Southern Secrets by Susan Gabriel

Author:Susan Gabriel
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: fiction
Publisher: Wild Lily Arts
Published: 2015-01-15T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

Queenie

“Happy Anniversary, Iris.”

Queenie addresses the chandelier in the dining room which always shakes with the cold blast of Iris’s presence. She and Violet clear dinner dishes from the dining room table, which hasn’t been used since Iris’s stroke. But they wanted to have a special dinner to celebrate Rose and Max’s arrival earlier that afternoon. They had driven for three days and have already retired to a guest room upstairs to get some rest. The moving trucks are scheduled to arrive next week.

“I’d forgotten how handsome Max is, in a rugged cowboy sort of way,” Queenie says. She follows Violet into the kitchen and wonders if Denzel Washington has ever made a western.

“Max seems quiet, but nice,” Violet says. She stacks dishes next to the sink.

“He certainly loved your roast,” Queenie says, “and the apple pie.”

Violet smiles and then rubs her left shoulder. “Something isn’t right,” she says.

“It’s bothering you again?” Queenie asks.

“Maybe I’m just getting old,” Violet says.

“Nonsense. I’ve got panty hose older than you. Besides, that shoulder is better than having a crystal ball.”

Violet frowns. “The last time it did this was the night Edward showed up at the door, and we ended up at the police station,” she says.

Queenie and Violet spent nearly an hour explaining their relationship to the Temples to a police sergeant who took notes like he was writing a screenplay. Finally, Queenie thought to call Bo Rivers, who showed up in the middle of the night to clear things up. As much as she tries to resist it, there is something about him that she likes. Bo asked for a temporary restraining order against Edward, which she is certain didn’t go over very well. Edward wasn’t charged with anything, and luckily neither were they.

After that night, Queenie and Violet began an earnest search for the key to the safe deposit box that holds the Temple Book of Secrets, and no telling what else. So far, they’ve found nothing.

“Surely Edward won’t show up tonight,” Queenie says, addressing the concerns of Violet’s shoulder. “He doesn’t even know Rose is here. Plus, we’ve got a cowboy in the house, and I don’t think Max will let Edward get away with anything.”

Violet doesn’t look convinced. “All I know is, that as soon as Rose and Max arrived, Miss Temple’s ghost started throwing fits,” she says. “Then the others got on the bandwagon. I’ve never heard them this high-spirited.”

“Maybe it’s because of the anniversary that Mama warned us about,” Queenie says.

Anniversaries of deaths don’t usually bother her, but for some reason this one has her biting her nails. Queenie is nowhere near as sensitive as Violet, but even she can feel a tension in the air.

“I guess it could be a false alarm,” Violet says. It sounds like she’s trying to convince herself, as well as Queenie.

“I guess I could be a size six,” Queenie says with a laugh, thinking the last time she was a size six was probably when she was about six years old.

Violet rolls her eyes and it reminds Queenie of how Violet did this as a girl.

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