“Not with the work. I talked to her about you.”
With that disarming statement, he turned his attention to the pastor.
After the service, Jocelyn was separated from Sara and Ramsey, and pulled into a sea of people who all had something to say to her.
She received many invitations to dinners and barbecues, and to join clubs, and to just visit. She was caught on the church steps by three women from Colonial Williamsburg who were talking to her about joining some committees for historic preservation when Sara whisper
ed, “Give me your purse.”
Joce kept her face on the women while slipping her small handbag to Sara. Minutes later, she looked up, and Sara was in Joce’s car, the passenger door open, and waving to her. “I’m sorry, but I have to go,” Jocelyn said. “It’s important or I’d stay longer.”
“Let us give you our cards and you can call us,” one woman said.
Joce took the three cards, then hurried across the sidewalk and the lawn to get to the car.
“Shut the door quick!” Sara said as she skidded out of the parking lot in a hail of gravel. “We’re going to pave next month,” she said. “Peeling out won’t be nearly as satisfying.”
Joce took off her hat as she pulled bobby pins from her hair and let it hang down about her neck. “That was an ordeal. Animals in zoos aren’t stared at as much as I was.”
“Mothers have sons, and people need jobs, and charities need volunteers and money. You are open season.”
“No, no,” Joce said, her head back. “Tell me this isn’t so.”
“Yup, it is. You hungry?”
“Yes,” Joce said. “Can we go to a grocery and get something? I have nothing in my house to eat. I don’t even have a skillet to cook it in.”
“I don’t think that food will be a problem, at least not for a few days.”
“What do you mean?”
“You’ll see,” Sara said cryptically as she pulled into the drive in front of Edilean Manor. “Uh oh.”
“What?”
“It’s Tess. They woke her up.”
Standing in the driveway was the gorgeous Tess, and the phone photo hadn’t done her justice. She was tall and beautiful, and right now she looked angry.
Sara parked Joce’s car and got out. “How bad was it?” she asked Tess.
“What time did she leave for church?” Tess nodded toward Joce, who still sat in the car.
“Early,” Sara said without asking Jocelyn.
Joce got out of the car and went to stand beside Sara. Neither woman looked at her.
“They started coming at eight,” Tess said. “They knew the damned door was unlocked, but nothing would do but for them to pound on my door and make me tell them the door was unlocked. After that I left the main door wide open, but it wasn’t enough for them. They still banged on my door.” Tess turned to look at Jocelyn. “I can’t imagine that you’re worth all this bother.” Her almond eyes were narrowed and her lips curved into a sneer.
“And you must be Tess,” Joce said, forcing a smile. “I’m—”
“Everyone knows who you are,” Tess snapped. “Here and in Williamsburg, they know who you are. You’re rich and you own a big house. Yeah, I’d say you’re the hit of the county.”
“Tess, please,” Sara said, her voice pleading.
“Please, what?” Tess asked. “Just because she sucked up to some old woman and got her money, does that mean I have to be pulled out of bed on a Sunday morning to get her food?”
“Tess,” Sara said. “Please be nice. You haven’t even met Jocelyn.”