Marabeth Simmons dialed across town to Sue Ellen Hanover at the post office, and waited on hold until the postal clerk came to the phone. She tapped her inch-long nails on her Formica desktop, and straightened the sign at the front of her desk that said “Apartment Manager.”
“U.S. Post Office,” Sue Ellen said, though Marabeth knew that all she’d really had to say was “hello.” Sometimes Sue Ellen thought more of herself than she should, and that post office job didn’t help matters.
“Sue Ellen, this is Marabeth,” she said. “Did you hear the news about Stan Shepherd?”
“What news?”
Marabeth could hear it in Sue Ellen’s voice, the disappointment that Marabeth would have news that Sue Ellen hadn’t gotten first. She delighted in the fact that this wasn’t something Sue Ellen could have read in anybody else’s mail. “He’s half dead in Slidell. Poisoned.”
“He what? I’m sure I would have heard something…Where did you hear this?”
“From Simone. I reckon she’d know, don’t you? Seein’ how Celia called 911 last night and all. And speakin’ of Celia…You’ll never guess who they think mighta did it. Celia Shepherd! That’s who!”
As Sue Ellen gasped, the door to the apartment office opened, and a tall man with sandy hair and fern-green eyes walked in. “Uh…gotta go, Sue Ellen. I have a customer.”
“But why would Celia poison her own husband?”
“Got me. Now, if you tell anybody I told you, I’ll deny it. And don’t let on that Simone told me, ’cause she’d lose her job and then where would we be?”
She dropped the phone in its cradle and looked up at the good-looking man. Suddenly, she wished she’d flossed after lunch. “May I help you?”
His grin was charming.
“Yeah, I’m Lee Barnett,” he said in a voice that sounded remarkably like Elvis. “You’re s’posed to be holdin’ an apartment for me?”
She tried to think, but found that she was too flustered. She was too old for this, she told herself. At least twenty years older than the man…but she’d kept her figure and had just had her hair done. Maybe he did find her attractive. Hadn’t she seen an older woman/younger man relationship on Sally Jesse just yesterday? Nervously, she thumbed through her files. “Oh, yeah. It’s apartment B-5. It’s all ready for you if you’ll just sign here.”
He signed the lease, then glanced up at her. “Were you here when my friend chose this apartment?”
She shook her head. “No. I think our owner rented it through the phone. Musta been Monday, ’cause I’m off Mondays.”
“I see.”
She got the spare key off of the wall behind her and slid it across the desk, hoping he noticed her nails. “I hope you and your wife enjoy it.”
He grinned, making her heart melt. “I ain’t married.”
“Oh.” She hoped he didn’t hear the delight in her voice. “When will you be moving in, Mr. Barnett?”
“Lee. Call me Lee.”
Victory, she thought. He liked her.
“I’ll be movin’ in right now. Is the apartment furnished?”
Strange days, she thought, when a person didn’t even know if the apartment he’d rented was furnished or not. “Yes, it is.”
“All right, then. All I’ve got is a suitcase in the car. Guess I’ll go on up.”
She watched as he started to walk out, and she leaned forward with a smile. “You holler if you need anything, you hear?”
“Thank you. Thank you very much,” he said with a wink, then left the office.
She sat back in her chair and sighed, then quickly picked up the phone and began to dial frantically. There was so much to tell, and so little time.