Falling to Pieces (8 page)

To my irritation, my eyes burned and my voice shook. “Can I give my statement to someone else?”

Confusion wrinkled his brow as he looked over his shoulder. “Why? What happened?”

“Detective Taylor’s suggesting I brought the attack upon myself.”

Mason’s face darkened. “Taylor, is that correct?”

“Deveraux, I assure you that she misunderstood me.” Taylor answered in his easy-going, good-ol’-boy voice. “You know how sensitive women can be.”

Mason’s gaze shifted to my face.

I could have made a big deal of it and probably should have, but I just wanted to go home. I closed my eyes. “Let’s get this over with.”

I walked back into the room and sat in the chair. Taylor’s mouth lifted into a slight grin of triumph.

What had I ever done to get on his bad list? Back when I was on Bruce Wayne’s jury, Neely Kate had suggested that the police didn’t like me because I’d made them look incompetent by proving I hadn’t murdered Momma. I suspected that she was right.

Mason sat in a chair next to me and listened while I gave my statement, every so often shooting angry looks at Taylor as he asked questions. With Mason in the room, Taylor’s attitude improved, but I still sensed an undercurrent of contempt. When we finished, Mason stood, keeping his eyes on the detective. “Rose, will you wait in the hall? I need to talk to Detective Taylor for a moment.”

“Sure.” I said, casting a glance to both men before I walked out into the hall.

Within a second of my shutting the door, I heard Mason’s muffled voice in angry snippets. “If you
ever
…I’ll make sure you…
Have I made myself clear
?”

Thirty seconds later he emerged from the room, anger rolling off of him until he saw me. The hard lines of his face softened and he put an arm around my back. “I’ll take you home now.”

I shot a look back into the room. Taylor’s face was so red he looked like he was about to have a stroke.

Mason kept his arm around me as we walked out of the station in silence, all eyes in the station on both of us. When we reached his car, he opened the door for me and drew in a breath. “Jonah’s mother, Wanda Pruitt—otherwise known as Rhonda Bellamy—is being held on a hundred thousand dollars bond. After talking to Jonah this morning, I suspect he won’t put up the money to bail her out, even if he had the money to do so.” His hand rested on my shoulder as he looked into my eyes. “Rose, I want you to know she won’t be able to hurt you again. And if by some miracle she comes up with the bail money, I’ll be sure to let you know as soon as I know it.”

“Will you be trying her case?”

“No, not since I was personally involved in her apprehension. The DA will be prosecuting her.”

“Oh.” I couldn’t imagine the pain Jonah was going through after finding out what his mother had done. “How’s Jonah doing?”

“He’s still in the hospital, but he’ll probably get out tomorrow. He’s pretty upset about his mother, but he’s got plenty of the older women who are under his spell waiting outside his door, eager to help him when he gets home.”

“I found out why all the older woman love him so much. He told me yesterday.” Everything from the day before seemed like it happened weeks ago.

Mason’s eyes widened in surprise. “Did you now?”

“It’s because he spends time with them. They’re just lonely old women who need someone to talk to. Jonah likes their cooking and they like his company. Nothing suspicious there.” I dropped my gaze, unable to look at Mason. The older women’s loneliness only reminded me of my own.

“Well, thank you for setting the record straight.”

I nodded, not trusting myself to speak.

“I’ve dealt with Taylor, but you need to let me know if he upsets you again.”

I closed my eyes and leaned against the car. “You didn’t have to do that, Mason. Now he’ll hate me even more.”

“If you think I’m going to stand back and let him treat you disrespectfully, then you don’t know me very well at all,” he said, his voice hard.

I opened my eyes. “I
do
know you, Mason. That’s why I said it. I don’t want you to get into trouble because of me.”

A soft smile lifted his mouth. “Don’t worry about me. I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself.”

“And so am I.”

Pride filled his eyes. “You’ve proved that time and time again, Rose, but it doesn’t mean I can’t intervene on your behalf when I feel the need.”

Joe said he’d take care of me and where was he now? I spun and slid into the front seat, trying to keep my tears at bay. Was there no end to my tears?

Mason shut my door then came around and climbed behind the wheel. “Do you want me to take you home?”

