“Yes, Momma. I understand.”
Cordelia hung up, blowing out a breath of relief as she leaned against her car. That could’ve gone much worse. Of course, her momma hadn’t actually shown up in Sarsaparilla Falls. If that happened, all hell would likely break loose, but that was a problem for another day.
With her job and her momma settled, Cordelia headed backto the Chickadee to share the news. The chicks were overjoyed she was staying, though they pointed out that they never thought for a second she’d leave. Belinda Sue served up the day’s drink special: Dirty Shirley Temples. Which were really just Sprite and Absolut Cherrys. Cordelia once again abstained.
“Honey belongs in jail.” Daisy raised her glass like she was about to shoot out the lights, but there was nothing about Honey’s situation worth celebrating in Cordelia’s opinion.
She needed to get them back on track. “She’s not a nice person—”
“And she sounds like a lousy nurse,” Belinda Sue said.
“Yes,” Cordelia said. “Bad at life and her job. But that doesn’t make her a killer.”
“So?” Arline said. “If the sheriff thinks she did it, why is that our problem? We don’t owe Honey Stevens our time or effort.”
Cordelia closed her eyes and breathed in deeply through her nose. Her sense of right and wrong was being tested daily. She didn’t care about Honey any more than the rest of them, but they were holding a key piece of evidence that could absolve her in an instant. As far as Cordelia was concerned, that meant they had an obligation to see this through.
“We’re not letting Honey hang for the crime someone else tried to pin on Daisy,” Cordelia said. “My momma was a careless drunk, and she still raised me better than that.”
“Fine.” Arline crossed her arms, a sour expression etched into the hard lines of her face. “It was just a suggestion.”
“What should we do then?” Daisy asked. “We’re not the sheriff. There’s only so much investigating we can do on our own without authority.”
“That’s because we’ve been playing it safe so far,” Cordelia said. That instinct she’d been fighting her whole life, the one thattried to encourage her to be a little more fearless, try something a little more dangerous, reared up in her. Maybe it was finally time to let her out of the box. “We only have one suspect now.”
“Corbin and Edna.” A grim light of determination entered Belinda Sue’s eyes, like she’d been born to dish out punishment, and not the fun kind she used on her clients.
Cordelia nodded. “Edna’s been walking around town like she don’t put her pants on one leg at a time like the rest of us. If you ask me, she’s wearing that confidence like a fake fur. As if she knows she didn’t earn it.”
“It’s too bad we’ll never get near her house,” Daisy said. “All we would need is one peek inside to see if they’ve got a saltwater tank.”
“That would be a start,” Cordelia said.
They would still need to connect them to the Dew Valley wine, and the point where they handed it off to the pastor. But finding out they had access to palytoxin would go a long way toward building a case. They already had the motive. They just needed the rest to fall into place.
“Ladies.” At the sound of that strong, sure voice, Cordelia’s bones melted like butter. She hadn’t even looked at him yet, and Archer Reed-Smythe was already having his way with her.
“Oh, Lord. Archer, what did you do to your face?” Belinda Sue asked.
Startled, Cordelia spun around and her jaw about hit the floor. Archer rested his powerful forearms, sleeves rolled up, on the gate to the pool. His mustache was gone. Shaved clean off, leaving his face bare and nearly unrecognizable.
“You shaved.” Cordelia was stating the obvious, but she was too dumbstruck to say anything else. “Why?”
Archer shrugged, looking unsure of himself for possibly the first time in his life. “You said you hated it.”
“I changed my mind,” Cordelia said. “Grow it back.”
Archer laughed. “I’m afraid I can’t pull off something like that on command.”
“I didn’t say you had to do it now.” She averted her gaze, finding it hard to look at him. She wasn’t a facial hair person by any means, but Archer was proving to be the exception to every one of her rules. “Sometime this week would be fine.”
“Delia.” Ooh, the way that voice made her toes tingle. That kind of chemical reaction deserved to be studied in labs. “I was hoping you’d given some thought to going out on a proper date. I’d like to take you to dinner.”
Daisy sighed like she’d collapsed on a fainting couch. Cordelia pinched her lips together. She did not want an audience for this conversation. It was awkward enough trying to keep a straight face when Archer looked like a sheep without its wool.
Smoothing her hands over her lap, brushing away the wrinkles in her skirt, she nodded stiffly. “I have given it some thought, and I’ve decided to accept your invitation.”
Daisy squealed, and Cordelia shot her a look to quiet her down.
