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Billy looked smug all of a sudden. “I’m real sure.”
“How long have you known her?”
“I grew up here in Raven Springs. I met May in a diner in Denver. My dad was well-to-do,” he added. “He had investments and things. When he died, I took May out and bought her some really pretty clothes and a car and some diamonds. She moved down here to be near me, or so she said. I used up all the money,” he said irritably. “So then I had to get odd jobs, just to keep up my dad’s house. May got me on with Mr. Downing, after she went to work for him. I did yard work and such. He didn’t know about May and me, but it didn’t matter. He was crazy over his wife. I felt sorry for him when she died. He lost it. May was going to make a play for him then, but he left to go to his sister’s house and stayed for a month. So much for that great plan of hers,” he muttered.
“She sounds mercenary,” Tom said deliberately.
“She’s worse than that. She’ll do anything for money.” His eyes were haunted for a minute. “My mama raised me to be kind to other people. But I fell hard for May and I forgot my upbringing. Women can make you crazy for them,” he said almost to himself.
“I guess so,” Tom replied.
“So when Mr. Downing came back, I was still doing work for him and May stayed on because she convinced him that he needed a nurse to watch over his blood pressure. I didn’t have any money. May dropped me like a hot rock. But Mr. Downing was rich and she started thinking up ways of getting him to marry her.” He glanced at Tom. “He lives high, and he’s used to being around people with money. May lived in a small town outside Denver in a shack with a father who deserted her and a mother who was always one jump ahead of the law. She doesn’t know how to behave in high society. It’s a way of life. Not something you can just pick up. I tried to tell her that. She won’t listen. She’s off her meds and sure that she can get Mr. Downing to the altar.” His jaw tautened. “She can’t. And if she doesn’t straighten up, she’s going to have more problems than she can deal with.” He glanced at Tom. “I know things about her. Things she doesn’t want other people to know.”
Tom was making notes. He was certain that the man had something on May. He might be blackmailing her. It was even more important now to find out about May’s background. He was going to have to do a lot of digging in a short time.
“Was that an accident?” Tom asked abruptly, indicating the young man’s leg in traction.
Billy shifted restlessly in the bed. “Sure it was,” he said, but he’d hesitated and he wouldn’t look Tom in the eye when he said it. “I just fell.”
“Well, I hope you get better soon. I may have a follow-up question or two, but that’s about all.” He even smiled. “Thanks for your help.”
“Sure,” Billy said, looking relieved. “No problem.”
Tom went out into the hall. On his way to the front door, he ran into Annalisa’s friend, Mary. She was a tall brunette with black eyes and a pretty face. “If you’re not doing anything later, when I get off, I make really good coffee,” she said in a coaxing tone.
Tom smiled. “Sorry.” And he kept walking. Maybe, he told himself, he was property after all!
* * *
He and Annalisa made an early start. She didn’t seem sleep-starved at all. She was bright and happy.
“You’re cheerful this morning,” he remarked.
She grinned at him. “Mary said you walked right past her out the door last night,” she replied.
He chuckled. “I did. She’s very pretty,” he remarked.
She made a face at him. “Thanks for noticing!”
“Now, now, if I’d been interested, I’d have taken her up on the offer of coffee.” He reached for her hand and tangled his fingers with hers. “I thought you said she was your friend.”
“Oh, yes. That’s why I asked her to flirt with you.”
His lips pursed.
She thought about what she’d blurted out and flushed to the roots of her hair.
He started laughing and almost had to pull the car to the side of the road. “Women!” he said.
She was still too embarrassed to say anything.
He pressed her fingers with his. “In all my life, I’ve never met anyone quite like you.”
“That could be a compliment, you know,” she said.
“It is a compliment,” he replied, his voice deep and soft.
She sighed, smiling now.
