into the ice cream again. “The son of a bitch didn’t even act like he knew me, but if he had, then his sweet little wife, who’s probably a size six when she’s not pregnant, would have had questions.”
“Makes me wonder how many more kids he’s got out there.” Mitzi stuck her spoon in the ice cream and shifted her position to lean against the headboard.
“You might want to get our little girl tested so you can compare DNA with all her boyfriends when she starts to date,” Jody suggested. “Wouldn’t want her going out with her half brother.”
“I may just move to Australia. I don’t think he’s ever been there, but then who knows, the way he lies.” Paula stuck her spoon in the ice cream and rested her hand on her stomach. “I know for absolute sure now that I’m never telling him about this baby. And this is one time I’m glad I’m a large person and don’t look all that pregnant.”
“What are you going to tell the baby when she asks?” Jody asked.
“I’ll cross that bridge when I have to. Maybe I’ll tell her that he died.”
Mitzi gave Paula a sideways hug. “Which might be the truth if he messes around with another woman with a temper hotter’n yours.”
“We can always keep an eye on the obituaries from that part of the state,” Jody said.
Paula leaned forward and hugged Jody. “Or I could make a voodoo doll and poke pins in all the appropriate places.”
“Now that sounds like a good thing, only I’d rather take him out in the woods, nail one of those appropriate places to a tree stump, and give him a knife. When he’s brave enough to cut it off, he can try to make it home before he bleeds to death,” Jody said.
“Whew!” Paula wiped the back of her hand across her forehead. “And I thought I had evil thoughts today.”
“Not as evil as I did,” Mitzi said.
“I can only imagine.” Paula turned to look at her. “Let’s talk about all that shit about praying for Rita.”
“Graham and I are going to talk about it tomorrow,” Mitzi said.
Paula grabbed Mitzi’s hand in her left one and Jody’s in her right. “Let us pray.”
Without hesitation, both of them bowed their heads. “Dear Lord, I know that You have said that vengeance is Yours, so I’m leaving Clinton in Your hands. I expect You to deliver Your method, whatever You see fit, quickly and with much pain. And while You’re in a vengeful mood, please take Rita out of the picture. I’m not asking You to kill either of them, however, please don’t ever let us have to look upon their faces again. And one more thing, if Kayla has sent up a prayer, go ahead and delete it. It’s not a good one. Amen.” Paula squeezed their hands and raised her head.
“Amen,” Jody said.
“Amen,” Mitzi added.
Chapter Fifteen
Graham grew more anxious as the time with Mitzi drew near. He leaned on the porch post and watched for her. After what had happened in the party store, he should be honest with her, but he damn sure didn’t want to spend all their time together talking about his ex-wife. His heart kicked in an extra beat when he saw her coming down the street. Yesterday morning she’d worn her hair down, but now she’d piled it up on her head in what his girls called a “messy bun.” He wanted to go meet her, take her hand in his, and walk beside her, but he stood still until she started up the steps.
“Hello,” he said. “You ready to get to work? I’ve got all our stuff laid out in the backyard. There’s plenty of room on my screened back porch to store the arch when we get it finished. Did you figure out what size you want it to be?” Dammit! That sounded like something he’d say to a guy, not to a gorgeous woman. He should have at least offered her a cold beer.
“Think we can get it done this evening?” she asked.
“I hope so.” He closed his eyes and kicked himself for being so damned awkward. “That came out all wrong. I didn’t mean that I don’t want to spend time with you. I’m not very good at this. Would you like a cold beer or something to drink before we get started?”
“I’d love one,” she said. “I didn’t know what to bring in the way of tools.”