Half Past Mourning (26 page)

Nina sighed. “You’ll be sorry you asked. I have to go to Paula King’s wedding this weekend. It’s just a small, informal ceremony at the house of some friends, but I’ll have to go. Otherwise it will look as if we’ve had some kind of falling out. It won’t be as easy as it would have been if I’d never learned about her and Danny, but still I need to show up.” She gave him an anxious glance, her eyelashes lowered and masking her feelings. “I know men generally hate to go to weddings.”

Peter pulled her into his arms, tucking her head under his chin, pleased with the way she seemed to fit there. “Men generally hate anything that requires dressing up and standing around making polite chit-chat to strangers, but I’ll bite the bullet and go. It’s a good time to make a public appearance. So I’d be pleased to escort you to the wedding, Miss Kirkland. Day and time?”

Her answer, muffled by his shoulder, sounded as if she were pleased he was going. “Saturday afternoon. The wedding is at three, but you might pick me up around two. The county judge is performing the ceremony, so it’s just a small civil service, with cake and punch to follow. No need to get really dressed up.”

“Still a jacket-and-tie affair,” he answered, dreading the encumbrances in the July heat. “Martyr to fashion, and all that.”

“Not as bad as we’ll get next week at the rally. Do you have a costume yet?”

Peter bit back an exclamation. The costume for the rally had slipped his mind. He’d meant to see about borrowing something from the costume collection at the college drama department. “No, but I won’t let you down, sweetheart. I’ll be in full regalia for the rally. I suppose you have yours?”

“Not yet, but it will be finished in time,” she assured him. “I got our local seamstress to put something together for me, and I asked her to make it as light and cool as possible.”

“Rally is coming up quick now. Just over a week. Are you sure we’re ready? Do we need more practice runs?”

Nina took a step back from him. “You just like running around the country having picnics.” Her brown eyes gleamed with amusement. “We’re fine, as ready as we can be. I’ve been driving the Princess, putting her through her paces, and though she’s a little hard to handle, I think I’ve got the knack. Today was the last tryout. Uncle Eldon is as excited as a kid at Christmas. Even if we don’t win he’s going to be crowing over getting the Princess into the show. Winning the rally would be cream on the cake for him.”

“We’ll do our best, Nina. I’d like the pleasure of giving him that trophy.”

“So would I.”

“It’s getting late, sweetheart. I’d better go.” Peter drew her back to him for a gentle goodnight kiss, keeping a tight rein on his inclinations. “I’ll see you Saturday. Or sooner?”

“Saturday,” she answered, her tone firm, but Peter caught a hint of wistfulness in it and smiled.

****

Nina dressed carefully for Paula’s wedding, choosing a silky yellow afternoon dress with dainty tucks across the fitted bodice and a billowy skirt over a fluff of petticoats. With an open crowned straw hat and T-strap pumps, she felt dressed up yet cool enough for the warm afternoon. Peter arrived on the dot of two, so they had sufficient time to make the drive out of town to the rambling ranch house where the quiet ceremony would take place.

“Quite a spread,” Peter noted, looking at the rolling green acres around the native-rock house.

“The place has been in the same family since the days when Texas was a Mexican colony,” Nina explained. “It’s not as big as it was back then, but it’s still a good-sized place.” She saw knots of people strolling through the side gate toward the back of the house. “Must be getting ready for the bride and groom to enter. I see the county judge is already here. That’s his red Corvette over there. We’d better find our place.” Nina urged Peter along the path and through the arched gate. Inside, a small waterfall cascaded into an ornamental pond. Flowers surrounded the pool, and white folding chairs encircled the flowers. A narrow path had been left through the seating area. To one side, a trio of musicians played soft background music.

“Certainly is a pretty setting,” Nina commented as she and Peter settled into chairs beside a basket of white daisies. “Oh, look, we’re just in time. That’s the judge coming now.”

Moments later, the musicians began the traditional wedding march, and Paula, looking as elegant as ever, came down the aisle. White lace over blue taffeta accented her lush blonde beauty. Nina caught the brightened smile that lit Paula’s face as their eyes met and was glad again that she’d made the effort to come to the wedding. Though a good bit older than the bride, the groom was a handsome man with a distinguished air. The service was brief, and the newlyweds lingered only long enough to cut the elaborate cake and greet their guests before departing for an undisclosed destination. As a final gesture of friendship, Paula dropped her bouquet of stephanotis and white roses into Nina’s hands as the bride and groom rushed through the gate on their way to a new life.

