“He’s not the devil,” Shannon said. “And he’s not a kid anymore.”
“I’ll say he’s not,” Eve said. “I saw him walking into the real estate office downtown the day of his father’s funeral. Wow. Just…wow.”
Shannon pursed her lips and gave her sister the Evil Eye. But Eve just smiled and kept on eating. Russell turned to Shannon, his brow furrowed. “So how old is this guy?”
“He and Shannon were in the same class at Rainbow Valley High,” Eve said. “So he’s probably twenty-nine.”
Twenty-nine years old…devil himself…double wow…
And that furrow in Russell’s brow grew deeper still.
Loucinda slowly lowered her fork to her plate, still gripping it so tightly her fingers whitened. “Luke is just an employee,” she said to Russell. “Performing manual labor at the shelter. That’s all.” So he’s no competition for you. None at all. Feel free to date my daughter.
Shannon stood up, grabbing her plate. “Come on, Eve. Help me get dessert.”
“No,” Loucinda said. “You girls stay here. I’ll do it.”
“Nonsense,” Shannon said, grabbing her mother’s plate. “You probably spent all afternoon in the kitchen.”
Eve picked up her plate and Russell’s and followed Shannon into the kitchen.
“Wow,” Eve said, as the kitchen door swung closed behind them. “I’m thinking Mom didn’t know about Luke yet.”
“Yeah?” Shannon said, glaring at her sister. “What was your first clue?”
“The vein popping out on her forehead.”
“How did you even know?”
“Well, it has been over two hours since you hired him. Freddie Jo told Rosie, who told Tasha, who told me.”
Forget Facebook and Twitter. The speed of the Rainbow Valley grapevine made social media look like the Pony Express.
“Did you have to drop that bomb right in the middle of dinner?” Shannon said, setting the plates beside the sink.
Eve shrugged. “She was going to find out soon enough. Might as well rip off the Band-Aid.”
Actually, it was probably the best place for her mother to get the news. With Russell around, she was forced to be on her best behavior.
“But Mom was the least of your worries,” Eve said. “I thought Grandma North was going to pop out of that painting and go for your throat.”
Shannon had been a little afraid of that herself. Grandma North’s hypercritical nature had been legendary. If Loucinda had scrambled her whole married life to be good enough for Jerome, how would Grandma North feel about Shannon even speaking to Luke Dawson?
“So why Luke?” Eve said.
Shannon pulled a coconut cream pie from the refrigerator as she explained the situation. Unfortunately, the longer she talked, the weaker her logic sounded.
“So not only did you hire a man with a terrible reputation,” Eve said, “he can’t even walk?”
“He can walk,” Shannon said. “He just can’t do…you know…oh, hell. I couldn’t get anybody else to take the job. He was willing to do it, so there you go.”
“Sure you don’t still have a thing for him?” Eve said, retrieving plates from the cabinet.
Shannon’s heart skipped. “I never had a thing for Luke.”
“Then you were the only girl who didn’t.”
Russell came into the kitchen, and Shannon tossed her sister a sidelong glare. Nothing more about that subject. Absolutely nothing. Do I make myself clear?
Russell sidled up next to Shannon, looking mildly distressed. “Your mother hated the wine, didn’t she?”
“No. She liked it just fine.”
“It was sixty bucks a bottle.”
“All the more reason for her to love it.”
“She made a face when she drank it.”
“Lighten up,” Eve said. “She liked it. After all, you’re a doctor. You could have brought her a bottle of Drano and she’d have poured it into the Waterford and choked it down.”
“Not doctor,” Russell said. “Dentist.”
“That’s fine. As long as she can eventually say, ‘Meet my son-in-law, Dr. Morgensen,’ she’s happy.”
Shannon gave her sister a deadpan look, then turned to Russell. “Sorry. Eve has no filter.”
“Oops,” Eve said. “Here comes Mom.”
Loucinda swept through the door, her heels tapping. “Now, Russell. Guests aren’t allowed to help. Why don’t you go back to the dining room and keep Jerome company while we girls get dessert?”
Russell obediently scooted out of the kitchen.
“You two have this under control,” Eve said, handing Shannon the knife. “I think Dad needs more company.”
Thanks a million, sis.
As Eve slipped out the door, Loucinda said, “Now, about Luke Dawson—”
“I needed a caretaker. He wanted the job. Supply, demand. That’s all there was to it.”
“No. That Dawson boy has no business back in this town, much less anywhere near my daughter.”