rapid blink gave way to a misting in Charles’s eyes as he waved the splayed fingers of his right hand in a fan against his face. “You want
my
help? To rescue Dixie and reunite the Sweet Briar Seven? Oh my gosh, I
can’t
believe this is really happening to me!”
Rose, who’d remained wide-eyed and silent since Charles introduced himself, finally shook her head in disbelief. “You must live a very sheltered life, young man, if you think
we’re
exciting.”
Charles wiggled his fingers at Rose and laughed. “Once we get Dixie back where she belongs, I’ll bake you my world-famous lasagna and you can meet my roommate. He calls himself Double-Oh-Seven for his supposed prowess with the ladies. But between you, me, and the stylist with the exquisite eyes who saw straight through my hair to my very essence yesterday afternoon, he’s really more of a Double-Oh-Dud. At least in my world anyway.”
“Then why do you room with him?” Beatrice asked.
“We’re the same size. He has great clothes. What can I say?”
“You can say you’ll help us, Charles,” Tori pleaded in frustration. “You can say you’ll help us track down some of these women John wronged in the hopes one of them holds the key to the truth.
Please?
”
“D-o-n-e.” Charles slowly, deliberately, ticked off each letter he said with an ardent finger.
“Done.”
Chapter 11
Tori looked up at the clock on the far wall and felt her shoulders tense. While she was all for using every avenue available to help Dixie, waiting for Charles to finish his shift was proving to be harder than she’d imagined.
She wanted to track down each and every woman John had scammed in recent months. She wanted to talk to the family members of those women. She wanted to find the person who’d pushed him over his apartment’s balcony and be there with the biggest hug ever when Dixie was set free.
Yet even as she took a second and third glance at the time, she knew Charles was a necessary ingredient in the plan. He knew the city. He was familiar enough with John. He’d seen the parade of women the man had preyed on in a devious quest to live well. And Charles was more than willing to help.
Really, with all of those factors in play, how hard was it to wait another thirty minutes?
“We’re gonna get her out, Victoria.” Margaret Louise leaned across the two-person table they’d claimed at the edge of the café and patted Tori’s hand. “Just you wait ’n see. I’ve got me a good feelin’ ’bout Charles.”
Tori allowed her gaze to move from the clock to Margaret Louise. “I know. I just want to get her out
now
, you know?”
“We will.”
She tried to find solace in her friend’s certainty, but it was hard. Instead, she forced herself to focus on something else for a while. “I’m not sure I’ve ever seen your sister so happy before,” Tori mused while eyeing Leona across the store. “She’s literally glowing.”
Margaret Louise laughed. “That’s ’cause she’s finally found herself a kindred spirit. Someone who cares ’bout hair and makeup as much as she does.”
Debbie leaned against the nearest wall and took a sip of her latte. “When I passed by them a few minutes ago, Charles was telling Leona about some hair convention he went to last weekend and how Leona would have made a wonderful hair model.”
“Was that why she was batting her lashes so hard?” Rose mumbled from behind the book she was reading in a nearby armchair. “I thought maybe she was trying to achieve liftoff.”
Beatrice poked her head around the back of her camera and made a face. “I’ve been so troubled about Dixie that I haven’t been taking as many pictures as I was the first two days we were here. Melissa and Georgina are going to be disappointed.”
“I’m sure the judge would have let you take a picture of Bobblehead Kenny next to his gavel.”
“Rose!” Tori said sharply.
The matriarch merely shrugged her shoulders and flipped to the next
my
help? To rescue Dixie and reunite the Sweet Briar Seven? Oh my gosh, I
can’t
believe this is really happening to me!”
Rose, who’d remained wide-eyed and silent since Charles introduced himself, finally shook her head in disbelief. “You must live a very sheltered life, young man, if you think
we’re
exciting.”
Charles wiggled his fingers at Rose and laughed. “Once we get Dixie back where she belongs, I’ll bake you my world-famous lasagna and you can meet my roommate. He calls himself Double-Oh-Seven for his supposed prowess with the ladies. But between you, me, and the stylist with the exquisite eyes who saw straight through my hair to my very essence yesterday afternoon, he’s really more of a Double-Oh-Dud. At least in my world anyway.”
“Then why do you room with him?” Beatrice asked.
“We’re the same size. He has great clothes. What can I say?”
“You can say you’ll help us, Charles,” Tori pleaded in frustration. “You can say you’ll help us track down some of these women John wronged in the hopes one of them holds the key to the truth.
Please?
”
“D-o-n-e.” Charles slowly, deliberately, ticked off each letter he said with an ardent finger.
“Done.”
Chapter 11
Tori looked up at the clock on the far wall and felt her shoulders tense. While she was all for using every avenue available to help Dixie, waiting for Charles to finish his shift was proving to be harder than she’d imagined.
She wanted to track down each and every woman John had scammed in recent months. She wanted to talk to the family members of those women. She wanted to find the person who’d pushed him over his apartment’s balcony and be there with the biggest hug ever when Dixie was set free.
Yet even as she took a second and third glance at the time, she knew Charles was a necessary ingredient in the plan. He knew the city. He was familiar enough with John. He’d seen the parade of women the man had preyed on in a devious quest to live well. And Charles was more than willing to help.
Really, with all of those factors in play, how hard was it to wait another thirty minutes?
“We’re gonna get her out, Victoria.” Margaret Louise leaned across the two-person table they’d claimed at the edge of the café and patted Tori’s hand. “Just you wait ’n see. I’ve got me a good feelin’ ’bout Charles.”
Tori allowed her gaze to move from the clock to Margaret Louise. “I know. I just want to get her out
now
, you know?”
“We will.”
She tried to find solace in her friend’s certainty, but it was hard. Instead, she forced herself to focus on something else for a while. “I’m not sure I’ve ever seen your sister so happy before,” Tori mused while eyeing Leona across the store. “She’s literally glowing.”
Margaret Louise laughed. “That’s ’cause she’s finally found herself a kindred spirit. Someone who cares ’bout hair and makeup as much as she does.”
Debbie leaned against the nearest wall and took a sip of her latte. “When I passed by them a few minutes ago, Charles was telling Leona about some hair convention he went to last weekend and how Leona would have made a wonderful hair model.”
“Was that why she was batting her lashes so hard?” Rose mumbled from behind the book she was reading in a nearby armchair. “I thought maybe she was trying to achieve liftoff.”
Beatrice poked her head around the back of her camera and made a face. “I’ve been so troubled about Dixie that I haven’t been taking as many pictures as I was the first two days we were here. Melissa and Georgina are going to be disappointed.”
“I’m sure the judge would have let you take a picture of Bobblehead Kenny next to his gavel.”
“Rose!” Tori said sharply.
The matriarch merely shrugged her shoulders and flipped to the next
Similar Books
