Page 25 of The Next Mrs. Parrish

The emotional toll of the morning had left Daisy Ann drained, and she’d taken a nap. When she came downstairs later, Brenda had a pot of chicken rice soup simmering on the stove.

“That smells wonderful,” she said.

“You sit while I get you a bowl. I have some nice crusty bread heating too.”

“Mmm. Will you have some with me?”

They ate in silence for a few minutes, and then Brenda spoke.

“I hope you’ll still come and stay and bring the boys. They love it here too. They had such fun here with your daddy. And after all, the house is still yours and will belong to them one day.”

An image formed in Daisy Ann’s mind, her boys impatiently pulling on Jake’s shirt, almost jumping out of their skin, hurrying him from his breakfast so they could go down to the lake and fish. “In time, Brenda. Maybe in time.”

Brenda put her spoon down and pushed the bowl away. “Aren’t there things you’d like to take from the house? I can help you pack them up.”

“Not right now. I can’t…I just can’t go through his things. I don’t even want to go into the bedroom where that horrible woman slept with him.” She sighed. “Brenda, I saw her again. She’s living in Connecticut. She landed on her feet. She came to my trunk show in New York.”

Brenda’s mouth fell open. “You’re kidding!”

Daisy Ann filled herin.

Brenda shook her head back and forth. “That makes me sick. I knew that girl was trouble the first time I laid eyes on her. Told your father so, but she had him bewitched.”

Daisy Ann shook her head. “I’ll never understand how she got him to marry her so quickly. She convinced him to fire you, didn’t she?”

Brenda nodded. “She didn’t want anyone around to mess with her plans. She was clever and cunning. And mean. But with your dad, well, she was sweet as pie.”

“Right. I sized her up from the first. She had to be cunning to fool Daddy. He was such a smart man. He could usually spot a phony miles away.”

“He was lonely, Daisy Ann. He missed your mama, and he was getting old. When a man gets to be that age, he gets scared. It’s too near the end to face it alone. Amber knew that, and she played onit. That red hair of hers was dyed. I know it. She tried to be a copy of your mama.”

That part, Daisy Ann learned from the detective. He’d interviewed Tanya, the woman Amber had accompanied on the drive from Eustis to Gunnison. He’d tracked her down after interviewing Amber’s employer at the café. She’d listed her prior employment at a restaurant in Crested Butte, and that’s when he’d found Tanya. She’d told him that Amber used to be a blonde but had suddenly dyed her hair red before they left Nebraska. That was when Daisy Ann knew Amber had had a plan, long before she met Daisy Ann’s father. And the reason why she’d left a more lucrative job at a trendy restaurant in Crested Butte, Colorado, an upscale ski town, to work at the café in Gunnison—the restaurant Jake was known to frequent daily when he was in town.

“She even came over here with your mama’s peach cobbler. Made your daddy believe it was a coincidence that she made his favorite dessert; told him it was a family recipe of hers. But I saw the paper in her purse with the recipe from the Junior League of Dallas. She must have found it on the internet.”

Daisy Ann’s face grew hot. The idea of Amber using information about her dear mother made her want to spit nails. Was there no limit to how low she would stoop? “You never told me that. Did you see anything else interesting?”

“She had a folder in her bag. Motel receipt, some information on fly-fishing. She and your daddy were actually walking back from fishing so I didn’t have time to look through everything. But I saw a phone number with the name of a guy next to it. I copied it and called the number after she left. The guy who answered was M something. Martin or Mitchell. When I asked if he knew an Amber Patterson, he said no. I figured it was a dead end.”

“Do you still have his number?”

Brenda nodded. “I think so, somewhere. I’m sure I left the paper in one of my purses. I’ll check.”

“That would be great. It’s like Amber had no life before a fewyears ago. We haven’t been able to dig up anything on family or past jobs. Maybe this man can help.”

“I’ll see if I can find his number. But be careful. That woman is evil and who knows what kind of person this man is.”

“Don’t worry. This ain’t my first rodeo. I can take care of myself. I’ve got some appointments in town; I’m going to take Daddy’s truck for the day.”

“I’ll go get you the keys.”

No matter what Mason said, Daisy Ann wasn’t giving up this time. She wasn’t going to rest until she found what she needed to make Amber pay.

– 15 –

DAPHNE

“Why do we have to go to therapy?” Tallulah whines, her arms crossed and her eyes shooting daggers at me. She stops in front of the door, blocking it. “I’m finally able to see Dad and you’re making it all creepy by forcing us to talk to a stranger.”

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