Page 31 of For the Birds

“Which corner?” I asked. “And what’s hisname?”

She pointed to the house across the street. “Harvey Milner. But why are you asking so many questions about Harvey and Mr. Whipple?”

Neely Kate put her phone into her pocket. “We’re just tryin’ to get a broader picture of you!” she said enthusiastically. She formed a square with her fingers and framed Anita’s face, then widened her fingers as though widening the picture.

And Anita was buying every word ofit.

We were in a handbasket getting carted off straight tohell.

Neely Kate turned to face me, pivoting on her feet with a dramatic flair. “Well, Beth Ann, I’m impressed. I think our work is donehere.”

I didn’t say anything, feeling lower than worm dirt for tricking Anita.

“Really?” she squealed. “I’mon?”

My head started to tingle and my vision faded, and I only had a fraction of a second to wonder who would be the subject of my approaching vision.

I was at my farmhouse, sitting on the sofa in the living room. The lights were dim, but I was familiar enough with the room that I instantly recognized it. Someone was next to me, holding my hand, and based on the way his hand dwarfed mine, it was aman.

Feelings rose up inside me, longing—both sexual and the need for something emotionally deeper—and happiness tinged with sorrow.

“I don’t want to hide it anymore,” I said in Neely Kate’s voice. “Rose knows. At least I can stop hiding it fromher.”

“Things are too dangerous right now,” I heard Jed say. “We need to go to Little Rock again. We can take the wholeday.”

I turned to look up at him. The adoration in his eyes made my heart catch, but pain rippled behind it. “So you’re doin’ his biddin’.”

He didn’t answer.

“I don’t have to see her anymore. She doesn’t know anything.”

“But you could string her along. She doesn’t know we went to Ardmore.”

The vision faded and I said, “You’re gonna string her along.”

Well, crap.

Anita’s eyes flew wideopen.

“Beth Ann,” Neely Kate said, her exasperation thinly veiled. “You know this is the best we can do.” She turned to Anita. “Look, Anita. It’s between you and a guy in Biloxi. Our executive producer wants the guy, but Beth Ann and I decided to fight for you, so now we’ll take our video back to him and let him decide. Unfortunately, if you don’t hear back from us, you won’t have made the cut, but don’t let that get you down. You can tell all your friends and family that you were officially a semi-finalist on Memphis Superstar.”

Anita gave me a wary glance. “Yeah. I guess . . .”

Neely Kate put a hand on Anita’s arm. “Thank you for your time.” She must have finally agreed it was time to escape, because she turned and headed for the truck. “Let’s go, BethAnn.”

I had started to follow her when Anita called out, “Why are y’all in a landscaping truck?”

“We’re incognito,” Neely Kate hollered back. “We couldn’t very well sneak up on you with Memphis Superstar plastered on the side of our vehicle!”

We didn’t waste any time hopping into the truck.

“I can’t believe that just happened. I feel so guilty,” I said as soon as I pulled away from thecurb.

“I’m sorry, but you and I both know she’ll never even get close to bein’ on Memphis Superstar. You heard her sing. And then her dancin’ . . .”

She had a point. “Still . . .”

“Look, I would have preferred not to lie to her, but now she’ll tell everyone that she got close to bein’ on the show. This is a win-win situation. We got the information we needed, and we didn’t have to embarrassher.”

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