“She really appreciated your being here,” Peter observed. “And that may hold the record for quick weddings.”

“I’m glad we came, too.” Nina waved as the wedding car pulled away. “Paula really hates fuss and formality,” she added. “They would have eloped, I think, if Paula had had her way, but his family would have been upset. So this was a compromise.”

The visitors began to drift away in small clusters. Nina lingered to speak to some of the other guests but was willing to leave when Peter suggested it. She saw the county judge go and decided they could depart in good conscience. Just as she was saying goodbye to the hostess, she saw the judge return, accompanied by Sheriff Hayes.

“Why on earth is the sheriff here?” she asked Peter.

“No idea, sweetheart, but if we move up closer we might find out. Hope nothing’s happened to the bride and groom.”

“Oh, surely not!”

They inched forward with the other guests approaching the sheriff and the small group around him. The murmurs were too low to hear. Nina had almost decided to lead Peter out the side gate when she heard the sheriff’s irascible tones rise about the soft chatter.

“Take some kind of fool, or a damn cocky thief, to steal the county judge’s car right out in broad open daylight. But I’ll tell you, he made a big mistake this time. I’ve been pretty soft on this thieving coyote so far, but this is too much. This time he’s done gone and interfered with my family. My nephew is a mite put out that somebody took his Corvette. When you get the county judge and the sheriff after you, you might as well roll over, give up, and say ‘uncle,’ ’cause we’re not gonna stop till we find that miserable horse thief and lock him up good and proper. That’s for sure and certain, folks, for sure and certain.”

Chapter 16

“So the county judge left the wedding and discovered his car was gone?” Ron’s wide-eyed surprise repeated the reaction of the guests at the wedding.

Nina nodded. “He’s handling it better than the sheriff did. Al Hayes took it as a personal affront, like a slap at his office or something.”

Pushing a box of grease-blackened parts aside on the desk, Ron leaned against the edge of the polished wood. Nina had come to the museum to tell her uncle about the events of Saturday afternoon but found the office empty. She decided to wait, feeling sure that Eldon Lassiter hadn’t gone far in his wheelchair, and soon Ron Reeves came in looking for her uncle, as well.

“Sheriff Hayes has a point. Taking his nephew’s car is pretty ornery, almost like a challenge. He’ll pull out all the stops to find that Corvette.” He pushed a billed cap to the back of his head, leaving his light brown hair in damp waves on his forehead. The faint grin faded from his face as he gave Nina a steady, inquiring look. “I know you’d hoped to get word about Danny by now. How are you doing, Nina? Any news?”

Though she appreciated Ron’s concern, she felt reluctant to go over the story again. She’d known Ron since her childhood, when he was in his mid-teens and first came to work part time in the paint shop behind the museum, but they’d never been really close friends. Still their long association accorded him the right to ask.

“We haven’t learned much more,” she admitted. She gave him a brief summary of the trip to Dallas and the conclusions she’d drawn from the lack of activity in Danny’s financial affairs.

“You really believe Danny’s dead?” Ron hunched forward, his face drawn tight. Nina saw he was shocked by the suggestion.

Weary with the dismay that flooded her every time she had to say it, Nina dug her fingers into the leather arm of her chair. “I’m afraid so.” Unable to sit through another bout of sympathy laced with curiosity, she stood up and paced the length of the office. “I can’t see any other answer. I could believe that Danny might leave me. I can even accept the idea that he sold the T-Bird as part of his plan to disappear. But I can’t see him taking any kind of job and walking away from his inheritance. He wasn’t trained to work, and the only practical experience he had was driving a car and finding a way to make it go faster. With his health problems, he’d never get work doing either of those things. He was a rich man with a rich man’s habits and tastes. He’d need his money.”

