeks ago.”
“What were you doing at Booker’s garage?”
There was a slight hesitation. “I needed my oil changed.”
“I thought you took your Beemer elsewhere for service.”
“Uh…I usually do but I didn’t have time to make the drive.”
“Right.”
“Why’d you use that tone?”
“Just tell me what your visit to the garage has to do with the robbery.”
“Booker’s the type to get revenge. And he’s the only one in town with a history of violence and stealing.”
Rebecca finally placed the second voice. It was Candace, a friend of Mary’s since high school. The two were so engrossed in their conversation that they passed the aisle where Rebecca was now standing and continued down another aisle without even glancing her way. But Rebecca no longer cared about going unnoticed. She had a thing or two to say to Mary and Candace.
“Mary, the police didn’t find any evidence at his house or his shop that tied him to the robbery,” Candace said as Rebecca began to follow them.
“So? That doesn’t mean anything. I know it wasn’t Slinkerhoff’s nephew.”
“How?”
Rebecca rounded the end of the aisle and was about to call Mary’s name when she heard her say, “Because he was with me that night,” and froze in her tracks.
“What was Joe Slinkerhoff doing at your place?” Candace asked.
Rebecca was wondering the same thing.
“Having dinner and watching a movie.”
What? Rebecca covered her mouth. Mary had pursued Josh, and then Mike, for years, hoping for a wedding proposal. She’d let everyone in town know that she’d settle for nothing but the very best. So why was she spending time with Joe Slinkerhoff? He was nearly ten years her junior, worked at a fast-food burger joint—the only one in town—and still lived at home, for crying out loud.
“Was Nick around?”
“No, he spent spring break with his father.”
“Still,” Candace said, “isn’t Joe a little young for you?”
“He’s only nine years younger. And a girl’s got a right to have a little fun,” Mary responded, giggling. “He treats me like he’s lucky to tie my shoes, and he’s not bad in bed.”
“So you’re giving up on Mike?”
“Of course not. Mike’s not married yet. He might be seeing Katie, but it won’t last. She’s just the latest novelty.”
“You don’t think he’ll mind that you’ve been sleeping with Joe?”