couch. Rich was standing in front of the entryway credenza, running an admiring finger over the satiny-smooth wood finish.
“I’m taking a woodworking course,” Richey said to Ali. “This is really a nice piece.”
“Thank you,” Ali said. “A friend refinished it for me.”
Richey went to the couch, where he took a seat next to his mother. Although Ali knew of Roxanne Holman Whitman, she had never met the woman in person. Roxie might have been pretty in a garish sort of way, but she was wearing too much makeup, all of it inexpertly applied.
“I’m sorry to barge in on you like this,” Roxie said nervously as her hands fidgeted in her lap. “I hope you don’t mind.”
“It’s fine,” Ali said. “Can I get you something?”
Roxie shook her head. “No, nothing for me. We can’t stay long. Dave would kill me if he knew I was horning into his personal life this way. And he’d really be upset if he knew I’d dragged Richey into it as well, but with everything that’s happened the last few days, I just couldn’t drive myself down here to bring Crystal home and leave town without talking to you first. I wanted to say thank you-thank you for everything you’ve done the last few days, and thank you for saving Crystal’s life last night.”
“You’re welcome,” Ali said. “I was happy to help out. But as far as horning in on Dave’s personal life? I’m not sure what you mean.”
“Of course you do,” Roxanne said, beaming. “Dave seems to think I’m a bit dim, but I understand some things well enough. You never would have done what you did for Crystal-saving her from that killer the way you did- if you and Dave weren’t involved.”
“Mom!” Richey objected, horrified.
“Well, it’s true,” Roxie declared. She was getting into her groove now. Sounding more confident, she was totally undaunted by her son’s squirming embarrassment.
“Since Crystal wants to stay here so much, I thought I should see for myself who the competition is,” Roxie continued. “Dave’s already met Gary, you see. Gary’s my new husband. Fortunately he’s crazy about my kids. It seems only fair, then, that I should meet whoever Dave is lining up to be my kids’ wicked stepmother. That’s a joke. I can see you already care about Crystal a lot, just like my Gary does.”
Ali was dumbfounded. “Excuse me, Mrs. Whitman,” she objected. “You’re mistaken. I’m not being ‘lined up,’ as you say, to be anybody’s stepmother!”
Roxanne was undeterred. “Call me Roxie,” she said with a smile. “Everybody does. Since we’re practically going to be relatives, we should probably be on a first-name basis. And I can certainly see why Crystal liked it here so much. Your place is beautiful, by the way. It doesn’t even look like a mobile home, but then ours is only a single-wide, a fourteen-by-seventy.”
Roxanne’s comment about Ali’s house echoed what Arabella Ashcroft had said earlier, only from the opposite end of the spectrum. While Roxie cast an admiring glance around the room, Richey sat next to her looking as though he hoped a hole would somehow open in the floor and swallow him.
“Mom,” he pleaded. “Can’t we just go?”
“No,” Roxie said. “Since Ali’s such an important part of your father’s life, it’s high time the two of us met.”
“Look,” Ali said forcefully. “I’m afraid you’re mistaken. Dave and I are good friends-we’ve always been friends. He asked me to look after Crystal because it was an emergency situation with work, and he didn’t have anyone else to ask. I was glad to do it, by the way, but believe me, Dave and I are not involved. And the fact that Crystal’s life got saved last night has as much to do with a guy named Bernie Bernstein as it does with me. I can assure you that Bernie isn’t romantically involved with Dave Holman, either.”
For the first time, Roxanne seemed uncertain. “But I know he was over there in California with you a few months ago when there was all that trouble,” she objected. “And from what Crystal said…”
That was true, Ali and Dave had been in California together-when Dave had come to help
“What exactly
Roxie shrugged. “Just that you were an incredibly wonderful person, smart, and brave, too.”
At first Ali felt flattered by Crystal’s unlikely praise. Then she remembered.
“She also said that you and Dave are going to get married soon and move in together here,” Roxie continued. “She says the way your mobile is situated on this hill, it has a big basement carved out downstairs. She says there’ll be plenty of room for all three kids to come live with you if they want to. That way they could even go back to their old schools.”
Having spent several days dealing with the spin-meister Ali had come to know as Crystal Holman, Ali suddenly saw this for what it was-Crystal claiming that what she wanted to be true was true, or simply working one parent against the other in typical child-of-divorce fashion. For a moment Ali felt sorry for Roxanne Whitman-and for her daughter as well.
“Only none of it is going to happen,” Ali said. “I’m not sure why Crystal is so dead-set against living in Las Vegas. Maybe you should ask her, but I can assure you her being determined to stay here in Sedona has nothing to do with me.”
It was Roxanne’s turn to be thunderstruck. “You mean you and Dave aren’t…?”
“That’s exactly what I mean-we definitely aren’t!”
“See there?” Richey said. “I tried to tell you that you shouldn’t listen to her. Crystal’s always telling stories like that. You can’t believe a word she says.”
For the first time Ali wondered how much Rich knew about his sister’s secret life.
“Did she ever mention someone named Coach Curt to you?” Ali asked him.
Rich scowled. “Sure,” he replied. “She said he was like this world-famous soccer coach or something and that he was going to turn her into a soccer star and help her win a scholarship to college. Right. I’ll bet she made him up just like she makes up everything else. He probably doesn’t even exist.”
World famous or not, Coach Curt had existed once. Ali was shocked to realize that so far no one-including Dave-had evidently mentioned any of that inconvenient part of the story to Crystal’s mother. No doubt the Coach Curt saga would come out eventually-if and when Crystal was called to testify in court against Jason Gustavson. Ali could imagine that at some point a sleazy defense attorney would find it necessary to ask Crystal exactly what activities she and Coach Curt had been engaged in at the time they witnessed the fatal attack on Kip Hogan.
For right now, though, Roxanne Whitman was blissfully ignorant about her daughter’s unsavory behavior, and Ali Reynolds sure as hell didn’t want to be the one to tell her. Instead, she changed the subject.
“When are you heading back?” Ali asked.
“Crystal’s doing laundry,” Roxanne said. “She didn’t bring much with her when she took off like that. As soon as her jeans are dry, we’ll get going. I usually have to work on Friday. I traded with someone so we could come here today.”
“The earlier you head north the better,” Ali said, meaning every word and wanting them out of town sooner rather than later. “I understand driving from here to Vegas on a Friday afternoon can be a real bear.”
Ali’s phone was ringing again as Roxanne and Richey took their leaves. Ali didn’t answer the phone until after she closed the door behind them.
“Ali,” Edie said. “Where’ve you been? I’ve been calling and calling.”
“I’ve been right here,” Ali began. “I was on the phone. Thanks for trying to warn me.”
“So Roxanne Whitman already stopped by?”
“You’d better believe it,” Ali said. “She came to give me the once-over. She thinks Dave and I are going together-that we’re practically engaged.”
“Well?” Edie returned. “Are you?”
“Am I what?”
“Are you dating Dave Holman?”
“No,” Ali answered, exasperated. “Absolutely not.”
“Too bad,” Edie said. “Sorry to hear it. He’s one of my favorite people. Now, what are you doing
