recommend both this time of year.â
âYou drove here from the county courthouse? It canât be five blocks.â
âItâs more like ten when you factor in the heat index, and Iâm in heels. I rode over with Dottie. Hang on; Lily is bringing lemonade.â Lily Park Pickett is Bufordâs wife. She has been the treasurer of the Quilting Circle for eight years running, and she represents the Circle on the board of Milletâs Department Store along with Hail Mary.
âWhere are Loretta and Bebe?â I asked. Bebe Palouse is the general manager of Milletâs and the best-dressed woman in the Circle, Hail Mary included.
âTheyâre on the way,â Dot answered. âWhile weâre twiddling our thumbs, whatâs this I hear about some acquaintances of Vernonâs coming to town? I thought he worked alone.â
âTheyâre widows. Mr. Moore says they want to meet his friends.â
âWidows, huh? No disrespect intended, but theyâll be able to meet his friends in a phone booth if he prays for Clem instead of rain. I heard that your fiancé told Buford Pickett to look into your lodgerâs identity. Is Mr. Moore aware of that?â
âHe didnât mention it, but Clem has been to that well twice before. Mr. Moore even tried to help him, but he came up dry anyway.â
âSo his identity is still a mystery.â
âEither that, or he is who he says he is.â
âWhich is what, exactly?â Dottie asked.
âA retired salesman.â
âUh huh, and Iâm Shania Twain. I wonder: whereâd I put my diamond-encrusted guitar?â
A tick or two later, the three missing board members filed into the room. Lily had a country-sized pitcher of iced lemonade in one hand and a stack of red plastic tumblers in the other, Loretta was carrying sliced zucchini bread on a red plastic platter, and Bebe had paper plates, paper napkins, and plastic forks.
Loretta looked me over from head to foot. âYou walked, didnât you?â
âI like to walk. Itâs the best exercise a woman can get, and I wore a hat.â
âThat nasty old hat wonât do you a bit of good when itâs four hundred degrees outside, darlinâ.â
Lily handed me a glass of iced lemonade, which I chugged part way. While she and Loretta served everybody else, Hail Mary called the meeting to order. âThis is an emergency session of the Quilting Circle board of governors,â she declared. âAccording to the bylaws, weâre required to dispense with normal business and cut to the case at hand.â
Lily raised her hand. âIâd like to bring another matter before the board if I may.â
âThatâs against the rules, Lily. Whatâs it about?â
âBuford.â
âYour husband? That canât be good. Is it urgent?â
âSorta. Itâs about the Bowe place.â
âThe Bowe place? Iâd love to talk about it now, but itâs one farm and we have the makings of a countywide catastrophe on our hands. Can we put Buford on the back burner for now?â
âSure,â Lily pouted. âIt can wait, I guess.â
âYouâre a dear. Now, just to make sure that weâre all on the same page, would you please repeat what Mr. Moore said to Clem Tucker this morning.â
âI donât see any way to sugarcoat the situation. Pearline OâConnor says that heâs going to ask for rain or Clemâs life at the end of the week.â
âAnd what did he say to you at lunch, Wilma?â
I swallowed a bite of zucchini bread and wiped the corners of my mouth. âThe same exact thing.â
âYouâre sure he used the word âor,â not âandâ?â
âHe was very clear, Mary, and he said a deal is a deal. He canât go back on it.â
Lily added, âThatâs not the worst of it. Clem offered to pay Mr. Moore for his
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