Page 6 of Let Sleeping Dogs Lie

“Sort of,” I muttered as the bartender slid my drink across the counter.

“What?” She leaned closer. “I was only teasing. What on earth happened?”

I pushed out a sigh. “She didn’t exactlyfireme, but she has to hide me in the back. When we’re serving plated dinners, that’s fine, I don’t think I’m too good to be part of the kitchen staff, but when there’s a buffet like tonight, there’s nothing to do. It was a matter of hiding me from the financial planners who might not take kindly to Brian Steele’s daughter being in the room.”

“Oh, Magnolia.”

“She didn’t want me to go, and I was too stubborn to see it. But I need the money, and it doesn’t feel right to collect a paycheck for doing nothing. It was a stupid mistake. I took some dirty pans out back to the van, and Mo Barker was there waiting to ask me questions.”

Her forehead wrinkled, but then her eyes lit up with horrified understanding. “One of the hosts from that stupid podcast?”

“One and the same.” I picked up the glass and took a sip of my drink, my face feeling pleasantly numb. “Things didnotgo well. Colt came out blazing, defending me. Then Tilly showed up to see what the ruckus was about, and Mo started in on her. When we got inside, Tilly told me to leave, and a few of the people attending the dinner witnessed her meltdown. She was horrified.” I forced myself to look her in the eye. “I hurt her, Belinda. Just by being there, I hurt her.”

“No,” Belinda said, reaching over to put a hand on my arm. “I’m sure you didn’t.”

“She hated that woman sniffing around, and Mo had a microphone, so I’m sure everything we said will be played on next week’s episode.” I leaned my face into my hands. “They’ll show Colt cussing up a blue streak and Tilly…” I thought back to what Tilly had said.

“What did they get out of Tilly?” Belinda asked.

“Not much,” I said, my head feeling fuzzy. “She told them I didn’t give interviews. Then Mo asked her to give an interview herself since she was close to Momma. We started walking away, but Tilly kind of froze when Mo said she’d heard Tilly and Momma werereallyclose.”

Belinda’s face went blank.

“What?” I asked, fear clutching my heart. “Why do you look like that?”

“Do you think that podcast woman was insinuating Tilly and your momma were…veryclose?”

“Of course they were very close,” I said with a snort. “They were always together. They were like sisters.”

“They weren’t anything like sisters, Magnolia,” Belinda said. “They were the opposite of sisters.”

“How can you say that?” I asked, shaking my head. The room spun and I realized I was already drunk. What the hell? When had I become such a lightweight? Then again, I was on my third drink in a half hour. “They loved each other.”

“Exactly,” she said, drawing the word out as if I were slow-witted. Right now I was, but her meaning finally penetrated.

“What?”

But deep down, I’d known. My mother and Tilly had been lovers. And now Molly and Mo were about to make their relationship out to be something salacious to gain more subscribers.

“You never guessed?” Belinda asked.

Sighing, I rested my forehead on my hand. “Yeah, but I thought maybe I was seeing things that weren’t there.”

“I have no actual proof,” Belinda said, “but I saw them together. They loved each other.”

Belinda had been part of my mother’s life for several years before I’d come back from New York, and Momma had loved Belinda. My sister-in-law would know better than me.

Just one more reminder of how fucked up my life was.

“What are you doin’ here, Magnolia?” she asked in a soft voice.

“I don’t know anymore,” I said, sitting up, and picked up my glass again. “Gettin’ shit-faced, I guess.”

“Why? Because you were ambushed by the podcast woman?”

“Yes. And because I’m tired of living like this.”

“Like what?” she asked with worry in her eyes.

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