She huffed. “Call the authorities. I have the right. I have the power.”
“Meredith, you need help.” I decided not to waste any more of my time with her, got out of the truck and walked away, up to Greta’s front door. I had the feeling if I turned around, Meredith would still be standing there, waiting to do battle.
130
Heather Webber
I didn’t turn. I didn’t want to give her the satisfaction.
I knocked instead. No sound came from inside, so I leaned over the railing and peeked in the front window.
Nothing had changed since the last time I’d done so. Everything was in place, from the afghan to the accounting books.
Oh, how I itched to go through them.
I rang the bell.
Still nothing from inside.
“No one’s seen her since yesterday,” a soft voice said.
I almost fell down the stairs. What was it with people sneaking up on me lately?
Kate Hathaway stood at the bottom of the steps. “Sorry,”
she said. “I didn’t mean to startle you. I saw Meredith huff-ing and puffing at the curb, saw your truck, and decided I better come out before you very justifiably run her over.”
I smiled. I liked Kate. “Thanks.”
“I’m sorry about all this lawsuit business. I just feel terrible you were drawn into it.”
Coming down the steps, I noticed Meredith had disappeared. I breathed a sigh of relief because, honestly, running her over had gone through my head.
More than once.
“I just think if I can explain to Greta . . .”
“She’s stubborn, just like Russ was. I think that’s why she stayed with him so long.”
Kate wore a soft orange-colored halter top, loose and flowing, with white capris. A gold link anklet encircled her right ankle, and she was barefoot. I liked her even more. I was a barefoot kind of girl at heart.
Stubborn? Or scared? The thought of leaving after forty years of depending on someone else had to be terrifying.
Not to mention that by all accounts, Russ was an abuser.
Mentally, definitely, but physically too?
“I hear he was horrible.”
131
She scrunched her nose. “I don’t like to speak badly about the dead, but honestly? He was the worst.”
“Was the homeowners’ lawsuit designed to get him out of the neighborhood?”
“I’m not going to lie. It would have been an added benefit.
But you saw the yard. It was an eyesore, and in definite violation of our codes.”
I could see why she had been voted president of the homeowners’ association. She had an easy way about her, but under the pretty surface, she was smart. I imagined she got what she wanted—a lot.
“Codes the HOA designed specifically because of him?” I asked.
She shrugged. “It’s a standard agreement.”
“Was he mad when he found out Greta joined the HOA without his permission?”
“Fuming. Wouldn’t pay dues or respond to our notices.
We had no choice but to file a suit against him.”
“But I heard the suit had been dropped.”
“Dropped?”
“That’s what I heard.” I didn’t tell her where.
“From whom?”
I really couldn’t say since I didn’t know the identity of the man in Greta’s kitchen. “It’s not true?”
“No,” she said. “It’s not.”
So, had Greta’s visitor been lying? It seemed that way, without a doubt.
“Where did you hear it?”
