Page 96 of The Talk of Coyote Canyon

“Sorry. There’s been a lot going on around here.” That was the understatement of the year, but the real reason she hadn’t called was because she wasn’t comfortable with her mother once again cashing in onherhard work and reputation—the credibilityshe’destablished—because of how Jan’s actions might reflect on her. Ross had told her not to feel responsible if her mother flaked out, but she knew she would. She’d been embarrassed by Jan’s behavior for a long time and cared about his opinion, wanted to make him proud. That included not having Jan let him down after he’d tried so hard to help her.

“A lot going on? Like what?” her mother asked.

“I lost my driller, for one,” she replied. “Been trying to replace him. Something went wrong with my latest well, for another, and I almost couldn’t save it.” She decided not to go into any more detail. The last thing she needed was to make her mother any angrier at Lynn and Stuart. Who knew what Jan might do? She’d gone way too far in the past... “There’s a whole list of things,” she went on, “including trying to repair the sink in my guest bath. I spent hours on it last night and still haven’t been able to stop the darn leak.”

“You’ll get it.” Jan didn’t sound concerned, but she’d never owned a home—not since the one she’d had with Stuart was sold after the divorce—so she shrugged off maintenance as if it was nothing.

“When do you start your new job?” Ellen asked after taking another bite of her lunch.

“On Monday. I’m thinking of quitting the diner.”

Ellen winced. This was meant to be a leading statement—her mother’s attempt to get Ellen to approve of that plan. Then she’d be partially responsible if the new job didn’t work out and her mother ended up in dire straits again. Ellen recognized the pattern because she’d seen it many times. “Why not stay on two or three nights a week until you settle in with Ross and make sure it’s going to last? Office work is a big change. It means forty hours a week instead of twenty or twenty-five. It’s not flexible, either. You can’t just give up a shift when you want to go do something else, like you can in the restaurant world. And you don’t know how you’ll take to pushing paperwork around.”

“Yeah, that’s probably a good idea,” she agreed, but with so little conviction Ellen was willing to bet she’dalreadyquit.

“If you need any help with anything after you start, be sure to call me. I was in and out of that office for years, as you know. Plus, I do my own paperwork these days, so I should be able to help.”

“Thanks. I’m a little nervous,” she admitted. “You know I’m not good at book learning and that sort of thing.”

Ellen did know that, which was why she thought Ross was making a mistake hiring her. Jan had no experience and a very short attention span. But Ross had such a huge heart. He tried to give everyone a chance.

“You can do it. It’s all about learning the process and then repeating it. So don’t be too hard on yourself. It’s always the first few weeks that are the most difficult when you’re learning a new job.” Her phone buzzed to signify she had another call coming through. She pulled it away from her ear to check who it was, saw Hendrix’s name and told her mother she was getting an important call she had to take. It still took Jan so long to say goodbye that she almost missed it. She caught Hendrix just before his call was transferred to voice mail.

“Hello?”

“Sorry it’s taken me so long to check in. It’s been busy here. How’s your day?”

She glanced outside at her truck. “Going smoothly. I have the hose you need. I’ll be heading back as soon as I finish my lunch.”

“Thanks for your help.”

“You bet. Have you had a chance to talk to your aunt yet?”

He hesitated as though he wasn’t eager to embrace that subject.

“Hendrix?”

“Yeah. I talked to her first thing this morning.”

“What’d she say?”

“That she didn’t do it.”

A knot began to form in Ellen’s stomach. She had Lynn dead to rights. They had a credible witness. It was Lynn or Stuart or both of them. Why else would Rocko call her and say what he’d said? “How does she explain what Rocko saw?”

“She swears up and down he must be lying.”

“But...whywould he lie?” she asked.

“I have no idea.”

Was he going to let Lynn wriggle out of what she’d done? “Don’t tell me you believe her...”

After another brief hesitation, he said, “I don’t know what to believe, Ellen. Lynn has some difficult aspects to her personality. I’ve already acknowledged that. But I’ve never known her to be a blatant liar. She manipulates in other ways—with emotional blackmail and the sheer weight of her temper and displeasure. So...there must be something else going on here.”

Suddenly unable to take another bite, Ellen pushed the rest of her burrito away. “Like what?”

“I don’t know. But I’m on my way over to Burgers and Shakes to see if I can talk to Rocko right now.”

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