“I had a nice little chat with somebody about your visits to Jim Albert at the drive-thru,’’ I said as he sat down.
He gave me a puzzled frown. “What are you talking about? Who’d you talk to about me?’’
“I’m not going to say where I got the information. But it seems you two were a lot better-acquainted than you let on. Why’d you lie to me, Jeb?’’
His eyes darted to the counter. He lined up a napkin holder shaped like a horseshoe. He straightened a place mat with a red star for our little town above Lake Okeechobee on the map of Florida. Picking up a fork, he stared at it like the words he wanted might be written there.
“I didn’t lie, Mace.’’ He finally looked into my eyes. “I just left some things out. I hadn’t seen you in years, and you ask me out of the blue did I know a man who’d just been murdered. I did know him. But I really didn’t want to get into how, especially standing in a parking lot with your sister firing dirty looks my way.’’
“You could have said something, Jeb.’’
He pointed the fork at me. “To get right down to it, I didn’t think it was your damned business, Mace.’’
I batted his hand away, getting angry now. “Not my business?’’
A trucker at the end of the counter glanced at us over the top of his menu. I lowered my voice. “I suppose you didn’t know the cops believed my mother killed Jim Albert. I suppose the news of her being jailed never reached that ranch of yours.’’
Surprise flickered across his face. It looked genuine.
“Maddie and I were trying to find out who else might have had a reason to murder him. Then I hear how the two of you had a big fight.’’
Jeb clenched his jaw hard. “Did you tell anybody else about that?’’
“Not yet. I wanted to give you the chance to explain first.’’
My mind flashed back more than a decade, to the night I’d caught Jeb with another girl at a popular lookout over the lake. I’d given him the chance to explain then, too. I should have cracked his truck’s windshield with Emma Jean’s tire iron instead.
“I’m gonna tell you the truth, Mace. I borrowed some money from Albert. The man was bleeding me dry. We argued, yes. But I swear to you, I never laid a hand on him.’’
“I heard different.’’
“And I’m saying I never hurt the man.’’ His warm hazel eyes went cold. “I don’t know where you got that. Did that girl behind the counter tell you something?’’
“No,’’ I lied.
“Well, whoever it was is wrong. And why would you believe them over me? We’ve known each other since we were kids, Mace.’’
I thought about that long-ago night at Lake Okeechobee. Jeb had rushed after me, telling me I’d misunderstood everything. The girl meant nothing. It was the first time he’d even kissed her. It was a mistake. He begged me to forgive him.
I did, and found out later he’d been seeing her on the side for five weeks.
“Mace?’’ he said again, jarring me back to the present.
I took my time before answering, looking around the restaurant. Mama had taken a seat with Ruth Harris’ grandson. She and the girlfriend-in-black were sharing a slice of butterscotch pie.
In a quiet voice, I said, “You don’t have the best track record with me for being truthful.’’
Jeb picked his hat up and stood. “All you can see in me is that stupid twenty-something kid, cheating on you with another girl. I was a scoundrel, Mace. I’m sorry I broke your heart; but that was a long time ago. I’ve grown up. I’ve changed.’’
He placed the hat on his head, and tapped the brim as he looked at me in the mirror. “My regards to your mama. I think I’ll skip dinner tonight. It seems I’ve lost my appetite.’’
He started to walk away, then turned to whisper in my ear. “I’d appreciate it if you wouldn’t go around spreading lies about me and Jim Albert.’’
“What?’’ I whispered back. “Like you owed him money and now he’s conveniently dead? That’s not a lie, Jeb. That’s a fact.’’
He straightened, staring at me for a long moment. His eyes looked just the same as the night I’d accused him of cheating. Hurt. Bewildered. Angry that I could believe something so awful about him.
I couldn’t help but remember how convincing Jeb had seemed back then. And all the while, he’d been lying like a tobacco company bigwig testifying to Congress.
“What in the name of Mike was all that about?’’ Mama slid her coffee cup back onto the counter and climbed up on the stool in front of the hamburgers Charlene had finally delivered.
“I don’t want to talk about it.’’ I stared straight ahead at the stainless steel wheel above the kitchen. So many white order slips were clipped up there, it looked like laundry day for a race of tiny people.
Mama reached over to straighten my bangs. “Well, I’m not surprised. You seem just about talked out after that scene with Jeb. What were you two whispering about, Mace? I could hear you all the way over to the table with Ruth’s grandson. The way you were hissing, it sounded like somebody stepped into a mess of snakes.’’
There was a snake, all right; and its name was Jeb Ennis.
“Mama, did you know Jim Albert loaned money to people?’’
“I didn’t know too much about him, Mace. But what I had heard, I didn’t like. Truth is, this whole marriage came up awfully fast. I don’t believe they dated for more than a few months. And I always thought Emma Jean could do better. I think she sensed I disapproved of Jim, because we didn’t talk much about him.’’
I took a bite from my burger and watched the order slips flutter in the breeze from an air conditioning vent. I was thinking about how Jeb was linked to Jim Albert, who in turn was linked to Emma Jean. And then there was Mama’s boyfriend, Sal, and his ties to everything. The whole mess was looking exactly like that nest of snakes Mama mentioned.
“Honey.’’ Mama tapped my shoulder. “Your purse is ringing.’’
I fumbled in my purse for my phone, past some packages of beef jerky and a jar of peanut butter, which I use to bait animal traps. By the time I found it, it’d quit ringing. I’ve got to get Maddie to sew me one of those little cell phone cases.
I went to the phone’s log and called back the last number that called me.
“Where are you two?’’ Maddie said. “Marty’s waiting for y’all. Mama left her things from the jail in the car this morning. Marty decided to run them by on her way home from her meeting at the library. You know that promotion she got? She’s running the whole show now.” My hamburger and fries awaited, salt crystals sparkling like diamonds on hot grease. I longed to take a bite, but I knew Maddie would yell at me for talking with my mouth full.