The others laughed, apparently well familiar with Flo's patter.
"I'm Flo Weathers. Welcome to Ledbetter Greek Methodist." Bonnie had choked on her iced tea and was trying to catch her breath. "Bonnie's usually better mannered than this, must be livin' around all them young'uns got her flustered. What's wrong with you, Bonnie?" Bonnie had turned red and was coughing fit to beat the band. When it came right down to it, Bonnie didn't have the temperament for subterfuge.
"I'm Maggie Reid," I said, smiling right back at her, but trying not to look too closely into those clear blue eyes.
"Flo, Maggie works with me down to the Curley-Que, but she's going into a new… Ow!" Bonnie grabbed her leg and howled, unable to tell Flo I was a singer on account of me kicking her under the table. "Oh," Bonnie said, catching my eye.
"Hairdresser, huh? You single?"
The ladies laughed again, a comfortable here-we-go-again laugh that signaled familiarity.
"Listen, Maggie," Flo said, leaning closer to me. "Don't pay them a bit of mind. I'm just a mother looking out for her handsome, smart, and newly single son."
I raised my eyebrows and smiled politely. "Well, yes, ma'am, I am single," I answered.
"Hmmm," Flo said, breaking a piece of corn-bread, but not making any moves to eat it.
"Tell me about your son," I said, doing my best not to catch Bonnie's eye or look anything but neutral. Bonnie was choking so badly now, she had to leave the table.
"Oh, he's a doll!" one of the blue-haired ladies said. The others murmured their agreement. "And so polite," another said. "A real lady killer," the third one said.
That stopped the crew in their tracks and they all looked across at the little birdlike lady with the blue-and-pink straw hat. She turned scarlet.
"Well, what I mean is, he's a gentleman, of course, but a real charmer!"
Flo looked back at the line where the servers were doling out plates of beans and saw something she didn't like. She hopped up and was gone before anyone could say another word.
"I'm sure he's a nice boy," I said, smiling, "but if he's newly single, he's probably not anxious to meet anyone new."
A slight cloud passed over the group, then a plump lady with a bright purple dress spoke up.
"What happened to little Marshall was a pitiful shame!"
"I'm sorry," I said, picking at my pinto beans. "Did his wife die?"
"Oh Lord, no, and sometimes we think it might've been better if she had." The purple dress looked back where Flo was dumping beans into a large pot, then back to me. "His wife left him for another man!"
"No!" I said, seeing Bonnie approach the table, her face now a modest pink.
"Yes!" they all cried in unison.
"And him working like he does, solving all those horrible murder cases!" The purple dress was upset. "She just run out. Left everything but her clothes and took off with one of his best friends. He ain't been quite right since. Flo's just worried sick! He don't go out much. He don't come to church. He don't hardly even associate with his friends anymore, either. I guess he just don't trust nobody and I can't say as I blame him."
"Well, it's been over a year," the bird lady said. "He needs him a new horse is what he needs. Swing back up in the saddle!"
"Martha!" the others gasped.
"Oh, don't act like such a bunch of prissies!" she snorted. "I changed that boy's diapers. I watched him raise hell all through school. He just needs a good woman, that's all. Trouble with him is, he don't know it! Thinks we're all the same, faithless hussies! Thinks work's all there is to life." The ladies sighed collectively. Martha was a loose cannon.
Flo was walking back toward the table, and everyone but Martha set about shoveling beans into their mouths.
"Ain't that right, Flo?" Martha said.
"What's that?" She was smiling, settling back into her seat and reaching for her tea.
"Don't Marshall need him a new woman?" Flo looked over at me and laughed. "Yes, Lord! But don't go scaring Miss Maggie! She'll think we're desperate to marry him off."
"Well, aren't we? Who's the one wanting after grandkids?"
Flo sighed and looked at me. "You know how it is, a mama just hates to see her baby hurtin', no matter how old they get or how tough they act."
"I know just what you mean," I said. "I got a baby of my own."
Flo smiled. "You know, you just might like my boy, and I know he'd like you."
"Oh, well, maybe I'll meet him sometime," I said casually.
"Oh, you most certainly will. He's due to be here any minute. He wouldn't miss one of our pinto bean lunches. Brings all those boys he works with, too!"
Bonnie choked and started coughing wildly.
My heart started pounding and the only thing I could think of was escaping. I looked over at Bonnie, trying to catch her eye.
"Honey," I said loudly, rising out of my seat and moving over to hers. "Let me help you! "
I snatched Bonnie up out of her chair, grabbed my purse and hers, and looked back at my luncheon companions. "Well be right back! These spells just come on her so sudden, and the only thing for it is fresh air."
I started Bonnie toward the front doorway of the fellowship hall only to see a group of men approaching. I recognized one as a detective and quickly spun Bonnie on her heel and made for the rest room at the back of the long room.
"Quick!" I said. "Get in there before he sees us!"
We headed almost at a dead run for the bathroom, with me praying for escape and Bonnie barking like a dog. I ducked into the pink-tiled room and took stock of our situation.
"What're we gonna do now?" Bonnie gasped.
I looked around the room, taking in the three stalls, the two sinks and the one window.
"Bonnie," I said, "tough times call for thick skin. We gotta get out of here."
"But he'll see us! You don't want that, do you? You want him to know you've been querying his own mama? That's liable to make him mad."
I walked over to the frosted glass window and pushed it open, staring out at the cemetery that lay behind the church.
"Bonnie," I said, "you first."
"I can't do that!" she shrieked. "What about the kids?" She was right. She couldn't go off and leave her kids.
"All right," I said, trying to sound calmer than I felt. "You go back in there and quietly round up the young'uns and leave. If anyone asks where I am, just act like you don't know." But I knew she'd be lost the second he looked at her. Bonnie was not a professional liar. "Just try to slip out without Flo seeing you. Can you do that?"
Bonnie looked nervous, and she fumbled with the clasp of her purse, like maybe she was going for a cigarette.
"All right," she said finally. "I'll do it."
"Good! And Bon, could you do one more thing?"
"What? I don't think I can take much more pressure!"
"It's simple," I said, slipping off my shoes. "Just give me a boost out the window."
With Bonnie's help I squeezed up onto the windowsill, over the ledge, and out, landing with a thud on the ground outside. Bonnie's frizzy blond head popped over the edge, looking down.
"You all right?" she asked.
I stood up, brushing fresh grass clippings off the back of my skirt and slipping my shoes on. "I'm fine. All right, get to it, or they'll really be looking for you! I'm gonna make a run for it."
Bonnie giggled. "Maggie, I've gotta say this is a side to your personality I've never seen before."
"Well, I can't let him get the upper hand," I said. "He knows way more about me than I know about him."
"I think there's more to it than that," she said softly.
I didn't answer her. Instead I walked quickly to my car, watching my back for signs of the ever-present Weathers. Finally, I had something to go on, some little tidbit to give me an edge. Only trouble was, I felt sorry for him and felt not at all like taking the upper hand.