She did as I asked then pulled her hand quickly away. “Wow, he must have raced straight over here. Let’s go see where the fire was.”
“Let’s take this one easy, okay?” I asked her.
“Okay by me. You lead, and I’ll follow.” Grace paused, looked around the overgrown lawn and the house with its chipped paint, and then she added, “He’s really let this place go downhill, hasn’t he?”
“You should have seen it when Debbie was alive. She made it into a showplace for her father, but I guess he just lost the heart to keep it up.”
“It’s tragic all the way around, isn’t it?” Grace asked sadly.
“It is.” I knocked on the door, and Reggie answered, toweling off his hair. It was clear that he was trying to make it look as though he’d just gotten out of the shower, but I knew better. There was no way he would have time to do that since we’d seen him racing away in his car.
“What can I do for you, Suzanne?”
“First, you can drop the act,” I said.
“What are you talking about?”
“We saw you in front of Max’s place three minutes ago. You barely had time to wash your hands, let alone take a shower.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’ve been here all afternoon,” he said as he finished drying his hair and threw the towel over his shoulder. I would have liked to wrap it around his neck. I hated being lied to.
“Then why is the hood of your car hot enough to fry eggs on?” Grace asked.
“The sun must be warmer than it feels,” Reggie insisted.
“Are you really going to try to play it that way?” I asked. Grace had just asked the question I’d been about to ask myself, so I couldn’t exactly get mad at her for jumping on it.
“Like I said, you lost me. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got things to do.”
He closed the door on us, not quite slamming it in our faces, but it was close enough.
“He’s lying to us,” Grace said.
“I’m just glad that you believe me. If I hadn’t felt his car hood, I’d be having doubts myself.”
“Suzanne, I trust your word over anyone I know. If you say it was Reggie at Max’s place, then it was Reggie. Besides, that hood was hot!”
“Thanks for believing me,” I said. I decided that there was nothing that we could do now, so I turned and started back to my Jeep.
“Are we just going to give up and go away?” Grace asked as she stood firmly on the porch.
“No, but this angle of attack clearly didn’t work. We’re going to have to be a little craftier if we’re going to learn anything from Reggie Nance.”
“Ooh, I love crafty,” she said. “Just as long as you mean sneaky by it.”
“That’s what I mean. I’m just not sure I know how to go about it.”
“Don’t worry,” Grace said. “I’m sure that your devious mind will come up with something.”
“Thanks, I think,” I said as we got in and I started the engine.
“Oh, it was a compliment,” Grace said. “We still have a little bit of time before dinner. Do you have any other ideas about where we can go now?”
I was about to answer when my cellphone rang. “Hang on one second,” I said as I turned the engine back off. Was Jake finally getting back to me?
It was Emily instead. “Hi, Emily,” I said. “What’s going on?”
“Suzanne, did I catch you at a bad time?” she asked.
I had to cheer up, and fast. My friend was getting married, and she was counting on me. “No, not at all. How are things going?”
“Mother has things moving like clockwork. It’s as though she’s spent her entire life planning for this wedding, and there’s no stopping her. I’m beginning to wonder who’s more excited about this wedding, her or me.”
“She’s just happy for you,” I said. “Would you like me to say something to her?”
“Oh, no, I wouldn’t ask you to do that. She’ll be fine.”
“Then what can I do to make your life easier?”
“You can tell me your plans for the wedding donuts,” she said. “It’s just about the only thing on the list that Mom is letting someone else handle, and she keeps asking me what you’ve got in mind.”
Honestly, I hadn’t had much time to think about it, let alone come up with any ideas I thought might work. I couldn’t exactly tell her that, though. “I’m kicking around a few overall concepts at the moment. I know that you like your donuts loaded with toppings, and Max will eat anything, but do you have any special requests for your guests?” Maybe she’d give me something to go on.