Free Getting Lucky by Carolyn Brown

sit and let the adrenaline settle down. He bit off a chunk of sandwich and chewed slowly. Too much had happened too fast. His nerves were frayed worse than the hem line of that Donavan woman's shorts. She had been a sight wielding that hoe like a weapon and screaming like a momma mountain lion protecting her young.
       Marita sat in a lawn chair beside him. "Talk."
       "Our new neighbor appears to be someone Graham met and slept with just before he went to Iraq. That's why that little girl looks so much like Lizzy. They really could be twins but oh, my God, I just realized they are cousins. Lizzy is a little taller. Annie's face is a bit rounder. She's Graham's daughter. DNA couldn't prove it any better. Graham always was attracted to low class, red-haired women. She's not fooling me, Marita. She might be a schoolteacher and go to church, but by damn, she's white trash."
       "Maybe she was just as shocked as you were when she found out she was living in the same area as a Luckadeau. Ever think about giving her the benefit of the doubt?"
       "Hell, no! She's like all women. Out for what they can get. Look what Dian did. There's no other reason why she'd move to Saint Jo. She's here because she's finally figured out who Graham was and what he was worth," he said.
       "You been burned, son, but that's unfair. We're not all like that," Marita huffed.
       "Sorry, I didn't mean you."
       "Apology accepted. Now what makes you think she's white trash?"
       "Look at that place. No one who had any dignity would buy it or live there. Besides, she was filthy," Griffin said.
       "What had she been doing?"
       "Hell, I don't know what she was doing. She came around the house with a hoe in her hand like she was going to kill me with the damned thing. Then she started yelling and Rachel showed up and they were both yelling and Annie was refusing to get Lizzy and then Lizzy came out and there was another big fight. It was worse than a three-ring circus on Jerry Springer . I thought Rachel and Julie were going to duke it out right there in the yard," he said. No way was he about to admit that he'd been attracted to the schoolteacher even when she was a sweaty mess.
       Marita laughed so hard her face hurt. "I would love to have seen that."
       "It wasn't pretty," Griffin said, a smile finally tickling the corners of his mouth.
       "Who gives a hoot? It would have been a beautiful sight to me because it got rid of that woman who's been snowballing you for six months. How big is this redhead?"
       "Little ole bitty thing. She might weigh a hundred and twenty soaking wet and she was sweating like a boar hog. I was glad I was upwind from her. She looked like she would have smelled horrible," Griffin said.
       "She must have a dose of Irish in her with a temper like that, plowing into a big old horse of a woman when she's that little. It would have been a hoot to see Rachel get her ass whooped by a little woman. And she was carrying a hoe? Must be a working woman, huh? I bet she'd been weeding the garden in the backyard. What set her off and made her so mad?"
       Griffin rubbed his aching forehead with the palm of his hand. "After me, it was the idea that Rachel had whipped Lizzy. She threatened to call the Department of Human Services."
       Marita pointed her finger at Griffin. "Let me tell you, if that woman ever touches Lizzy again, Julie Donavan won't have to call the authorities. I'll take care of her myself. Now why is it that she's white trash, again?"
       "Because in order for her to have Graham's daughter she had to have been with him at least one time. He left here for Dallas and left Dallas the next day for Iraq. She must be a prostitute or a one-night stand. The only difference is that one gets paid and the other gives it away."
       Marita started back into the house. "She's raising her daughter and has a responsible job. Sounds like she'd fight a circle saw for her child or yours.