BJ’s face took on an odd expression. “Huh” was all she said. They stood before the door with its etched glass window, and
BJ couldn’t help herself. “Is there a secret knock, maybe a Morse code signal I should use? Will I have to know the handshake?”
“Shut up,” Hobie said with a smile. She opened the door and they stepped into the air-conditioned shop.
“Hobie Lynn!” An older woman, perhaps in her seventies, waddled up to her. She was short and squat. Not exactly fat, but built in a compact fashion. She had close-cropped hair so black that it was apparent she colored it. She wore a blouse and skirt that clung around her middle a little too tightly. “What can we do for you today?”
“Hi, Helen. Actually, I’m here with—” Hobie was unable to finish the sentence. She had no idea what to call BJ Warren. What was she to Hobie? She could hardly call her a friend. Luckily, Helen Dilby saved her the embarrassment.
“Evelyn’s granddaughter. We were over to see Evie yesterday and she told us all about you, Miss Warren. It’s so good to finally meet you.” The old woman turned and shouted toward the back of the shop. “Katie, come see who’s here.”
BJ turned at the sound of a creaking door. Another woman, about the same age as Helen Dilby, walked through a set of bookshelves that parted mysteriously. BJ had to do a double take to see that what the older woman came out of was actually a strange-looking sliding door. The trompe-l’oeil design resembled an elegant library with a sitting area. It was amazing and BJ realized that because of the quality of the work, it must have cost the owners a pretty penny.
“See, I told you there was a bat cave,” BJ murmured to Hobie.
“Stop,” Hobie whispered back.
“Katie, this is Evie’s granddaughter, BJ,” Helen said. “Katherine Dilby,” the other woman said in a gravelly voice.
She grasped BJ’s hand and shook it brusquely.
Although the two older women looked to be about the same age, their physical appearance was as different as night and day. Katherine was tall and lean. Her hair looked to have been blond when she was younger. It was cropped so close to her head that it rose in even spikes. She wore a polo shirt and cotton slacks, but her clothes looked wrinkled and worn in comparison to Helen’s sharply pressed outfit.
“BJ needs to get a few things, especially some pants that she can cut one leg off,” Hobie said, nodding toward BJ’s cast.
“Oh, my. Evie didn’t say anything about that,” Helen said. “It’s a recent event. My grandmother doesn’t know about it yet.”
“I’m sure we can take care of everything you need, dear. Why don’t you follow Katie into the back? She’s the clothes expert, and she can show you where everything is.”
Katherine led the way through the sliding door. BJ looked in astonishment at the racks of clothing around her, then let out a low whistle as she looked around, taking in the selection. She spent the next thirty minutes picking out an assortment of clothes. Katherine’s no-nonsense and at times gruff attitude appealed to BJ, and the older woman was helpful in selecting the right sizes.
Hobie walked around the shelves of books. She spied the large display of romance novels and picked one up, examining the jacket. After reading the synopsis and a blurb about the book’s author, Harriet Teasley, Hobie tossed the book back onto the table. “Who buys this stuff? They call this writing?”
“Oh, you’d be surprised, dear. I can’t keep Teasley novels on the shelf.”
“Go figure. So how was Evelyn when you saw her?” Hobie asked. “It’s been a couple of days since I’ve seen her.”
“You know that gal. All she does is talk about her granddaughter.” Helen looked toward the backroom and lowered her voice. “I heard that...well, that BJ isn’t exactly...um, she’s a little different from the quiet girl that Evie described.”
Hobie chuckled at the remark. “That’s the understatement of the year. I can hardly believe that woman is related to Evelyn.”
Helen smiled, almost to herself. “Well, you didn’t know Evie when she was your age. She was a lot different than she is now.”
“She couldn’t possibly have been anything like her granddaughter. One minute she’s so arrogant I just want to punch her lights out, then she gives you one of those charming looks or goes and says something nice or sweet, and I...I—”
“Just can’t help being attracted to her,” Helen finished. “Yeah,” Hobie said in a distracted fashion. “No!” she quickly
cried out. “Not in a million years, Helen. Get that smile off your face right now. That woman is just too, well, just too too for me. I can’t believe that Baylor Warren could ever change enough for me to want to spend more than passing moments with her.”
“Hmm, that’s understandable. There’s Noah, too. It’s funny, though. When I see the way that girl and you get on, it reminds me of Katie and me. Like fire and water most of the time, complete opposites. We spend more time snapping at each other, but it’s really only teasing. Funny the way life is, eh?”
Hobie smiled at the older woman. “Katherine seems to be able to deal with her well enough. She must be buying out the store back there. Oh, that reminds me, can you charge me for BJ’s things?”
“Oh?”
“She forgot her wallet. It’s nothing more than that.” “We can bill it directly to her if that would help.”
“I think she might like that a lot better. She’s not very big on having others do for her. I’d be surprised if Katherine wasn’t tearing her hair out right about now.”
“Speaking of which, you did tell BJ about Katie before you left them alone, didn’t you?”
“What about her?”
“I mean Albert. Did you tell BJ about Albert?”
“Oh, shit!” Hobie cried out. She tore through the book shop and into the clothing store. She hoped she was in time.
“What in the hell are you talking about? I don’t see anyone there.” BJ was about near the end of her patience when she saw Hobie rushing toward them.
“What do you mean you can’t see him? He’s sitting there as plain as the nose on your face!”
“There is no one there, you stu—”
The moment that Hobie ran up to the two women, they nearly pounced on her. “Hobie!” they exclaimed in unison.
Hobie looked from one woman to the other. Katherine and BJ were red in the face. BJ wore an expression that Hobie was learning to recognize. The look meant that in another five seconds she would be cutting through someone with that sharp tongue of hers.
“Will you tell this woman to just give me my clothes so we can—”
“She sat on Albert!” Katherine nearly screamed. “Who the fuck is Albert?” BJ shouted back.
BJ knew she probably shouldn’t be cursing at an old woman, but her patience had ended. Katherine had been placing the new clothes into bags when BJ decided to rest her leg and sit in the comfortable-looking chair beside the cash register. She hadn’t a clue as to what was wrong when the usually silent old woman had begun shouting hysterically at her.
BJ had jumped up, only to become embroiled in one of the most inane arguments in which she’d ever been involved.
Katherine insisted BJ had sat there on purpose, telling her that even Albert had better manners.
“I’m sure she didn’t see him, Katherine,” Hobie said soothingly.
“How could she not see him?”
“See who?” BJ shouted again. The tenuous grasp she had on her temper was rapidly slipping away.
“Do you see what I mean? She’s just like those doctors in Tampa. I don’t know if we can do business with your friend, Hobie Lynn.”
“Hobie,” BJ said calmly—perhaps too calmly, in Hobie’s estimation. Hobie could practically hear BJ’s teeth grinding together. “Do you see this Albert in that chair?”
Hobie bit her bottom lip as she looked between the two women once more. If she told BJ the truth, she risked losing Katherine’s trust. “Um...yes?”
BJ stared down at Hobie as Katherine snorted in triumph. BJ looked at the chair once more, beginning to feel as though she were the crazy one. “So you actually see something...here?” She waved her hand in front of the seemingly empty chair.