Ron nodded, but a frown puckered his forehead. “Then what about you, Nina? If Danny’s dead, and I can see where you’d draw that conclusion, what will you do? It takes years, I don’t know how many but it’s like six or seven, to get the courts to declare somebody dead. You’re young and you have your whole life ahead of you. You can’t live like a nun for years till the courts say you’re free. And I’d guess, no matter how long you were married, you’re still Danny’s heir. He wouldn’t want you to walk away from all that money. It wouldn’t make sense for you to do that. What are you going to do? Wait it out, or try to get a divorce? I guess you could get the marriage annulled, but that wouldn’t be sensible, either. If you got the divorce, the court would probably give you some kind of settlement, maybe half the estate, but I bet you wouldn’t get anything from an annulment.”

The thought of taking anything from Danny’s estate sickened Nina. “I couldn’t take his money,” she protested. “No matter what happens, I won’t do that. The money doesn’t matter. It doesn’t belong to me.”

Ron shrugged. “Maybe it doesn’t matter now, but one day you might regret it.” His glance sharpened. “Money’s always a good thing to have, Nina.” He fished a pack of cigarettes out of his pocket, lit one, and settled into the visitor’s chair in the corner. “Another thing you have to think about, if Danny’s gone, is this place and your uncle. He’s not an old man, but his health isn’t all that good, either. Life in a wheelchair is pretty hard on anybody, especially somebody who’s been as active and independent as Eldon Lassiter. I know he intended for Danny to take over this place, but if Danny’s dead, like you think, you and your uncle are going to have to make some new plans.” He flicked ashes into the palm of his hand and studied the glowing tip of his cigarette. “I know he’d likely think about asking me to take over, since I’ve been here the longest and managed the paint shop for him, but maybe that’s not such a good thing. My folks are after me to move closer so they can see me more often. Heaven knows I haven’t been the son I should have been, but I’m all they have. Now I get a chance to make up for some of the grief I caused them when I was a kid. I’m going up after the rally next week, and once I see how things are with them, I may have to make some changes here.”

Nina flinched at the idea of her uncle losing the young man he’d trained and depended on for so long. Still, he had Tinker, and if Peter’s idea that Tinker was seriously interested in a local girl had validity, Tinker might be the man Uncle Eldon needed.

“I’d hate for you to leave, Ron, but I can see you’d want to make sure your parents are comfortable and getting the care they need.”

Ron dropped the cigarette to the floor and ground it out with the toe of his heavy work shoe. He picked up the butt to drop it into a waste can beside the desk. When he looked up at her, his eyes held a bright, hot intensity. “My folks aren’t the only reason I’d be leaving.” He took two steps toward her to rest his thick-fingered hand on her shoulder. “I’ve known you since you were just a skinny kid hanging around the shop, Nina, and I know you’ve never thought of me as anything but one of the guys in the place. But I don’t think of you that way, not at all. I don’t s’pose you’d ever love me like you did Danny, but I’d be good to you, Nina. I’d take care of this place, keep it going, do what your uncle can’t do with it. I could run this business for you and Eldon. Make it easier for both of you, and if you’d consider it, I’d find other ways to take care of my folks, maybe go see them a little more often, get some outside help for them. I’d sure be proud to spend my life making things right for you. I wouldn’t two-time you or give you grief like Danny did. You’d just go along teaching school or maybe raising a couple of kids and let me take care of things here.” He hesitated. “We’d make a pretty fine team, Nina, and I think your uncle would like it.”

Stunned at the unexpected picture Ron presented, Nina took two steps back, loosening his grip on her shoulder. “I...I don’t think so, Ron. I mean, I’m touched that you’d be so concerned, that you care that much about my situation and Uncle Eldon’s, but no, much as I like you and as happy as I am that you’re here to help Uncle Eldon, I don’t think it would work. We don’t have enough in common outside of the museum. And you deserve a girl who is wholeheartedly in love with you, not one who thinks of you as part of her extended family. It’s sweet of you to think about me like that, but you’ll find a girl who really loves you and that will be better for you than I could ever be.”

Ducking his head, Ron stuffed his hands in his pockets. “Yeah, well, I was afraid you’d feel that way. I care an awful lot about you, Nina, and it’s pretty hard to be around here day after day and feel like I can’t do anything about it. My folks really do need me, and I guess, after I go up there next week and see what’s what, I’ll have to talk to Eldon about what we’re going to do. I suspect I’ll be gone from here by the end of summer. He needs to think about how he wants to handle it.”