Gracie slapped a hand over her mouth, laughing. “Oh, my gosh, no! Red Starling, you are something else!”
“What I am is troubled by what I heard after you left.”
Some color left her cheeks as she peered at the road ahead. “What did you hear?”
“It was muffled by the door and her movement, but I heard her talking on the phone to someone by the name of Tara—I think. That’s the thing about all of this—it’s based on speculation and eighty-three-year-old ears, so take it all with a boulder of salt.”
“Tara is her sister, so you got that much right.” Gracie slid him a questioning look. “What did she say?”
“So, there was a lot of giggling and stuff, but some of the bits and pieces I heard…”
“Yes?”
“About her high credit cards.”
Gracie nodded. “I get the impression she’s up to her eyeballs in debt. Not sure why you think that’s troubling for anyone but her.”
“Because of the way she might be trying to, uh, get out of it.”
Tapping the brakes, Gracie swallowed. “How?”
“Like I said, I could be wrong. My ears are old, her voice is shrill, and she was fussing on the other side of a bathroom door.”
“Red,” she said impatiently. “Tell me.”
“Sounded like she either might have a little bun in the oven or is planning to get one, and hoping that her former husbandwill, um, either be the baby daddy or think he is. I don’t know because?—”
“What?” Gracie choked.
“I could just be imagining all that,” he said quickly, because the words sounded so preposterous. “I mean, she’s obviously got an agenda and I’m just saying the word ‘baby’ was bandied about a good bit, and she said things like ‘baby needs a daddy and he’s my best option.’ What would you make of that?”
“I don’t…even know what to say,” Gracie stuttered. “Are you sure? What exactly do you remember? Please, Red, I need specifics.”
He moaned and snapped the seatbelt, digging through his memory of the moment to recall specifics. “She said this was her ‘best shot’ and that she might go to jail.”
Gracie gasped.
“But the woman is given to the dramatic,” Red added.
“Ya think?” she replied dryly. “Anything else?”
“She said she spent every dime of alimony and that was…why she is here.”
“Good heavens.” Gracie’s eyes shuttered. “Why didn’t you tell me this?”
He winced with guilt. “Because I’m not sure I heard all that…exactly. And it seems extreme and not my place and Marshall’s smart and he can see through her and…” He grunted. “I’m sorry, Gracie. I just knew I was out of line.”
“She’sout of line!” she retorted. “Way, way. Now what do I do?”
“I guess you tell Marshall and he can confront her.”
“Oh, goodness, he already has trust issues.”
“With her, not you,” Red fired back. “And you don’t have to tell him anything specific about babies and such. Just let him know that she has an agenda.”
“He knows that,” she said. “He knew it when she showed up on day one. This won’t surprise him. Maybe it will, but I don’t know. Also, you heard it eavesdropping through a bathroom door.”
He gave her a look. “Right? So now you understand why I’ve kept this to myself. I might have heard it wrong. I don’t trust my ears. Wax buildup. Age. Echo in the bathroom. Could’ve been talking about a TV show or another friend. I missed some things.”
