We sipped our drinks as the fire crackled. When the front door opened, I was up like a shot and hurled myself into Coleman’s arms. “Thank goodness you’re okay.” He gave me a kiss that left no doubt how glad he was to see me.
When I stepped back, he accepted the drink Cece offered. Coleman was dressed in something far more preppy than he normally wore. But he was dry and warm and smelled great. He’d also had a shower. Something I needed to take care of. “Any word on Kathleen?”
He swallowed and shook his head. “No sign of her. They’re still searching.” He gave Darla his full attention. “I’m so sorry.”
“Clarissa?” Darla asked.
“As far as I know, she was checked out and released.”
“Did she say what happened?” I asked.
“No.” He sounded exhausted.
Cece, Tinkie, and Oscar decided to make another round of martinis, but I was done and worried about Coleman. “I’m going to take a shower and go to bed.” I turned to our hostess. “If we can help in any way or if you hear anything at all, don’t hesitate to wake us up.”
She blinked back tears and nodded. “Thank you.”
I gave Coleman a kiss and whispered for him to come up when he was ready. I had to wash the river smell out of my hair and skin. The minute I stepped under the hot spray I felt better. I’d been so tense my shoulders were rigid, but the pounding of the water helped a lot. I braced against the shower wall and gave in to the pleasure.
From somewhere in the bedroom I heard the sound of bells jingling. “Oh, no.” Jitty was back. She was determined to get me in trouble in this town. I shut off the water, grabbed a towel, and headed into the bedroom to have it out with her. As much I enjoyed her forays into drama, comedy, and aggravation, now wasn’t the time.
I opened the bedroom door and said, “You have to stop this.”
Coleman, wearing nothing but a grin and a necklace of jingle bells, said, “I don’t think I want to stop.”
I was taken aback, but I hid it behind a daring smile. “Then you’ll just have to get what you deserve.” I went to him, still wet, and put my arms around his neck for a kiss. The towel hit the floor and I hit the light switch as he picked me up and lifted me onto the bed.
The next morning I stretched and snuggled against Coleman’s warm body as the events of the evening replayed in my mind. I was a lucky woman. And Coleman was a lucky man. By the grace of persistence, we’d found each other.
I was about to drift back to sleep when I heard the infernal noise. Tap, tap, tap. A pause. Tap, tap, tap. Tinkie was at it again. I knew ignoring her wouldn’t work. There was only one solution. I got up, grabbed a robe, and went to open the door.
She was waiting with a tray of coffee and some news. “Let’s go out on your balcony,” she said.
“Coleman is still asleep.”
“Then put on some clothes and let’s go outside on the terrace.”
Tinkie was worse than a dog with a bone. There would be no shaking her. Best to do as she asked and be done with it. I slipped back into the bedroom, found jeans, socks, a T-shirt, and a heavy sweater. The morning was brisk, and I knew before it was over I’d be down at the river, hoping for good news about Kathleen.
When I found Tinkie on the terrace, she had coffee, condiments, and a basket of homemade biscuits with Darla’s dewberry jam. I discovered I was starving, and I matched Tinkie bite for bite.
“You should slow up,” she told me. “I’m eating for two. You’re not!”
“I’m twice as tall as you are and need double the calories.” It was a stupid rationalization, and we both laughed.
“How is Darla?” I asked.
“She’s cleaning her cabinets.”
That pretty much said it. No one cleaned cabinets unless they were desperate for something to do. “Maybe we should check with Tulla and Bricey.”
Tinkie nodded. “We don’t really have any leads, except the mystery woman who hired Colton to murder the car.”
“We could go down to the river.”
Tinkie brightened. “I’d kind of rather spend time with an alligator than those two homewreckers.”
“We can leave a note for the men.” I was tempted to rush upstairs to tell Coleman in person, but I knew the power of his seductive skills. I might not make it out of the bedroom for several hours.
We settled on a generic note saying merely that we were down at the river where the search party had set up. Tinkie decided to call an Uber instead of rousting Rex out of bed. He’d been up as late as we had.
In only a few minutes the driver was there and we headed to the search site. The driver was a woman our age and a chatty one at that.
“Terrible about Ms. Beesley,” she said. “Such a nice woman.”
“Yes, we’re hoping she’ll be found safe,” Tinkie said. As the Queen Bee Daddy’s Girl of the Delta, Tinkie felt it necessary to almost always employ good manners.
“I heard the boat hit something.”
The driver was pumping us, but I didn’t mind. “Maybe. The police were examining it to determine what actually happened.”
“I heard some of the society dames were opposed to bringing back the flotilla.”
Tinkie and I sat forward. “That’s a shame,” Tinkie said. “Who would oppose a flotilla? It was so beautiful last night on the river, and the people at each dock seemed
