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

asking you .”
    He rubbed the back of his neck and glanced out the kitchen window before turning back to me. “I do, but probably not how you think.”
    “Was it work-related?”
    “No.”
    Oh, God. I took a breath and forced myself to voice my greatest fear. “Did you date? ”
    “What? No!” He moved toward me and placed his hands on my shoulders. “I knew her socially.”
    “What’s that mean?”
    He sighed and took my hand. “I saw her at parties, fundraisers. It was while Savannah was seeing Joe. I had no idea she was Joe’s old girlfriend.”
    “ So you went to parties together? ”
    “Rose, no. It was nothing like that. When I was at events, I’d see her there. She always approached me, though, and she’d stay by my side for most of the night.”
    I swallowed. “She’s a beautiful woman. You weren’t interested in her?”
    “No.”
    “Why not? Were you seeing someone else?”
    “ Rose. ” He dropped my hand. “Even if I had dated her, I wouldn’t have been doing anything wrong. I was single at the time and had no idea about the nature of her connection with Joe. If I had known the whole story, I wouldn’t have given her the time of day.”
    I put my hand on my hip. “So you did give her the time of day.”
    His eyes hardened. “What exactly are you accusing me of?”
    “I’m not accusing you of anything. I just want to know the truth.”
    “This is starting to feel an awful lot like an interrogation.”
    “Maybe if you’d told me the truth from the start, I wouldn’t be interrogating you.”
    Exasperation filled his eyes, and he took several steps away before turning to face me. “I was an ADA in Little Rock, Rose. I knew a lot of people. Am I expected to give you a list of their names?”
    “That’s not fair, Mason.”
    “And your accusations aren’t fair, Rose. Have I ever given you any cause to not trust me?”
    I clenched my fists at my sides. “You should have told me you knew Hilary Wilder.”
    “What did you want me to say?” He flung his hand toward me. “‘Hey, Rose. I met Hilary Wilder in Little Rock at a fundraiser and some other events’?”
    “Yes!” I shouted. “It would have been a hell of a lot better than finding out from Joe’s sister in the middle of a beauty salon.”
    “She was just pumping me for information on my sister, Rose! And I goddamned gave it to her. I gave her every piece of information she needed to break up Joe and Savannah and keep them apart. Forgive me for not telling you about something I’m deeply ashamed of.”
    Some of my fight faded. “Mason.”
    “You want details? Fine.” He sucked in a breath, then pushed it out. “The first time I met her, she approached me at a fundraiser. Joe was there with Savannah. Joe’s father was there too. I was trying to stay as far from them as possible when Hilary walked up and handed me a drink. She made small talk and fed me a couple more drinks. She saw me looking at Joe and Savannah, which is when she told me that Joe had screwed her over. When I told her my sister was dating him, she said she was worried for her, but she left it at that and changed the subject. Like I said, I saw her several more times. She would always approach me, make small talk, and then get in some jab at Joe. Then I saw her in the lobby at a play. Savannah was supposed to go with me, but she’d cancelled at the last minute to be with Joe. Hilary told me her date had stood her up, and her tickets were better than mine, so she invited me to sit with her. We went out for drinks afterward, and about a half hour into drinks, she asked about Savannah. How she was doing. If Joe was being good to her. I didn’t suspect anything. It was just conversation, and we’d just spent a few hours together as friends, so I told her about my concerns.” He walked over to the kitchen table and stood there, looking out the back window. “I was damned clueless about what she was doing.”
    “You sat with her at a play and went out