Page 29 of Let Sleeping Dogs Lie

His eyes flew wide. “What?”

I knew I’d shocked him, but now wasn’t the time to get into it.

I shrugged. “It’s in the past where it belongs. Not that we can’t talk about it, but I don’t want to talk about it in the diner, okay? I’ll tell you about it tonight. If Maybelline catches wind of any of it, it’ll be all over her Facebook page.”

“You mean thetown’sFacebook page,” he said in a dry tone.

“Same difference.” Maybelline ran her own café, but she was also the owner of the Sweet Briar gossip page—“Sweet Happenings in the Briar.” Supposedly the purpose of the page was to disperse information to the town’s residents. While itdidshare information, quite a bit of it was who had been seen with whom and if someone had something odd for lunch. Pure gossip, but most of it was true. “I don’t want anyone to know about our conversation. I’m going to have a hard enough time quizzing Maybelline about Magnolia’s mother.”

“Did your grandmother know anything helpful?”

“Not much,” I said. “She’s roughly between Meemaw and Momma in age, so she didn’t know her well. She had a younger sister who died and her father was a mean drunk.” Then I added, “Oh, and her maiden name was Brewer.” I held a hand up to shield my eyes from the sun creeping over the top of the building. “I think I may have heard her name last April when Ifirst came back to town, but I’d forgotten. To be honest, I hadn’t been paying much attention.”

He turned pensive. “I don’t remember any Brewers.”

“It sounds like they may have died or moved away years ago, but Maybelline’s sure to know. The question is how to ask her without alerting her to what’s going on.”

“You’ll think of something,” he said. “You always do.” He leaned over and gave me a kiss. “I’m starvin’. Let’s go eat.”

The café was about two-thirds full, but we found a booth and sat on opposite sides. We caught Maybelline’s attention as we took a seat, and she waved to let us know she’d be over in a minute. She had a few waitresses, but it wasn’t uncommon for her to come around the counter and wait on customers herself.

“You really think your house will be done in time?” Luke asked, sounding dubious.

“Buddy was talking about his upcoming appearance onDarling Investigations, so you bet it will.”

He frowned. “What if he cuts corners to make it happen?”

“It’s gonna be fine, Luke,” I assured him, patting his hand that was resting on the table. “But if it makes you feel better, feel free to go check it out for yourself.”

He brightened at that. For all his enlightenment, Luke was very much tied to his upbringing. His father had been the breadwinner and his mother had run the house and raised their two sons. When we were teens, Luke had hinted that was what he wanted for his wife and kids, but this past summer when we’d talked about getting back together, I’d made it clear that if he was expecting me to fill that role, he’d be sorely disappointed—because that wasnevergoing to happen. He’d wholeheartedly agreed, but I could still see signs that he found it difficult not to jump in and try to “save” me at times. I knew his eagerness to help me was born out of love and not a belief in archaic gender roles, but after my mother controlled me into a career implosion,I now refused to let anyone control me in any way. Thankfully, Luke recognized that and didn’t feel threatened.

Maybelline came around the counter and bustled over with two glasses of water. She was an elderly woman with shockingly orange hair—the shade varied every six weeks or so after her latest rinse. And while she was a terrible gossip—hence the Facebook page—she had a huge soft spot for me. Her affection for me had existed even before I’d gotten famous, so I trusted that she liked me for me and not because I had brought a TV show to town and boosted her business.

Well, Imostlytrusted her…

“How’s my favorite couple?” she asked, beaming as she set the glasses on the table.

Luke looked at me first, then took the lead on this one. “We’re both great, but starving. What’s the special today?”

“Pulled pork sandwiches. Jimmy Dean smoked a pig.”

“I’ll take one of those,” I said. “But I want a salad instead of fries.”

“What we want and what we get are two different things,” Maybelline scoffed. “You’re starting to look skinny again.”

Some days it felt like Maybelline’s sole intent in her life was to fatten me up like a Christmas goose. While I wasn’t even close to being overweight, I wasn’t skinny either. Between Meemaw’s cooking and Maybelline’s specials, I’d gained a good five pounds since coming back to Sweet Briar. “Maybelline, maybe it doesn’t have anything to do with my weight. Maybe I just want some vegetables instead of grease.”

She gave me a look of disgust and turned to Luke. “What can I get you, Chief?”

“The same, only I know better than to ask for a salad.” He shot me a wink, and I kicked him under the table. “Ow!”

Maybelline narrowed her eyes at me. “Behave.”

Then she hustled back to the kitchen.

“You should know better than to ask her for a salad,” Luke said with a grin.

“There’s nothing wrong with wanting vegetables,” I insisted. “There’s nothing wrong with wanting to be healthy.” Although calling Maybelline’s salads healthy was a stretch.

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