“I haven’t decided yet.” Probably not, given that he had bigger things to worry about. “But we’ve solved two cases. We’re good at this, right?”

“Heck yeah, we are.” I was happy to hear the excitement in her voice. “But you’ve solved more than that. You’ve got at least five cases under your belt. That’s probably more than the HPD has solved in two years. The Henryetta police should have hired you instead of that incompetent Officer Sprout.”

I snorted. There wasn’t enough money in the world to entice me to work for the Henryetta police. “Well, we can discuss this more later,” I said as I parked in front of the Nestons’ house. It took Neely Kate a minute to climb out of the truck, and I reminded myself not to push her too much. She didn’t have a huge incision, but she’d had surgery two and a half weeks ago, not to mention the trauma of almost dying and losing her babies.

We walked around the outside with the homeowner, an elderly woman who was moving to Florida and wanted to get her house ready for market. I had Neely Kate sit on the front porch while I took measurements and made notes. When I finished, I helped her up and we walked slowly to the truck. Once we were inside, I turned to her, worried. “Maybe you’re overdoin’ it.”

She sighed and leaned her head back on the seat. “I’m tired, but I’m not ready to go home yet. Besides, we need to come up with a plan for starting our investigation.”

“How about we go do the consultation at the next house, and then I’ll take you to lunch and we can figure out what to do first.”

“Deal.”

While we drove to the next house, which was in Violet’s old neighborhood, I explained what I planned to do at Mrs. Neston’s house and why. Neely Kate caught on quick, and although she didn’t have the experience I did, I hoped to send her out on home visits when I was too busy. I could come up with designs from her photos and drawings.

The next stop was quick, and even though she stayed in the truck, she looked pale.

“Would you like me to take you home?” I asked, worried.

She sat up and shook her head. “No. I know I’m terrible company but I’m not ready to go home yet.”

“Don’t worry about what kind of company you are. I just want to be with you. How about we get some lunch?”

“Sounds good.” Her voice was so soft and unlike her usual self it scared me, but I reminded myself that she just needed time and love.

We decided to eat at Blue Plate Diner outside of town. We had just ordered our food when my phone rang. I looked down at the number and grimaced.

Joe.

Great.

Chapter Nine

I shot Neely Kate a grimace, then answered. “Hey, Joe.”

“I heard about what happened yesterday afternoon.” He didn’t sound one bit happy about it.

I should have known he’d have a fit about the accident. Why I hadn’t prepared for this call was beyond me. But I’d had a lot of things happen the day before. For all I knew, he’d heard about the Piggly Wiggly incident.

“I’ve given them both a good talking to.”

Oh, mercy, he had heard. “I didn’t mean to stir up trouble. I promise.”

He paused. “How could this be your fault? The way I heard it, you were there minding your own business.”

I shook my head in confusion. There’s no way he would have heard that at the Piggly Wiggly. Even if it was true. “What on earth are you talking about?”

“I heard about your run-in with Hilary and my sister.”

“Oh. That. I thought you were calling about the accident or the….” My voice trailed off.

“What else happened yesterday afternoon?” He sounded exasperated.

“Nothing. I was about to say the note on Mason’s car.” Hopefully the Piggly Wiggly incident would stay under wraps, but seeing as how Miss Mildred was involved, I doubted that was likely. One problem at a time.

His tone turned angry. “You should have called me yesterday, Rose.”

Whether I should have called him or not was debatable, and I didn’t feel like getting into it at the moment. I sighed. “Joe, Deputy Miller took care of everything. How about we get back to the real reason you called.”

He paused and his voice softened. “I want to apologize about Hilary and Kate. They’ve been at odds since they were in diapers. My sister has always seen it as a personal challenge to best Hilary. Kate has gotten it into her head that Hilary’s the reason we broke up. She also knows that Hilary wants to marry me, so I think Kate’s doin’ everything in her power to get you and me back together.”

My mouth dropped, leaving me speechless.

“I need you to know I do not approve of this. Contrary to my actions in the recent past, I’m no part of it.”

Two months ago, I would have doubted his assertion. Now I actually believed him. “I know.”

“Thank you.” He sounded surprised, but he recovered quickly. “I’ve told Kate to back off, but she’s never been good at listening. I’m doing my best to make her leave you alone, but short of arresting her for harassment, I’m not sure what else I can do.”

“You would arrest your own sister for harassment?”

“If she keeps pestering you mercilessly? Yes, I would.” I could tell he meant it.

“I don’t know what to say, Joe.”

“We’re friends now, right?” he asked. “Kate might be my sister, but she ran off without a backward glance two years ago, worrying me to death. Now she has her own agenda and she doesn’t care who she hurts in the process.” He paused. “It’s the Simmons way.”