The Darkest Corner (Gravediggers #1)(47)

Tess's mouth dropped open, and she felt the hot flush of embarrassment spread across her skin.

"Oh," she said. "Thank you."

"You're welcome. Say hi to your grandmother." He paused for a couple of seconds and then said, "I really like kissing you too." And then he hung up.

Tess stopped the Suburban right in the middle of the street, got out, and grabbed her purse from the top of the car. Then she got back in and kept driving toward Dallas and the Back Acres Retirement Village.

She pulled into the gated community and waved at the security guard in the little hut. People who lived in the village took turns working at the security gate, and one time when she'd come to visit there was a man there who had to have been at least a hundred years old, wearing his old SWAT clothes and an AK47 slung across his chest.

It hadn't filled her with loads of confidence, and some of the others must've complained as well, because now there was a sign attached to the guardhouse that said all security guards were unarmed.

She passed the hedge sculptures and the big fountain, and pulled in front of the main house, where there was a little grocery store inside, as well as a couple of clothing boutiques, a spa, and a bar. Tess had decided the first time she'd seen the place that retirement looked pretty awesome, and she was going to find a place like Back Acres the minute she was old enough to qualify.

It was 9:47, which meant she was two minutes late. Her grandmother was sitting on one of the little white benches out front, with her hands folded neatly in her lap. She gave Tess a glacial stare and then sighed as she gathered her handbag and stood to her feet.

Tess had gotten her height and willowy frame from her grandmother. Even in her seventies, Tatiana Sherman-Tati to her friends-was striking. She wore long linen pants and a white linen blouse, and she'd used a wide sash for a belt and tied it in a sassy bow at her hip. She wore the same pearls Tess had seen her in every day of her life-pearls given to her by her father when she'd turned sixteen.

She had the bones of royalty-high cheekbones and cat eyes that tilted up slightly at the corners. Her hair was a shock of creamy white that she wore short, curled, and teased. She had as much Texan in her as she had Russian. There were a few fine lines around her mouth and the corners of her eyes, but she'd aged well. She liked to give credit to the vodka, which she drank each night before bed. Tess had been embalming people long enough to know that's basically what her grandmother had done to herself while living.

Tess got out of the car and went around to open the passenger door and help her in.

"Sorry I'm late," she said, kissing her on each cheek. "I put my purse on top of the car and drove halfway here with it like that." 

"Three minutes, dear. You know if we don't get there right at ten Debra Lassiter tries to take my chair. That girl has spent her whole life trying to take people's hard-earned stuff."

Tess wasn't sure Debra Lassiter qualified as a girl since she had to be pushing sixty, and she really wasn't sure how her grandmother had come to the conclusion that the center salon chair at the Clip n' Curl had been hard-earned. Mostly she'd bullied everyone out of that chair until every woman in town was afraid to sit in it.

"Your mama came and got me a couple of weeks ago for Julie Schleiger's baby shower. Lord that girl looks like she's carrying triplets. I've never seen cankles like that. Anyway, I saw Debra out in someone's yard pulling up a sign. She's got no respect for personal property."

"She's a Realtor," Tess said. "She was probably pulling up one of her 'For Sale' signs."

Her grandmother let out a stream of Russian curses that would've made a sailor blush, and Tess just stared straight ahead, pushing down on the accelerator to get back to Last Stop as fast as possible.

"You know it's a terrible idea to get into the habit of putting your purse on top of the car. I saw a special on 60 Minutes once, and they did a whole segment about these lowlifes that just sit around looking for people driving by with their stuff on top of their car. Before you know it they've walked off with your identity and your favorite lipstick."

Tess saw the Last Stop city limits sign and let out a breath. Her hands were gripped tight on the steering wheel, so she relaxed them and had perfect clarity as to why Theodora religiously swore by her vitamin juice every morning.

The Clip n' Curl was on Main Street, right smack-dab in the middle of everything, which was just how Theodora liked it. The street was packed with cars, which wasn't unusual since there were so many businesses on the strip. It was a simple storefront with two large square windows and a glass front door. Someone had painted a summer beach scene on one of the windows, and there was a little display in front with sand and a beach bag filled with hair products. The salon opened right at ten o'clock.