“That’s what all this—” Sara motioned to his sweaty upper half “—was about?”
He finished the third glass of water. “Naw. This is about Gena. But I’ve been thinking about Roy. Any more of that fruit left?”
Kate got up and began preparing a plate for him. Anybody who’d heard what he had today deserved to be waited on. “Cheryl wanted respect. That’s what came through to me. She knew what people thought of her mother, so she was determined to get their respect.” She pushed a plateful of orange segments to Jack.
“And she had a boyfriend,” Sara said. She put a fat towel over Jack’s head and began to rub his hair dry.
It was such a loving, mother-son gesture that for a moment, Kate looked away.
“But Roy...” Jack trailed off.
“Was protecting you.” Kate started peeling a mango. “Maybe he ran over your bike to force you to stay away from a girl he thought was introducing you to too much, too soon.”
“Yeah.” Jack was smiling, his mouth full.
Kate glanced at Sara. It was nice to hear him say something good about his father.
“Respect,” Sara said. “What Cheryl said to Elaine interested me. She couldn’t leave Lachlan because if she didn’t earn respect here—in this town—it didn’t matter. Why do you think that was?”
Kate was eating a mango slice and Jack had a banana.
&
nbsp; “You’re the writer,” he said. “So tell us why.”
“A man,” Kate and Sara said in unison.
“We know that,” Jack said. “We just don’t know who.”
“I haven’t eliminated that nasty Gena as a suspect,” Sara said. “Anyone who can lie like she did could probably also kill. And she said she’s kept this secret about Roy for twenty years.”
“I can’t see her planting a tree,” Jack said.
“Of course she could!” Kate was splitting big purple grapes, removing the seeds, then putting the seedless halves on Jack’s plate.
“He can take his own seeds out.” Sara took the knife away from her.
“Sorry. Habit. Sometimes it was hard to get Mom to eat, so I fed her grapes. She liked the purple kind but hated the seeds, so I...”
There was an awkward silence and Sara looked like she was about to ask questions about Kate’s mother.
“If you want to peel them, too,” Jack said, “that’s fine with me.”
Kate gave him a look to say thanks for covering for her.
“Speaking of skinless grapes,” Jack said, “what about your old man Stewart?”
“I have no idea who you mean,” Kate said.
“Alastair?” Sara said. “He would certainly fit the bill. Lachlan upper class. Cheryl would need to dress up to be considered good enough for his family.”
“So would anyone from the Kirkwood family,” Kate said. “And Alastair had a girlfriend. Who else in this gossipy little town is considered local royalty?” There was the beginning of anger in Kate’s voice.
“Kitten got her dander up,” Jack said. “Protecting her lover.”
Kate reached for his plate, but Jack held on to it.
“Okay!” he said. “Sorry. I thought of him because he’s always hanging around. I seem to see him at least four times a day.”