Our Red Hot Romance Is Leaving Me Blue by Dixie Cash

mortals make fools of themselves. Guess they’ve got little else to do.”
    Edwina returned from the storeroom and handed a bottle of white lotion to Debbie Sue. “We called a woman in El Paso. Her name’s Isabella—”
    “Not Izzy Paredes,” Maudeen said with a start.
    Debbie Sue and Edwina looked at each other, mouths agape.
    “ You know Isabella Paredes?” Debbie Sue asked.
    “I lived in El Paso for four years. During the big war, my first husband, Homer, was in the army. He was stationed at Fort Bliss. Everybody knew Izzy Paredes. Back in those days, she was a celebrity.”
    “People called her Izzy?” Edwina asked.
    “Just her good friends,” Maudeen replied.
    “You were good friends with Isabella Paredes?” Debbie Sue asked, incredulous.
    “I’d like to think so. At any rate, she was sure a good friend to me. She helped me tell Homer good-bye.”
    Debbie Sue felt a sting behind her eyes. She glanced over at Edwina, whose chin had a quiver to it. “You mean Homer went into the light?” Debbie Sue asked softly.
    “As fast as he could, honey,” Maudeen said.
    “What did Isabella Paredes do to help?” Edwina asked.
    “She loaned me her pickup.”
    “What?” Debbie Sue and Edwina chorused.
    “To move after Homer met a stripper from Vegas and went AWOL. She loaned me her pickup. Even helped me carry the heavy stuff.”
    Debbie Sue stomped her foot. “Dammit, Maudeen, I thought you meant he died.”
    “Oh, he did, eventually. But not before he spent thirty years with the meanest woman that ever drew a breath. That’s the sort of thing that kind of compensates an old woman for outliving everybody. You get to see them that screwed you over get their just rewards.”
    A faraway look came into Maudeen’s eyes and she chuckled. “The day I found out what Homer done, me and Izzy sat at her kitchen table and killed a bottle of tequila. She held my hand while I cried. Yes, honey, that crazy Izzy was a good friend to me. I can’t wait to see her.

nine
    J ustin arrived at home after four in the afternoon. He was beat. He had spent the entire morning working with the horses, followed by a trip into town to run errands and buy groceries.
    Even before he put his grocery sacks on the kitchen counter, he checked the refrigerator door for a new message. Before leaving for town, he had rearranged the letters on the refrigerator door back to alphabetical order. Nothing had changed. This left him with mixed emotions. On the one hand he was relieved; on the other he was disappointed because he was now starting to believe Rachel was truly communicating with him.
    He played his voice-mail messages and listened to one from Debbie Sue, informing him that the psychic from ElPaso would be arriving in Odessa this afternoon and would be at his place tomorrow. “Maybe your questions will be answered then,” Debbie Sue had said.
    Justin hadn’t expected all of this to happen so soon. He had thought the Domestic Equalizers would put listening devices and cameras in the house before they relied on the supernatural and caused him to risk $3,000.
    He intended to be in his home every minute the psychic was present. With his work schedule, that would be impossible unless he put in a request for vacation time. Because of his regular schedule, a week of vacation worked out to be two full weeks off. How long could the woman be in town—a few hours? Two weeks was more time than necessary, but he needed the break. He would make use of the extra days. Those thoughts prompted him to call to his captain to ask for some vacation time.
    “If it was anyone but you, Sadler, I’d say not just no, but hell no,” Captain Baugus groused.
    “Thanks, Cap, I really appreciate it,” Justin told him. “I know how you hate last-minute requests. If it wasn’t important, I wouldn’t ask.”
    “You’ve been working doubles and filling in every vacant slot for more than a year. It’s time you took some days off. Hope you’re going