Queen Bee (Lowcountry Tales #12)(97)

“Hi, there!”

I could hear him thinking, Where’s my adoration?

So I looked up from my flower beds and said, “Hi!”

He took that as an invitation to come over to my side of the flower beds.

“Boy, look at this! Your flowers are just spectacular!”

“Thanks!”

“Listen, I wanted to talk to you about something.”

“Sure,” I said.

Then he stepped back.

“Wait, are you upset with me for some reason? Is there something I’ve done? The boys?”

“No, why?”

“I don’t know. You just seem, I don’t know, different somehow.”

“Archie, I’m fine. Momma had sort of a major surgical procedure yesterday and we brought her home today. She’s resting. Her friend from Las Vegas flew in to help take care of her. And then, you know, just ten days ago, I was under suspicion for Sharon’s demise because I trained my bees to sting her to death, even though she was prowling around my yard at night with the intention of killing them. But other than that? Things are good.”

“Yeah, that was pretty crazy, wasn’t it? Well, I wanted to talk to you about Sharon’s cats. I thought you might like to have them. I’m allergic, you see, and . . .”

“Have you lost your mind?” I just stared at him. “I mean, I’m waiting to see if her family is going to file a civil suit against me. You do know that, don’t you?”

“I heard something about it, but that would just be ridiculous, don’t you think?”

“Of course, it’s ridiculous!” I knew my voice was elevated. “Give the cats to her parents!”

“Well, see, I was hoping you’d take them because the boys sort of like them and then they could visit them every now and then.”

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. (A.) Was he really going to try to use me again? And (B.) Why would I want anything that had anything to do with that horrible wife of his? And (C.) Not even if he paid me fifty dollars a day to board them would I touch her cats.

“Really? Archie, do you want to know what I think? I think you should go home and get out all the pictures of Carin you locked away and put them back where they were. Then maybe you ought to take your boys on a vacation somewhere to rebond with them. Go camping, go to Disney World, but do something for them! Sharon’s cats? No, thank you. Not in a million years.”

“This is about the civil suit, isn’t it?”

I just stood there for a minute looking at him. I was seething. After all I had done for him and the boys? And to be treated the way I was treated by her while he stood by and said nothing? Never mind all the horrible things he allowed her to do to his own boys. And now, for me to be threatened by her family? Now, I should take Sharon’s cats? I mean, in theory, I like cats just fine. Dogs, too. But it’s a huge commitment of years to make when you take in an animal. If I wanted to have cats, the cats I’d have would definitely never have been hers. And did he really think there was no damage done to his boys by Sharon that might need to be repaired? Oh, my God! Was he this stupid? Could he possibly be this incredibly stupid?

“Holly? Are you talking to me or are you just going to stare at me?”

Don’t get indignant with me, I thought.

“I’m just wondering about something.”

“What’s that?”

I said, “How in the name of God did you get into Harvard?”

I said this without malice. I really wanted him to see how unforgivably and insensitively dense he was.

Tiny little lights began to come on in his mind.

“Okay, I’ll tell Sharon’s parents to back off.”

I wasn’t going to be so easily appeased.

“Maybe you should have told them that before the threat of it ever reached my door.” I gathered up my bucket of flowers and shears and turned to walk away from him. “See you around, Archie.”

I went in the house and there stood Leslie and Suzanne giving me a whole lot of quiet applause, huge hugs, and lots of atta girl!

“How did you hear everything?”

“Darling, you were right under your momma’s room. We opened the window and we could hear every word as though you were in her bedroom with us!” Suzanne said.

“You were marvelous! Oh, my God! Suzanne and I were dying!” Leslie said. “Momma wants to tell you something. Hurry!”

I put the bucket of flowers on the floor and the shears on the hall table and went to her room.

I opened her door. She was propped up in bed.

“Come sit here on the side of my bed,” she said.

Of course, I did as she asked.

“What’s up?” I said.

“I want to tell you something I should have told you a long time ago.” She took my hand in hers and held it. “I’m so proud of you. You told that Archie MacLean just what he’s needed to hear from you for a very long time. It takes nerve to tell somebody where the bear goes in the buckwheat and I could not have done a better job myself.”

“Thank you. I just got sick of him thinking I’d do anything on earth for him when he did nothing for me.”

“But you should take Sharon’s cats? I could only imagine what was going on in your head when he said you should take them, so his boys could come visit them once in a while. That was rich!”