Lone Star Valentine

Around that, a velvet rope line had been set up, giving the statue approximately twenty feet in all directions. A crowd of townspeople, including local resident and Texas patron of the arts Emmett Briscoe, had gathered around the podium erected for the dedication. A videographer had set up as well, to record the ceremony for posterity.

As suspected, Gannon Montgomery was there, too, escorting his mother. Fortunately, he was busy talking to some people he hadn’t seen in a while as Lily went over to greet the artist.

Clad in her usually brightly colored attire—today’s pantsuit was a vibrant orange—her salt-and-pepper hair drawn back in a tight chignon that emphasized the stark natural beauty of her features, Harriet Montgomery looked both excited and much younger than her sixty-five years.

Lily gave her former high school art teacher a hug hello. “Ready for your big moment?” she asked.

Harriett nodded. “As I explained to you before, I’m going to do the undraping myself. I’d like photos for the paper taken then, and again after I add the final touch.”

Lily nodded, not sure what the final touch would be. “The photographer from the Laramie newspaper is all set.”

Given that everyone else was there, too, Lily stepped to the podium. She gave a brief introduction to Harriett Montgomery, and then it was time.

Harriett moved past the rope lines. Then pulled off the draping, revealing a six foot high chili pepper on the vine.

It was, as Lily had expected, quite beautiful in a stark, elemental way. And the perfect complement to the Laramie Chili Cook-Off & Festival they were inaugurating, that they hoped would put the town of Laramie, Texas, on the way to fame forevermore.

Still smiling while everyone clapped politely, Harriett posed for the photos she had requested. Then, with the videographer still filming, Harriett stepped behind the statue and reached down to do something near the bottom—Lily wasn’t sure what—before straightening again and coming proudly back to the podium.

Lily looked at the artist in confusion.

Harriett took the microphone and advised the crowd happily, “Wait for it... Wait for it...”

A second later, a faint charcoal-like smell filled the air.

Lily furrowed her brow in confusion.

Then a wispy gray curl of what certainly looked like smoke appeared at the top of the chili pepper stem. Lily blinked and blinked again.

“Is that...?” Lily turned to Gannon’s mother. Out of the corner of her eye, she noted that Gannon seemed as concerned as she suddenly was.

“Keep waiting,” Harriett advised, even more calmly, to the crowd.

So everyone did.

And then, a second later, flames burst out of the six-foot-tall chili pepper. And this time there was absolutely no mistake, Lily noted.

The entire statue was on fire.

Chapter Three (#ulink_c0a072e4-d83f-52b7-861a-3600cfcfdf53)

The fire department had barely put the flames out when former Laramie mayor Rex Carter stepped up to the dais and took the microphone. “This,” Rex said, with a derisive good old boy snort, “is what you get when you put a woman in a man’s job.”

Several people booed him.

Others listened with seeming agreement while the firefighters stood by, watching the red-hot tower continue to spit embers skyward.

Harriett elbowed Rex aside. “Don’t blame Mayor McCabe,” the artist stated as she stepped up to the microphone. “Lily had no idea what I planned to do. Nor did anyone else.”

While the videographer filmed, the Laramie newspaper reporter called out, “Mrs. Montgomery! Why did you light the statue on fire?”

Harriett smiled and explained, “I wanted to complete the work. It’s a fire statue—half sculpture and half performance art.”

Lily sighed. She wished like heck she had seen this coming. “Well, I wish you would have told someone what you planned ahead of time,” she said, not bothering to hide her exasperation.

A number of spectators nodded in agreement.

Harriett Montgomery shrugged, unaffected by all the negative attention. “I didn’t think you’d let me do it if I did. Local statutes and all.”

Harriett was right about that, Lily thought in consternation. Both the fire and sheriff’s departments had been called to the scene as soon as the flames shot skyward, and the senior officials from both looked mighty unhappy.

Gannon stepped in. He laid a cautioning palm on his mother’s shoulder. “I don’t think you should say anything more, Mom.”

The lawyer in her surfacing, Lily agreed. There was enough reckless behavior here as it was without adding to the liability. “In any case, it’s been quite an event,” she declared with a tight officious smile.

Rex Carter took another long look at the charred ceramic statue. “You haven’t heard the last of this,” he muttered to Lily before he strode away.

Realizing she had just given her prior political opponent ammunition against her, Lily watched as the crowd dispersed. Then, hoping to smooth the waters somehow, she went to see how the official investigation was going. Fire Chief Tom Evans scowled at her as she approached. “She’s lucky she didn’t start a grass fire.”

She should have asked a few more questions instead of giving the artist carte blanche when the town had commissioned the work for the chili festival. Lily rubbed her temples to relieve her growing tension headache. “I know.”

“I’m tempted to press charges, too,” Sheriff Ben Shepherd continued.

Lily lifted a hand. “Please, don’t. I’ll see it never happens again.”

The sheriff scowled. “She will get a warning citation.”

“And a bill from our department for the emergency services,” the fire chief added.

Lily nodded. “That’s fine.” Probably a good idea, too. Since, thus far, Harriett Montgomery still didn’t seem to recognize she had done anything wrong.

No sooner had the sheriff and the fire chief walked away than Sheriff’s Deputy Rio Vasquez came toward her, clipboard in hand. Now what?

“Lily McCabe?” Rio said, although he knew darn well who she was. He handed her an envelope. “You’ve been served.”

* * *

AN HOUR LATER, Lily finally had her family-law attorney, Liz Cartwright-Anderson, on the phone. From her office window in the town hall, Lily could see the commotion surrounding the burned-out statue, where resident after resident was walking up to the cordoned-off area to see the remains of the sculpture. “I’m sorry to disrupt your vacation.” She went on to explain the nature of the emergency.

“It’s okay,” Liz said, as cordial and professional as ever. “Given the fact that you only have twenty days to respond to Bode’s request for a change in the custody agreement, you’re right—we do need to act fast. And what I advise, since I won’t be back in the office until Monday or able to do anything until then, is that I hire Gannon Montgomery to temporarily assist me in representing you.”

Great—just what I wanted to hear, Lily thought in dismay. But she bit her tongue and let her lawyer continue.

“He’s not only helped me out on difficult cases before, but he’s also part of the Dallas and Tarrant County bars. He knows the judges and handles a lot of the high-profile custody and divorce cases there. And he’s in town, to assist his mother, for the next week or so.”

Lily pushed the image of the sexy attorney from her mind. This would be a business request. That was all. “You think he’ll do it?”

“Given how much he likes rescuing damsels in distress?” her attorney scoffed. “Of course he will.”