Page 80 of Tempest

“Behave. We still have Grams’ lunch to get through.”

“Fine. Where’s the lunch?”

“Mama is hosting it at the Bell Springs Winery. I think there are close to a hundred people coming. Grams taught high school math for almost forty years, and she is real popular in town.”

“Do we need a donut for the road or are you okay?”

She let her eyes rove lovingly over the selection and then shook her head. “No, let’s mingle and then we can head out.”

“Lead the way.”

Ms. Janey and Ms. Elvie were the first to approach, and Ivy shot them an innocent smile. They might look like a pair of sweet librarians, but in fact they were the Gestapo. The way they got information about people was legendary. “Hi, ladies. Did you enjoy the sermon today?”

Ms. Elvie fluttered her hankie and laughed. “I certainly did. I think we should all remember that it’s important to forgive those who do us wrong.”

“I agree,” Ivy said. Whatever came after this was going to be interesting. Ms. Elvie never missed a chance to share the gossip she was so famous for extracting.

“I have to tell you that we had Nelson Reardon’s mama over for lunch last week. That woman is ninety-five if she’s a day, God love her. Sharp as a tack, remembers everything like it was yesterday. We got to talking about your daddy’s passing, and she brought up the big falling out that Nelson had with him a couple of years ago. The woman talked for twenty minutes about how close Nelson and your daddy were from the age of five until just a few years ago.”

Ms. Janey put her hand on her sister’s arm. “Elvie, get to the point. These children do not have all day.”

“Fine. I was getting to it. Mae Reardon said her son Nelson never got over what happened up in Denton when he and your daddy were in business together. Something about Nelson being cheated out of a fortune. Mae swears that her son is bent on revenge and she’s worried that it’s going to land him in jail.”

Ms. Janie clucked with disapproval. “It was out of character for her to be so worried. She thinks the sun sets and rises on her son’s hiney and that he can do no wrong. Why, I can’t tell you. That boy has had a streak of evil in him since he was ten. The way he behaved in the library was not to be believed. I had to kick him out more times than I can count.”

Ms. Elvie nodded her head in agreement. “We thought you should know because your grandmother told us about the problems you’ve been having with your daddy’s business. For all we know, Nelson is up to no good.”

“Thank you so much for sharing that with us,” Ivy said as she patted both ladies’ arms. The women of Dripping Springs were proving more capable of acquiring the information, than the detective that had been on the case since last week. “Are you two heading over to Grams’ lunch?”

“Yes we are, dear,” Ms. Janie responded. Her eyes ran up and down Ryan, and she gave him an approving smile. “We’re so happy that our Ivy has such a fine young man in her life.”

“Thank you, ma’am. I’m very lucky that she’s taken me on.”

They were about to walk away, but Ms. Elvie stopped. “We heard that Fabar’s restocked the condoms in your size. Maybe you want to run on over and grab some before they run out.”

Ivy choked on her coffee, and the ladies waved as they walked away. Ryan thumped her on her back and she tried to get a breath. When she could, she looked up at him and then started laughing. “I imagine that may come up a few more times before the day is over.”

“Maybe we should go and grab a couple of boxes just to keep the story going. I don’t want people to think that I’m not satisfying you.”

“We’re not even using them. Why would we buy them?”

“I have a reputation to protect. We should’ve been done with the supply last week.”

“Your reputation as a sex machine? I don’t feel the need to protect that.” Hitching her purse up on her shoulder, she turned toward the parking lot. “I deserve whatever happens. This is all because I felt like taking a poke at Wendy Ann. This is my karma coming back to bite me.”

“It’s kind of fun. I’ve never had so many women check out my package and then give me a smile. I kind of like being objectified.”

“Good for you.” She took long strides toward the car and then felt Ryan come up behind her. When he took her hand, she stopped. “What?”

“You’re the only one I care about, and your opinion is the only one that matters. So don’t get yourself twisted into a fit.”

“You’re right.” Looking around the parking lot, she squeezed his hand. “I should be focusing on what they said about Nelson. Maybe he and his son are the ones responsible for the sabotage and fires at Daddy’s wells. They know enough low-lifes that it wouldn’t be hard for them to find someone to do it.”

“I think you’re right. I’m not sure how we prove it, though. Let’s give the information to Ken and the private investigator, and see what they come up with. All of the wells should have the new security measures installed by the end of the week. We’ve limited well site access to only those with a security pass, and the well site data is now automated. We’ve got cameras up in several places at each site, and there’s also a drone monitoring all twenty wells regularly. If they try anything again, then we’ve got them.”

“We should tell Phoebe and have her monitor all of the Reardons’ electronic communication. It won’t be admissible in court, but it might be enough to get them to stop.”

“Text her while I drive us over to the lunch.”

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