“No, to the nursery.”

“You’re working today?” He sounded surprised. “Aren’t you supposed to be recuperating?”

“I’m just working this afternoon, I need to do something.” As I said the words, I realized how true they were. I needed to feel the potting soil in my hands. I needed to be anywhere but home where memories of Joe lingered everywhere.

Mason was silent a moment. “So, Joe went back to El Dorado?”

I looked out the side window. “Yeah.”

“Is he still on his undercover assignment?”

“No, he decided to run in the senate race.” I was proud my voice didn’t tremble.

After a couple of seconds, Mason’s soft voice broke the silence. “Rose, are you okay?”

He sounded so concerned that I couldn’t stop a fresh batch of tears from rolling down my cheeks. “No.”

Without a word, he turned into the parking lot of the hardware store, parking his car in the empty back lot. “What happened?”

I took a breath. “Joe and I broke up this morning.”

He was silent for several seconds. “I’m sorry.”

“You’re not going to ask why?”

“I already suspected. You’ll tell me if you want me to know.”

I sniffed. “How did you know we broke up?”

“Your ring is missing and you’re clearly upset.”

“You wanna know the funny part?” I asked, turning toward him.

His eyes were full of support and he grimaced. “What?”

“I was wearing his ring, but I never even accepted his proposal.”

“So
you
broke it off?”

I pressed my lips together. “No. He did. But we both agreed that I’d make a terrible senator’s wife.”

“I’m sorry.”

I released a soft cry, and he pulled me into a hug, resting my cheek on his shoulder. We stayed there for several minutes, one of his hands rubbing soft circles on my back.

“I feel so stupid,” I finally said.

He pulled back, staring into my face. “What on earth
for
?”

“For crying on you two days in a row. You’re going to think I’m nothing but a big crybaby.” I rubbed the wet spot on his shoulder. “Now I owe you for the cleaning of
two
shirts.”

He pulled my hand off of his shoulder and cradled it between both of his palms in his lap. “Rose, you know I’m here for you when you need me.”

“I know. Thank you.” While I knew he was, I wasn’t exactly sure
why
he was. Was it because he was genuinely my friend, or because he had feelings for me? Or a combination of both? I was too tired and emotionally drained to think about it too much. But I also noticed something else. While there was concern in his eyes, there was no pity. “And thank you for not looking at me like I’m pathetic.”

“Rose,” he hesitated, conflict brewing in his hazel eyes. They seemed greener than usual today. “You are
far
from pathetic. I know how much you care about Joe, and I know you’re hurting, and I’m sorry for that. I’m sorry you have to go through even more pain than you already have these last few months.” He shifted in his seat. “But you’re strong and you’ll get through this. You don’t deserve pity. If anyone does, it’s Joe.”

My eyes widened in panic, my breath catching in my throat. Why did he feel sorry for Joe? “You know about Joe’s parents?” Who else knew?

“
Of course
I know Joe’s parents had something to do with this. But it’s probably better that you found out now how easily Joe is manipulated by them, before it was too late. Think about it this way: you’ve got entire life ahead of you, full of possibilities, even if you don’t want to consider them now. The only thing Joe has to look forward to is a life full of manipulation.”

My shoulders sagged in relief. Mason didn’t know about the blackmail. If I were honest with myself, no matter how hard it was to admit, I couldn’t help thinking Mason was right. I suspected Joe had spent the last few months hiding from his parents because he wasn’t strong enough to stand up to them. Or maybe he knew what they were capable of doing to get their way, and he’d hid to put it off as long as possible. Either way, he was stuck under their thumb. When Momma died, I’d been freed.

Joe and I were more alike than I realized. Only I’d finally escaped from my life of being controlled, and Joe was still imprisoned.

I offered Mason a soft smile. “Thanks.”

“For what?”

“For helping me put things in perspective. You’re always good at that.”

He grinned. “That’s what I’m good for—perspective and shirts to cry on.”

I couldn’t hide the smile that tugged at my lips. “And putting police detectives in their place.”

An ornery grin lit up his face. “That’s a freebie. I love to do that one any chance I get.”

I laughed softly, feeling a little bit better, even if for only a few seconds.

