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Riley looked down at her sandals. “Not exactly.”
“Well?” Nita said imperiously. “Are you coming with me or not?”
Riley nibbled on her lip. “I guess so.”
“Hold it.” Blue curled her arm around Riley’s shoulders. “You’re staying right here with me.”
To her shock, Riley edged away after only a moment’s hesitation. “I’m not afraid of her.”
Nita’s nostrils flared. “Why should you be afraid of me? I like children.”
“For dinner,” Blue retorted.
Nita sucked her teeth, then said to Riley, “Don’t just stand there.”
“Stop where you are,” Blue said as Riley began following Nita toward the living room. “You’re my guest, Riley, not hers.”
“I know, but I guess I have to go with her,” Riley said with a note of resignation.
Blue exchanged a look with April, who gave a nearly indiscernible nod. Blue planted a hand on her hip and pointed toward Nita. “I swear, if you say one mean thing to her, I’ll set your bed on fire after you fall asleep tonight. I mean it. Riley, you tell me what she says.”
Riley rubbed her arm nervously. “Uh…Okay.”
Nita pursed her lips at April. “Do you hear the way she talks to me? You’re a witness. If anything happens to me, call the police.” She gazed at Riley. “I hope you don’t spit when you read. I can’t stand that.”
“No, ma’am.”
“Speak up. And straighten those shoulders. You need to learn how to walk.”
Blue waited for the defeated look to come over Riley, but the eleven-year-old took a deep breath, pushed her shoulders back, and marched into the living room. “Don’t pay attention to anything she says,” Blue called after her. “She’s mean to the bone.”
The sucking finally faded.
Blue stared at April. “Why is she going with her?”
“She’s testing herself. Last night she took Puffy outside after dark for an unnecessary walk, and this morning, when she saw a snake by the pond, she made herself walk around the edge so she could get a closer look at it, even though she was pale as a sheet.” She took the chair Blue indicated. “It’s frustrating. She had the guts to run away from Nashville—the story behind that will curl your hair—and she stood up to her father, but she sees herself as being afraid of everything.”
“She’s a great kid.” Blue peered into the living room to reassure herself that Riley was still alive, then pulled the cookie tin out of the cupboard and carried it over to the kitchen table.
“How can you stand living with that woman?” April took one of the homemade sugar cookies Blue offered.
“I’m pretty adaptable.” Blue grabbed a cookie herself and sat down in the gilded chair across the table from April. “Riley’s an amazing kid.”
“I suspect Dean’s the reason behind all this testing she’s doing. I overheard him talking to her about mental toughness.”
A golden-haired elephant had wandered into the kitchen. “He’s finally acknowledged her?”
April nodded and filled Blue in on what had happened last Tuesday night, the same night Dean had shown up in the caravan and they’d made love. Blue knew he’d been in pain, and now she understood what had caused it. She broke off the edge of her cookie and changed the subject. “How are things going at the house?”
April stretched her catlike body. “The painters finished up, and the furniture is beginning to arrive. But the guys who are supposed to be building the screen porch picked up another job during Nita’s boycott and can’t come back for two weeks. Believe it or not, Jack’s taken over. He started framing the porch on Wednesday.”
“Jack?”
“Whenever he needs an extra set of hands, he barks at Dean to come help him. Today they worked all afternoon and barely said a word to each other.” She reached for a second cookie and moaned.
“God, these are good. I don’t know what you and Dean are fighting about, but I wish you’d make up so you could come back and cook. Riley and I are getting tired of cereal and sandwiches.”
If only it were that simple. “Once I finish this portrait, I’m leaving Garrison.”
