“I’m always careful.”
“Yeah. Right.” He rested his face against her hair. “That’s why Paul and I have had to get you out of scrapes before, because you’re always careful.”
“I try to be.” She sniffed, wanting to change the flow of the conversation. “Whatever you made in there certainly smells good.”
“All right. You don’t have to hit me with a thirty-two-foot blue spruce.” He looked at the tree beside them. “I’ve said what I wanted to say. Let’s eat dinner.”
Peggy was glad she hadn’t told him the flowers were from Nightflyer. If that would have led to him weaseling the truth out of her, he wouldn’t have let it alone. She planned to go to Myers Park that night and she didn’t want it to be an issue between them.
It had certainly occurred to her that Steve could be jealous. It was even exciting in a way. That Steve would see Nightflyer as a threat to their relationship was silly, of course. But it was also exciting, like walking down the wrong side of the street.
She managed to sit beside Sam at the crowded table. She was glad he hadn’t brought Holles with him. She wanted a chance to talk about him and see if there was anything he could tell her about Holles’s activities with Luther. As she passed the rice, she smiled at him. “How is Holles doing after finding out Darmus is still alive?”
“I think he’s okay.” Sam took the big bowl of rice. “I don’t think he wanted Darmus to be dead, Peggy. He just wants to work for Feed America. He knows all about what Darmus was doing. It makes sense.”
“Yes, I suppose it does.” She poured herself a glass of sweet tea. “Does he have a specialty in the field?”
“I’m not sure.” Sam glanced at her. “Why this sudden interest in Holles?”
“Not sudden. I went to see him today. I thought he might know something more about Feed America. He was so sweet.” She hoped the lie didn’t choke her.
Sam warmed up. “He’s a nice guy. We’re good together.”
“I’m so glad for you.”
“His family lives out in Stanly County,” he continued. “They own a huge dairy farm out there.”
“Really? I suppose that’s where he gets his love of plants then. What do they grow?”
“Are you going to sit there all night with the iced tea, Margaret?” her mother asked. “Naomi is gasping over here. This is some spicy food, Steve!”
“I’m fine,” Naomi said with a shy smile. “The food is very good.”
Peggy passed the tea anyway and talked with Paul on her other side for a few minutes. She told him about Darmus rediscovering his lost wife and son. But all the time, she was anxious to ask Sam more questions. Stanly County was where Luther’s church was. It was also a likely place to find cotton farms.
“I can’t believe he had a son all these years and didn’t know it.” Paul heaped some red beans on his rice. “I’m glad they were able to get back together now though. He’s going to need plenty of support through this. The DA isn’t crazy about brothers killing each other.”
“It seems kind of loose to me,” Sam said. “I mean, they found a hyacinth in Luther’s pocket. It was spiked with extra scent. That doesn’t seem like much of a case.”
Paul chewed the beans and rice in his mouth before adding, “It’s cut-and-dried for the DA. Everything points back to Darmus. I think they’ll have a strong case by the time they go to trial.”
“Hunter wants to know who’s representing Darmus,” Sam said to Peggy. “She says she’s being left out of the loop.”
“I know,” Peggy sympathized. “Tell her I wish she were representing him. But he hired a lawyer through Feed America.”
“Yeah,” her father agreed, “a real sharp. I wouldn’t trust him with
“Holles probably knows him.” Peggy tried to steer the conversation back to Holles.
“Oh.” Sam looked a little less offended. “You know, Peggy, I’m beginning to get the impression you don’t like Holles.”
“Why?”
“Because you try
“You want me to do that?” Peggy asked.
Cousin Melvin let out a gasping snore that woke him up, and he looked around the table, red-faced. “I’m sorry. Was I asleep?”
Everyone laughed, and the moment passed. Peggy wished her father would quit sending her furtive glances across the table. If she were closer, she’d kick him. He was about as suspicious as a blackbird in a cornfield. Everyone was going to know they were up to something if he didn’t stop.
Steve was the first to notice, of course. He kept looking her way all through dinner but didn’t actually speak to her until they were clearing the table. “What’s up?”
“Nothing. Why?”
“You have that look on your face.”
“Really? What look is that?”
