Call Me Irresistible (Wynette, Texas #5)(91)

The shorter of the two, a leathery brunette everybody called Cookie, got right to the point. "We all know you're the one behind that break-in at the church, and we know why."

Meg should have seen this coming, but she hadn't.

The taller woman yanked on her golf glove. "You wanted to move in with him, and he didn't want you to, so you decided to make it impossible for him to refuse. You trashed your own place before you went to work that morning at Francesca's."

"You can't really believe that," Meg said.

Cookie yanked a club from her bag without getting her customary drink. "You didn't really think you could pull this off, did you?"

After they left, Meg stomped around the tee for a while, then slumped down on the wooden bench by the tee marker. It wasn't even eleven o'clock, and ripples of heat already hung in the air. She should leave. She had no prospects here. No real friends. No job worth doing. But she was staying anyway. She was staying because the man she'd fallen so stupidly in love with had jeopardized the future of this town he cared so much about to let the world know how important she was to him.

She hugged the knowledge to her heart.

Her cell began to ring not long after. The first call came from Ted. "I hear the local female mafia is trying to get you out of my house," he said. "Don't pay attention to them. You're staying with me, and I hope you're planning to make something good for dinner." A long pause. "I'll take care of dessert."

Her next call came from Spence, so she didn't answer, but he left a message saying he'd be back in two days, and he'd be sending a limo to pick her up for dinner. After that Haley called asking Meg to meet her at the snack shop on her two o'clock break. When Meg got there, she found an unwelcome surprise in the form of Birdie Kittle sitting across from her daughter at one of the green metal bistro tables.

Birdie was dressed for work in an aubergine knit suit. She'd draped the jacket over the back of the chair, revealing a white camisole and plump, lightly freckled arms. Haley hadn't bothered with makeup, which would have improved her appearance if she hadn't been so pale and tense. She jumped up from the table like a jack-in-the-box. "Mom has something to tell you."

Meg didn't want to hear anything Birdie Kittle had to say, but she took the empty chair between them. "How are you feeling?" she asked Haley. "Better than yesterday, I hope."

"Okay." Haley sat back down and started picking at the chocolate chip cookie lying on a square of waxed paper in front of her. Meg recalled the conversation she'd overheard at the luncheon.

"Haley was with that Kyle Bascom again last night," Birdie had said. "I swear to God, if she gets pregnant . . ."

Last week, Meg had seen Haley in the parking lot with a gangly kid about her own age, but when she'd mentioned it, Haley had been evasive.

She broke off a piece of the cookie. Meg had tried selling those same cookies from the cart, but the chips kept melting. "Go ahead, Mom," Haley said. "Ask her."

Birdie's mouth pinched, and her gold bracelet clinked against the edge of the table. "I heard about the break-in at the church."

"Yes, it seems everybody has."

Birdie ripped off the straw wrapper and poked it into her soft drink. "I talked to Shelby a couple of hours ago. It was nice of her to invite you to stay at her house. She didn't have to, you know."



       
         
       
        

Meg kept her response neutral. "I realize that."

Birdie pushed the straw through the ice. "Since it doesn't seem as though you're willing to stay there, Haley thought . . ."

"Mom!" Haley shot her a murderous look.

"Well, pardon meee. I thought you might be more comfortable at the inn. It's closer to the club than Shelby's, so you wouldn't have to drive as far to work, and I'm not booked up right now." Birdie jabbed at the bottom of the paper cup hard enough to poke a hole through it. "You can stay in the Jasmine Room, my compliments. There's a kitchenette that you might remember from all the times you cleaned it."

"Mom!" Color flooded Haley's pale face. There was a frantic air about her that worried Meg. "Mom wants you to stay. It's not just me."

Meg highly doubted that, but it meant a lot that Haley valued their friendship enough to stand up to her mother. She took a piece of the cookie Haley wasn't eating. "I appreciate the offer, but I already have plans."

"What plans?" Haley said.

"I'm moving back into the church."

"Ted will never let you do that," Birdie said.