Deep Dixie (23 page)

Smilin
’
Bob muttered what Riley could only assume was an agreement.

Meanwhile, everything under the table must have gone well because the growling had given way to sound worthy of a lion sinking its teeth into the day
’
s fresh kill.

Sis popped her head up so quick it made her hairdo wobble.
“
Hold it right there! I just got
our Lettie settled in good and I won
’
t leave it up to Mr. Slippery Foot
’
s judgment as to whether or not he is disturbing her. I
’
ll go with.
”

Wendy ran to Riley and threw her arms around him.
“
You come, too, Daddy.
”

“
In a few minutes, sweetheart. I
’
d like to stay and help Miss Dixie clear away the dinner things, maybe help with the washing up first.
”
He kissed her cheek and then the cheek of the doll she thrust out toward him.
“
Baby Belle, you and Miss Wendy behave yourselves like proper young ladies in Miss Lettie
’
s company.
”

Wendy laughed, spun around and grabbed Smilin
’
Bob
’
s offered hand. With him tottering at her side, she skipped off through the arched doorway.

“
You love her very much, I can tell.
”
Dixie stood.

“
It
’
s been a long time since I
’
ve seen that light of joy in her eyes.
”
Riley stood, too.
“
It
’
s not that she
’
s an unhappy child. I just haven
’
t been around her in long enough stretches lately to see just how happy, how wonderful she truly is.
”

Dixie began stacking up the plates around her.

“
I
’
ll take up the silverware,
”
he said, starting to do just that.

“
Don
’
t feel you have to hang back with me, Mr. Walker. Go on, be with your daughter, enjoy this special time together.
”
She picked up Wendy
’
s plate, and Riley
’
s attention went to the stark white business card left on the table there.

“
Don
’
t worry, she and I will have plenty of time together from now on.
”
He followed in Dixie
’
s wake, gathering the knives, forks, and spoons onto the tray that had held the rolls.
“
I just have to find a place for us to live here in town, get her and her grandmother settled in and assume my new duties at—
”

The dish in her hand clattered against another place setting as she roughly piled one on top of the other.
“
Please
don
’
t start up with that again. We were getting along so well.
”

“
Yes, well enough that I thought we could finally approach this discussion.
”
He lightly pitched a serving spoon onto the heap of silver.
“
Why can
’
t we just talk about this like two mature adults?
”

“
Because we are not two mature adults. We are two people at cross purposes in a potentially messy situation with a lot at stake.
”
She clunked the plates down and stood behind the empty chair at the head of the table.
“
I cannot talk about this until I have seen with my own two eyes what Howard Greenhow has done.
”

The candle
’
s flames jumped and danced as if reacting to the rising tensions between them.

“
Look, it was all legal, if that
’
s what you
’
re implying.
”
He picked up the napkin lying at the place where Wendy had sat and wiped his hands on it.
“
I had done my research before I ever showed up here. Now granted, the deal changed a little after—
”

She lifted her head high, but her chin trembled as if she were holding back great emotion.

Riley ran his fingers back through his hair, sighed then dropped his hands to his hips.
“
Dixie, I went over those papers with a fine-tooth comb today. The deal is signed, sealed, and airtight.
”

“
Sounds more like a crypt than the formation of a lasting partnership.
”

“
Fine. It
’
s clear you aren
’
t going to listen to me now. But eventually, you will have to get past all this because our companies are going to have to work in unison.
”

“
My family
’
s companies already work in...
no
! The deal Howard Greenhow brokered for you
wasn
’
t
to become an equal partner in each enterprise!
”
She put her hand to her forehead.
“
Why did I just assume that?
”

“
Maybe because your father had first talked to me about buying 20 to 25 percent of each
concern, but—
”

“
What have you and that awful Greenhow done? What did you mean when you told me we were going to be partners?
”

“
Just that. That our success would depend on us working together, as partners, your business and
mine
.
”

“
Oh my.
”
Even in the golden hue of the candlelight he could tell she had gone pale.
“
You
’
ve got control of our delivery and transportation branch!
”

“
Uh-huh. You can make all the fine furniture you want, but you
’
ll need my company to haul, ship, and deliver it.
”
He held his hands open.
“
That
’
s not a threat, Dixie, that
’
s just the way it is and why I keep saying that you and I have to figure out how to work together as true partners, with the judge, too, of course.
”

“
The Judge. Why didn
’
t I see that coming?
”
She shut her eyes.