His voice turned serious. “You know I’m here if you need anything.”

“Thanks, I do.” And I did. He’d proven it time and time again. I could always count on Mason.

He dropped my hand and shifted the car into drive. “To the nursery?”

“Yeah.”

We didn’t talk the rest of the way, but our silence was comforting instead of uncomfortable. When he parked in the nursery parking lot, he came around and opened my door then pulled me into a hug.

“Call me if you need me for anything,” he whispered into my ear, then he got back in his car and drove away.

Violet fussed over me when I walked through the front door of the shop. How did the statement go? Was I hungry or thirsty? Was I tired? Did I need to lie down?

After a few minutes, I couldn’t take it anymore. “Violet, talking to Mason helped me feel better. What I really want to do is go in the backroom and work.”

Her brow wrinkled. “Mason?” She paused, cocking her head. “What did
he
say?”

I wasn’t sure why, but I felt the need to keep most of our conversation to myself. Maybe it was because I still didn’t feel like I could trust her after I found out that she’d let the entire town think I’d stolen her inheritance.

Violet’s betrayal cut me to the core. Especially when I thought of the sacrifice I was making to keep her affair with Brody a secret. But she was my sister. Revealing her secret wasn’t an option. “Mason told me not to worry. That everything would work out in the end.”

She put her hand on her hip and frowned. “But that’s what I said.”

She was right, but her comfort didn’t have the same effect it had months ago. “Do we have any flower pots that need to be made?”

“Yeah.” Violet didn’t look happy that I changed the topic, but she must have given me a pass because of my emotional turmoil. “We’re completely out of the pots with mums, straw grass, and asparagus ferns. Those have been a huge hit.”

I headed to the back and spent the next two hours planting ten containers of flowers. The muscles of my back ached around my bruises, but it was worth the pain. The dirt and plants were my happy place, the one place where I belonged. When I worked with soil and flowers I was neither alone nor unhappy. I simply was.

As I was finishing the last pot, Violet poked her head in the back. “How are you doing?”

I looked up, startled out of my solitude. “Oh, fine.”

“I’m sorry I haven’t checked on you sooner. We had a sudden rush of customers.” She paused. “Most of them were looking for you.”

“Me? Why?”

“They’ve heard about you getting beat up by Miss Rhonda and they wanted to see you for themselves.”

I scowled my disapproval, although I wasn’t sure why I was surprised. “Sorry to disappoint them.”

Violet’s mouth twisted into an ornery grin. “We’ve gotten quite a few sales from it, even though I told them you weren’t here so it worked out for
us
.” She moved closer to me and lifted my chin. “You might want to hide out for a few more days. You look worse than the time you tangled with Daniel Crocker.”

After Daniel Crocker had attacked me months ago, I’d gone back to work at the DMV because I was out of vacation days. I had the luxury of staying home now, but being here was the best place for me. I hadn’t been an emotional mess the last couple of hours.

Violet closed up the shop while I cleaned up the potting table. When we walked through her front door, my niece and nephew threw their arms around my legs, squealing with excitement.

“Be careful!” Violet protested. “Aunt Rose is pretty sore.”

But I didn’t mind. I pulled them both into a hug, tears stinging my eyes again.

Violet’s mother-in-law, Sheila, had been watching the children and she frowned her concern when she saw my bruised face.

“Rose is going to stay with us for a few days,” Violet said under her breath.

Sheila nodded and the two women whispered in a huddle as I walked through the house, eager to see my little dog.

Ashley followed, jumping up and down. “Muffy’s in the backyard.”

As soon as I stepped onto the deck, Muffy ran toward me, jumping up in excitement. I squatted and rubbed her head, forcing back my rising tears. Even Muffy reminded me of Joe.

I wanted to lie down and cry. How could I go on without him?

“Why are you so sad, Aunt Rose?” Ashley asked, staring at me with large round eyes.

She caught me by surprise, and I fumbled with what to tell her. “Because Joe went away, and I don’t know when I’ll see him again.”

“Are you and Joe getting a divorce like Momma and Daddy?”

“Oh.” I gasped at her bluntness. “Yeah. I guess it’s kind of like a divorce.”