Page 100 of The Talk of Coyote Canyon

“You don’t think Ellen would sabotage her own well, then claim it was Lynn, do you?” Hendrix asked.

There were several seconds of silence. Then, Stuart said, “You can only judge future behavior by past behavior.”

“Meaning...you agree with Lynn? You think Ellen was a difficult child who’s turned into a difficult adult, and she’ll stop at nothing to get revenge for past slights?”

“Ellen has been in Coyote Canyon for two and a half years, Hendrix. If she was going to do something beyond what she’s already done—which is to show me that she’s just as capable of building a well-drilling business as I am—she would’ve done it.”

“So...you don’t believe it?”

“I might’ve believed it two and a half years ago, when she first came to town. But after watching her establish a pattern of working hard and smart and building a good reputation, I can’t see her suddenly being dishonest enough to sabotage a well just to blame someone else for it, even if that someone is Lynn—or me. What’s changed? Why would there be such a marked deviation in her behavior?”

Hendrix had slept with her. That was what had changed. His involvement could easily have caused the whole paradigm to be turned on its head. But there was no way he’d ever admit that to Stuart. Not if he didn’t have to. “Right. Okay,” he said and disconnected.

Talulah drove because she knew where Maribeth lived. She often delivered breakfast rolls and other treats to Maribeth’s grandmother, who was in her eighties and bedridden and living in the same house. “You ready?” she asked Ellen as they pulled to a stop at the curb.

Her friend nodded and opened the passenger door. “Let’s go.”

Ellen was one of the toughest people Talulah had ever known. That was what she most admired about her—or, at least, one of the things. Not only had she come through some difficult experiences, she continued to blaze a bold trail in a man’s world.

But she didn’t seem like herself today. She was agitated and worried and seemed to be second-guessing her friendship with Hendrix.

Talulah understood. You couldn’t be strong all the time, and Ellen seemed to believe that allowing Hendrix into her small circle of friends had been a catastrophic mistake. “We’re going to get to the truth,” she told her.

Ellen nodded but didn’t speak as they approached the door.

Serena, Maribeth’s mother, answered Talulah’s knock. Other than taking care of Hazel, she worked at the ice cream parlor on weekends, presumably when Maribeth was home and could take over with her grandmother. Maribeth’s father had passed away five years earlier, so there was no longer a man in the house. “Is Maribeth here?” Talulah asked.

“She is,” Serena said. “We just finished dinner, so she’s been helping me clean up. Let me get her.”

“Thank you.” Talulah cast another encouraging glance at Ellen.

“I feel stupid interrupting them like this,” Ellen muttered.

“It’ll only take a few minutes.”

When Maribeth stepped outside, she had her long brown hair piled on top of her head and was wearing a pair of sweats. “Hi, Talulah,” she said with a friendly smile. “How are you?”

Ellen had indicated on the way over that she didn’t really know Maribeth, had just seen her around town and at Hank’s on occasion, so it was understandable that Maribeth gave her only a polite nod.

“I’m doing great,” Talulah said. “Listen, we hate to bother you, especially out of the blue like this, but something happened on Tuesday night, and we really need to talk to you about it.”

Maribeth’s eyes went wide. “What’s that?”

“You know when you went riding with Rocko Schneider on his motorcycle?”

She looked even more confused. “The last time I went riding with Rocko was a month or more ago.”

Talulah didn’t look at Ellen, but she could feel the surprise that hit her on hearing this response. Talulah was equally surprised. “You weren’t with him when he was out by the Haslem property around midnight?”

“Jay fixes my car, but I’ve only ever been to his repair shop. I don’t even know where his property is.”

“Rocko told Ellen that you were with him when he nearly had an accident Tuesday night. He said a white truck came tearing out of the Haslems’ vacant land just as you were passing by, and he had to swerve. According to him, the two of you only narrowly avoided a terrible accident.”

“There’s no way,” Maribeth said, shaking her head. “He must’ve been with someone else. I could never stay out that late on a weeknight. I have to be at the vet clinic by seven in the morning.”

“I see.” Talulah didn’t know where to go from there. “Maybe Ellen misunderstood. I’m sorry to have interrupted your evening.”

“No problem. I feel sorry for whoever was on that bike, though. It sounds like a harrowing ordeal. And Rocko’s weird to begin with. Once he sets his sights on someone, he won’t back off. I’m just glad I finally got him to stop calling me.”

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