him. He glanced at his mother and saw that she was taking it all in with a great deal of amusement.
“Sam, are you there?” Shelly asked.
“I’m here.” He sank into the nearest chair and waited for what was to come, his thoughts still on Marilee. Common sense told him he had no business getting involved with her. She was probably just as needy as his mother and his ex-wife. If only he would start thinking with his brain instead of getting a hard-on every time he saw a pretty face.
But damn, Marilee Abernathy did have the best legs he’d ever seen on a female.
CHAPTER FOUR
THE FOLLOWING MONDAY, Marilee found herself filling out an application at the local Job Service center. She had checked the classifieds daily. Prissy’s Pets was looking for someone to groom dogs, the local tavern needed a cocktail waitress, and Darnel Hines was advertising for a mechanic. Slim pickings, to say the least. She would have to look elsewhere.
“Marilee, I just want you to know how sorry I was to hear about you and Grady,” Leanne Davis, who worked at the job placement center, whispered.
Marilee forced a smile to her lips as she handed the woman her job application. She and Leanne had attended high school together and had cheered the Fighting Pirates in their cutesy blue-and-gold cheerleading outfits. Her friend had since married and had three children, gaining at least ten pounds with each pregnancy. Marilee wondered if either one of them would fit in their old cheerleading skirts.
“Thank you, Leanne. You don’t know how much I appreciate that. But I’m going to be just fine.” She didn’t believe it at the moment, but if she said it enough perhaps it would come true.
“I can’t help feeling guilty. After all, I was the one who introduced you to Grady in high school.”
“That was a long time ago. I certainly don’t hold you responsible.”
“That’s why I’m going to do everything in my power to help you find a job.”
With that in mind, Marilee decided to let Leanne feel guilty a little while longer. It wasn’t the Christian thing to do, but she was desperate. “Thank you. I know you’ll do your best.”
“Only trouble is, there aren’t many jobs available in Chickpea.” Leanne leaned closer. “What I want to know is, did you suspect anything?”
“Excuse me?”
“Did you know Grady was sleeping with that slut?”
Marilee shook her head. “I was the last to know.” She smiled tightly. “But I’m trying to put all that behind me now and go on with my life. That’s why I need a job.”
“Of course you do, honey,” Leanne said, patting her hand. “And we’re going to find you something.” She straightened in her chair and considered Marilee’s application. “Hmm. You don’t have a degree.”
Marilee tried to look confident. “No, I don’t. But I’m intelligent, quick to learn, and I’m a hard worker. There isn’t much I can’t do once I put my mind to it.”
“Of course you can, sugar.” Leanne shuffled through more papers. “Is there something you’re particularly interested in? Something you’re really good at?”
“I play the piano and sing. I was choir director at our church for years. But you probably already know that.” She suddenly brightened. “I bake cakes.”
Leanne looked up. “Do what?”
“Just ask me the ingredients of any cake you’ve ever heard of, and I can spout them off word for word. Red velvet, Lady Baltimore, German chocolate, you name it. I personally put together a fifty-page cookbook of my own recipes for a committee I’m on, and we sold several hundred copies.” Marilee clasped her hands in her lap. She could see that it meant nothing to Leanne.
“Too bad Mitch Johnson isn’t hiring over at the bakery,” Leanne replied.
Marilee remained thoughtful. Surely there was something she could do. “I like being around people, for what it’s worth,” she said. “Folks say I have a calming effect on those who are troubled. I’ve spent many a night sitting with the sick in hospitals and nursing homes, and I always tried to be there when someone from the congregation lost a loved one.”
“You enjoy that sort of thing?” Leanne asked, wrinkling her nose in distaste.
“I like helping people. Perhaps I could be a nurses’ aid.”
“You’d have to take classes, and the pay is low, but it’s something to keep in mind.” She studied Marilee. “You say you don’t mind working with the bereaved?”
“Not at all. I’m used to it.”
Leanne seemed to ponder it. Finally, she reached for a file. “Well then, Marilee, I just might have something for you after all.”
THAT AFTERNOON, MARILEE WAS waiting for Winnie when she stepped off the school bus. “I need your help,” she told the girl.
Winnie adjusted the shoulder strap on her book bag. “With what?”
Marilee grinned. “Get in the car, and I’ll tell you on the way.”
“You’re up to something, aren’t you?”
“I want to teach somebody a lesson, and you’re the perfect person to help me.”
“Who’s the victim?”
“Esmerelda Cunningham. You know her?”
“The Queen Bee?” Winnie gave a grunt. “I know of her—rich, stingy and mean.”
“I think she needs a refresher course in manners.”
“Then I’m your girl.”
After their admittance to Esmerelda Cunningham’s grand house, Marilee followed a staid-looking butler into the drawing room with Winnie on her heels, carrying the antique candelabra. Esmerelda was sipping tea from a dainty cup and listening to opera. She looked queenly, her dress crisp as new money and not a hair out of place on her white head.
“I was not expecting guests,” she said coolly, “but I am relieved to find my candelabra in good repair.”
“Just set it over there,” Marilee told Winnie.
The girl set the candelabra on a Duncan Phyfe table with a thump as Marilee, hands on hips, faced Esmerelda. “Yes, I brought it back once I heard you’d accused me of stealing it. I have absolutely no interest in it. I don’t know about you, but I have a life, and I’m not going to spend it polishing silver.” She hitched her chin high and sniffed. “I prefer stainless steel myself.”
Esmerelda set her cup in its saucer so hard Marilee feared it would shatter. “I beg your pardon? Do you dare come into my home and insult me after I was generous enough to donate to your cause? And who is this person with you?”
“Name’s Winnie
