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Her hand shook as she lifted a mask made of bright blue feathers and rhinestones.Under the mask was a sequined dress in matching royal blue.
“Go, Felina.”Trish turned to face Felina.“If you like that, take it.I never want to see it again.Or any of this stuff.Tell Marty I’m sorry for breaking you two up.I didn’t mean to fall in love with him.It’s just that when you know, you know.I couldn’t help myself.”She broke down sobbing again.
“Trish,” Felina said, her heart lodged in her throat.“Stop.Crying.”
“I c-can’t.”She cried even more.
“Trish!”Felina’s tone must have gotten through to her.
She lifted her head, scrubbing the tears from her eyes.“What?”
“Where were you the day Thomas Crabtree was murdered?”
Trish’s eyes rounded.She sat perfectly still.She lifted her chin, a resigned look on her face.“I was in New Orleans.”
“With Thomas Crabtree?”Felina couldn’t believe what her friend was saying.This wasn’t happening.Trish was kind, sweet and gentle.
Trish nodded.“I was.But it’s not what you think.”
“What should I think?”Felina asked.
“I wasn’t having an affair with him if that’s what you’re thinking.”She drew in a breath and let it out.“He hired me to go places with him—restaurants, art galleries and other old plantation houses like his.He was interested in history and didn’t like going alone.My hair business wasn’t making enough money to pay the rent on the shop and the house.Until things picked up, I had to take part-time work.”
“As a prostitute?”Felina looked at Trish.Did she really know this woman?
“No, of course not.”Trish stood and paced the length of the small room and back.“As an escort.It all started when I was cutting Thomas’s hair one day.I told him I had to get another job to make ends meet.He offered to help.All I had to do was go places with him, and he’d pay me a lot more than if I got a job at a burger joint.”
“If something sounds too good to be true, it probably is,” Felina said.“What else did you have to do for the money?”
Trish held up her hands.“I told him flat out I wouldn’t have sex with him, and if he ever tried anything, the deal was off.He agreed.I went with him on several ‘dates.’The money was good.I was able to pay off my credit cards, pay my rent and put some money aside.”
“Didn’t you feel at all bad for Mrs.Crabtree?”
“I wasn’t trying to take her husband away, nor was I having an affair with him.I was just a companion who listened to him talk about history.”
Felina could see where Thomas was coming from.His wife could have cared less about history, old plantation houses or listening to her husband talk about them.
“Then Marty and I bumped into each other at the coffee shop.We shared the only empty table and talked.As friends.When we looked up, three hours had passed.After that, we bumped into each other at the coffee shop every day.We didn’t go looking for love.It found us.”She shook her head.“I don’t expect you to understand.He left you for me.That was enough betrayal on both our parts.But when you find the one...you can’t imagine spending a single day without him.You don’t want to spend any more time apart than you have to.And you want his face to be the last one you see at night and the one you wake to in the morning.”
Almost verbatim, those were the words Lucas had said to her that day.
All the time she’d been in Trish’s cottage, she imagined Lucas driving around the block and parking where he could watch the house.Knowing he was out there helped.She still wanted him beside her.Especially now.
“The day Thomas was killed, I’d gone with him to the Mardi Gras parade as planned.I waited until we were there to tell him it would be our last outing together.Business was picking up, and I had found someone I wanted to spend all my free time with.He said he understood and wished me happiness.I kissed his cheek and left, eager to get back to Bayou Mambaloa and the coffee shop.”
Trish stopped pacing and stared at Felina.“You don’t know how many times I wished I’d stayed just a little longer.I should’ve been with him and walked him back to his car or hotel.If I had, he might not be dead.I feel responsible for Thomas Crabtree’s death.”
“Did you kill him?”Felina asked.
Trish’s eyes widened.“Of course not.”
“Then don’t beat yourself up for it.”Felina’s eyebrows drew together.“You say someone was blackmailing you.”
She nodded.“Shortly after Thomas’s death, a man showed up at my house with an envelope full of pictures of me and Thomas together.By then, I was in love with Marty and didn’t want anything to come between us.
“This man never told me his name, just showed me the pictures.I knew no one would believe me if I told them I wasn’t having an affair with Thomas.I never slept with him.The only time I kissed him was when I said goodbye—and that was on his cheek.
“He told me he wanted a thousand dollars for the pictures.
