Free Thirty-Four and a Half Predicaments: Rose Gardner Mystery #7 by Denise Grover Swank

goin’.” They were the first words he’d said since Mason got home, and I suddenly realized we were making him feel awkward.
    I turned toward him. Bruce Wayne was lonely and I wasn’t about to send him home to his empty house with only cake in his belly. “You keep your booty in that chair. Like I told Mason, this cake is the appetizer, and it would be rude of you to leave in the middle of dinner.”
    Bruce Wayne cast a glance at Mason.
    Mason grinned, but I could see the anxiety in his eyes. “You heard her. You and I both know there’s no arguing with her once she’s set her mind on something.”
    I stood, nodding my head. “Good. That’s settled. Now I’m gonna figure out what the main course is.”
    I made buttered noodles and frozen broccoli while Mason disappeared into his office to call Joe. When he returned about ten minutes later, he and Bruce Wayne talked about our plans and preparations for RBW Landscaping. I was dying to know what he’d found out, but the worry lines around Mason’s eyes kept me from asking. Bruce Wayne seemed to sense the tension, so he left as soon as dinner was over, but he seemed to be in better spirits.
    As soon as I shut the door, I spun around to confront Mason. “What did Joe say?”
    “Not much. While the accident seems suspicious and the note is threatening, there’s not a whole lot he can do.”
    I put my hands on my hips. “So he’s gonna do nothing? ”
    “No. They’re looking for the car and he’s going to question the driver. He’s determined to get to the bottom of it.”
    I nodded. Joe and Mason might be adversaries, but I had to trust that Joe would keep Mason safe. I gave him a hug and then headed into the kitchen, Mason on my heels.
    “How was your afternoon with Neely Kate?” Mason asked while we started to clean up the kitchen.
    I decided there was no better time than the present to bring up one of my two pressing issues. And while I really wanted to know what he was doing with that file on Dora, the Hilary issue burned my gut more. I just needed him to verify it was nonsense before turning the conversation to Dora.
    “It was interesting…”
    “Why do I think there’s a lot more to that interesting? ”
    I grinned and pressed my chest to his, a dishtowel still in my hand. “Because you, Mason Deveraux, are a very smart man.”
    “Why am I suddenly worried?”
    “I’m sure there’s nothing for you to worry about. I just need you to clear something up.”
    “What is it?”
    “Neely Kate got her streaks, but as I was paying at the register, Hilary Wilder showed up.”
    “Uh-oh. How’d that go?”
    “She was her usual self, but her behavior inspired Neely Kate to act more like her usual self. Which is how she ended up telling Hilary off in front of the whole beauty shop.”
    He chuckled. “So the outing really was good for Neely Kate.”
    “It got more interesting from there.”
    My tone lost some of its lightheartedness and Mason picked up on the change. “What happened?”
    “Joe’s sister showed up.” I turned to face him. “She has an agenda and I don’t trust her at all, even though she keeps insinuating she wants to be friends.”
    “You’ve got great intuition, so I think you should listen to it.”
    “She said something about Hilary that caught me by surprise.”
    He dried the pot I’d used to boil the noodles, seemingly unconcerned. “And what was that?”
    I watched him closely as I said, “She said you and Hilary had history.”
    His hand stopped mid-wipe. “ Kate said that?”
    “Do you?”
    “How would Kate know if we had history or not? Hasn’t she been gone for over two years?”
    It didn’t escape my notice that he’d evaded the question. “I don’t know how she came by the information, and frankly I don’t care about that part, Mason. I want to know if it’s true.”
    He set the pot on the stove and studied me with guarded eyes. “What did Hilary say?”
    Fear wormed its way into my stomach. “I’m