Where Azaleas Bloom

“How flattering.”

He winced. “Sorry. I’m not up on polite chitchat. If I want to know something, I figure the best way to find out is to ask. The kids are okay?”

She smiled at his determined attempt to try to pry information out of her. “They’ll be home from school any minute. I’m sure you’ll see Lexie next door and can determine for yourself how she’s doing.”

He looked vaguely chagrined. “Okay. Message received. I didn’t mean to pry. Sorry if I struck a nerve.”

“I’m the one who’s sorry, Mitch. It’s just been a tough day,” she said. “You were right. I am stressed out.”

“Take a break and put your feet up,” he advised. “I’ll be over in the morning.”

“See you then.”

He started to leave, then turned back. “Hey, I don’t suppose you could convince Lexie that it would be politically correct to play the local country station at full volume, rather than that crazy stuff she and Mandy like?”

“I haven’t had any luck around here,” she said. “That would be my preference, too. The country music Travis and Sarah play on the radio station here in town is much more my taste.”

“Mine, too. I think I’ve lived a lot of those lyrics.”

“Haven’t we all?” she agreed. Lately, she had a hunch her experiences could provide lyrics for an entire CD of love-gone-wrong songs. Maybe that should be her new calling.

Mitch stood there awkwardly for a moment longer, then shrugged. “I’d better get back over there. If I’m gone too long, my crew’s liable to put up a wall where no wall was intended to be.”

She laughed. “Something tells me you have them trained better than that. It looks amazing from over here. I can’t wait to see how it turns out.”

“You’ll have to let me give you a tour one of these days. Raylene has a hard hat she can loan you, assuming she can find the thing. Near as I can tell she enjoys making my heart stop by coming into the addition without it.”

“I’d like that,” Lynn said. “We always talked about building an addition to this place, but we never got around to it. Now it will never happen.”

She waved off the revealing comment as soon as it was out of her mouth. “Spilt milk,” she muttered. “Thanks, again, for helping out with the plumbing crisis, Mitch. You’re a lifesaver.”

“Anytime. I told you that.”

She watched him walk away, fascinated yet again by the way his faded, well-worn jeans curved quite nicely over an incredibly sexy posterior. As soon as the outrageous, totally inappropriate thought crossed her mind, she slapped her hand over her mouth as if she’d said it aloud.

What had gotten into her today? She was completely flipping out over finances, she’d stolen money from her husband’s office and she was still thinking about how appealing Mitch looked in a pair of jeans? Crazy. The last thing she needed in her life these days was another complication. And Mitch Franklin, sweet and sexy as he might be, would most definitely be a complication.

Starting tomorrow morning she was going to have to be on full alert to make sure she kept these wayward thoughts of hers in check or working for the man was going to be incredibly awkward. Even as she reminded herself of that, she wondered if just maybe that was why he’d hesitated before offering her the job. Was he as aware of her as she suddenly was of him? Or had he just noticed that she’d developed this insane appreciation for his backside?

Either way, she reminded herself sternly, tomorrow morning needed to be all about business. She would keep her eyes on the computer screen and far, far away from Mitch or any particularly intriguing part of his anatomy.

* * *

When Mitch got back to Raylene’s, his crew had gone for the day and she immediately gave him a speculative look. “You were gone a long time. Problems making the repair?”

He frowned, bothered by what he thought was a hint of censure in her voice. “You don’t mind that I went over there, do you?”

She immediately looked chagrined. “Of course not. I actually meant to tease you. I thought maybe fixing the sink or whatever was broken was the least of what was going on.”

Mitch regarded her with a narrowed gaze. “Don’t you start! I get enough meddling from Grace.”

“So, Grace has seen you with Lynn, too?”

“I am not having this conversation with you,” he said flatly.

“Not even if I tell you that we’re having roasted chicken for dinner with mashed potatoes and gravy?” she taunted. “I made it just for you.”

“Bring me a plate while I work,” he said firmly. “I need to catch up on a few things before I leave.”

Raylene shook her head, a glint of amusement in her eyes. “You eat at the table like a civilized person or you don’t eat. That’s what I tell the girls and it applies to you, too.”

“I could just leave now,” he retorted. “I’m not on the clock.”

“You could, but I know roasted chicken is your favorite. Would you deny yourself that just to avoid a few innocent questions?”

“There is absolutely nothing innocent about any of your questions, Raylene. You could give those 60 Minutes reporters a run for their money.”

“Then you must know it won’t do any good for you to try to dodge me,” she said cheerfully. “See you at the table in a half hour.”

For a man who’d been bemoaning the loss of the most important woman in his life and the ensuing loneliness, he suddenly had a surplus of bossy, know-it-all women around him. Once he was back home tonight, he was going to have to think about exactly how he felt about that.

* * *

“I may have some idea about what’s been happening to that money Ed’s supposed to be paying,” Helen told Lynn when she stopped by with a check.

As soon as the words left her mouth, she glanced around guiltily. “Are the kids here?”

Lynn shook her head. “Lexie’s next door and Jeremy’s down the street playing with friends in the park.”

“Good. I wouldn’t want them to overhear this.”

“What’s happening?”

“Jimmy Bob is supposed to be taking care of those payments, right?”

Lynn nodded. “That’s what Ed told me.”

“Well, Jimmy Bob’s nowhere to be found at the moment.”

Lynn regarded her with surprise. “You mean he’s vanished?”

“Vanished, gone on vacation, who knows? All I know is the office was closed up tight when I stopped by, and there was a sign on the door that said the law practice was closed indefinitely. I called my investigator and asked him to see what he could find out.”

“I know you’re not crazy about the way Jimmy Bob practices law, but isn’t this odd, even for him?” Lynn asked.

Helen nodded. “He’s pulled quite a few stunts over the years, but I’ve never known him to disappear in the middle of a case. We have another court date next week. Unless he gets a postponement, which so far I’ve had no indication that he’s asked for, the judge is going to expect him to appear. Ed, too.”

“Maybe they’ve both run off on this fun-filled golf trip I hear Ed is on.”