“
I
’
m hoping you can arrange for the two of us to meet tomorrow.
”

“
Meet?
Tomorrow
? What do you mean?
”

“
Mr. Greenhow worked as the go-between in this
.
We never met face to face.
”
Hearing it out loud now left him a little uneasy.
“
It
’
s all very legitimate, I assure you.
”

“
Oh, I have no doubt.
”
She just stood there for a moment staring, but not seeming to be really looking at anything. Then, slowly, she started to shake.

“
What are you laughing at?
”

“
You.
”

“
Me?
”

“
You
and
me, really. Here I
’
ve been so worried that you were in cahoots with Greenhow, it never occurred to me that he could be taking advantage of you every bit as much as he was of me.
”

“
Taking advantage? How?
”
He put his hands on his hips, his shoulders pulled up defensively.
“
What do you mean?
”

“
The name on the papers you signed, my other relative that you hope to meet, the one who is now your partner? Can you tell me what that name was?
”

“
Of course I can. George R. Cunningham. Why?
”

“
No reason, except...
”
She gathered up the plates she
’
d abandoned before, pivoted on her heel, and headed toward the kitchen.
“
Except before you go feeling all superior over having gotten into such a shrewd business arrangement with the founding family of Fulton
’
s Dominion, you
’
d better take a peek at my grandfather
’
s business card.
”

Riley did not want to do it. Did not
have
to do it, if he were honest with himself. The minute she
’
d suggested it, he knew what he would find.

Discouragement lay like lead in the pit of his stomach, and a dull, foreboding throbbed behind his eyes as he picked up the card and read aloud,
“
George Robert
‘
Smilin
’
Bob
’
Cunningham. Principal Judge, Miss Fulton
’
s Finest Future Furniture Fanatic (baby and toddler division), Chief Justice Dominion Days Bail and Jail Fundraising court, Little League umpire, Mediating matters of all magnitude since 1978!
”

Chapter Ten

“
As my grandfather might say, Mr. Walker, if you fall asleep in Delilah
’
s barber chair?
”
Dixie pressed her back to the kitchen door, dinner plates in one hand, Peachie Too
’
s crystal supper dish in the other,
“
You got no call to go bellyaching when you wake up with a new haircut.
”

“
Isn
’
t that a piece of shrewd advice!
”
Riley flicked his wrist and sent the business card sailing across the table. The small rectangle landed atop the bowl of fresh fruit, teetered on a tangerine, then tipped and slid between an apple and a bunch of bananas.
“
Pardon me if I don
’
t rush out to have that embroidered on a pillow as a keepsake, Miss Fulton-Leigh.
”

“
Well, maybe you should check into doing just that.
”
She had not set out to sound so haughty, but the way he
’
d discarded the fitting counsel struck a chord in her.
“
Or maybe you
’
d really do better with something more permanent. A nice engraved plaque, perhaps, or a tattoos right on your—
”

His face clouded.
“
I cannot believe you can stand there and make light of this.
”

“
Me
?
”
She started to gesture to herself but realized her hands were full. She ducked inside the kitchen and in two quick steps she had set the dishes on the counter, pivoted and caught the door before it had stopped swinging. Poking her head back into the dining room, she said,
“
You
’
ve got some nerve scolding me for not taking this seriously
.
As long as you thought you had come charging into my life like some knight on a white steed, you seemed all too happy to treat everything like some big jokefest.
”

He puffed his chest up.
“
Yeah, well, that was before—
”

“
That was before you realized that Greenhow had made just as big a monkey out of you as he had me. Now suddenly it doesn
’
t seem like a laughing matter, does it?
”
She let the door fall shut between them, the heavy swish and thump of the thing as appropriate a close to the conversation as anything she could have come up with on her own.

The deluge of hot water rushing in to fill the deep, white sink drowned out her tongue-tied sounds of utter frustration. On one hand she had wanted nothing more than to see this very thing happen, for Riley Walker to be thwarted in his attempt to move in on her family business. On the other hand, some small part of her did not want it to come like this. The only reason Riley would back down now was because he thought her grandfather was a nut.