“Eloise Foley!” Merijoy Rucker’s eyes went all crinkly with delight at the sight of me. I guess she’d forgotten the incident with the balcony. “How in the world are you?” she asked, giving me a big hug. She stepped back and looked me over. “And where on earth did you get this darling dress?”
Merijoy Rucker liked my Zelda dress. I was a success. “You really like the dress?” I said shyly. “It’s Hattie Carnegie. From the late twenties, I think.”
“It’s adorable,” Merijoy assured me. “Vintage clothing is one of my favorite things. Nobody but you could pull off a look like that, Eloise. After all the weight I’ve put on having babies, if I put on something like that, I’d look like Omar the Tentmaker.”
“Oh no,” I protested. “You’re so thin, Merijoy. Thinner than high school, even.”
Merijoy glanced around the room. People were saying their good-byes, moving toward the door. She was watching Caroline and Gerry Blankenship, who were across the room, their heads bent in earnest discussion, with particular interest.
“So sad about Miss Mullinax, isn’t it? Did you know her well?”
It was the question I’d been dreading. I looked around for Uncle James, hoping he’d come over, strike up a conversation, and save the day. No good. James was schmoozing BeBe’s grandparents.
“I didn’t know her well,” I said, trying to sound cool. “She was more a friend of my Uncle James. I just tagged along as company.” I lowered my voice. “To tell you the truth, Merijoy, the real reason I came was out of concern for Beaulieu. Such a historic landmark. Losing it would be a blow.”
“Lose Beaulieu? What do you mean? Do you know something I don’t?”
Caroline had zeroed in on me now. Her eyes were shooting off hateful little sparks from across the room. She said something to Gerry Blankenship. Now both of them were staring at me. Caroline could probably read lips. She did everything else. Easy, girl, I told myself. Be sweet.
“You know Savannah. I’ve just been hearing rumors, that’s all.” I did a little sidestep to put my back to Caroline, so she couldn’t read my brain waves.
I leaned in toward Merijoy.
“Paper mill.” I breathed the words, hardly moving my lips at all.
“No,” Merijoy said. She clutched at her scrawny chest and rolled her big dark eyes as though she might have a cardiac infarction. “There is no way in this wide world that could happen. Do you hear me?”
I’d really pushed a button.
“I talked to Miss Mullinax,” Merijoy explained. “For months and months now. We had dinner at Elizabeth’s on Thirty-seventh back in February. She showed me some of the original land grant documents for Beaulieu. She as much as promised Beaulieu would be left to the preservation league. We talked about a living museum. I’ve already started inquiring about grant money for the restoration. The place needs a massive infusion of cash. There are several foundations that’ve expressed interest. The plantation outbuildings would be restored, a small-scale rice-growing operation. She would never…”
“Maybe there’s been a misunderstanding,” I said hastily. “Please forget I said anything, Merijoy. If you say Beaulieu is safe, I’m sure that’s right.”
Merijoy pursed her lips thoughtfully. “Gerry Blankenship is Miss Anna Ruby’s attorney. I thought it would be sort of, well, grasping, to call on him any earlier. Out of respect for Miss Anna Ruby. But I’ve been phoning his office, leaving messages, to find out about the will. And today, I’ve tried to get a moment with him ever since he got here. He won’t look me in the eye. Do you know that woman he’s been talking to? I’ve seen her around town, I believe.”
“I know her,” I said, my stomach twisting into knots. “Her name is Caroline DeSantos. She’s an architect in Tal’s firm. She’s his new fiancée.”
Merijoy winced. “Then it is true. I’d heard things weren’t going well between you two. I’m sorry, Eloise.”
“I like to be called Weezie,” I said, lifting my chin. “The divorce was final last month.”
“What about your house?” Merijoy asked, her inner alarm going off.
Merijoy knew every inch of every house in the historic district. She was always peeping in at people’s windows and sneaking around in lanes.
“Your house,” Merijoy said mournfully. “All your hard work. That place was a ruin before you bought it. I used to ride by there all the time and I’d say to Randy Rucker, ‘That place is a disgrace. Somebody needs to buy it and rescue it before there’s nothing left but a pile of brick dust.’ You’re not going to sell the house, are you? Because Adelaide and Malcolm Osborne have been looking for something around Troup Square for months….”
“The carriage house isn’t for sale,” I said, from between gritted teeth.
Really. Some people are such vultures. Ever since word of our divorce had gotten out, people had been stopping me on the street. “So sorry about the breakup—does that house have a full bath on the ground floor, or is it just a powder room?”
“Tal got the big house in the divorce settlement,” I explained. “But I got the carriage house. That’s where I’m living. It’s actually ideal for me. Two bedrooms, two baths, a study, and I got half the garden too.”
“And that adorable little kitchen. I hope you didn’t do anything to cover up those exposed brick walls.” Merijoy cocked one eyebrow. “So you’re living on the same property as Tal and his fiancée. How unusual. I’ve got to give you credit, Weezie; you’re much more open-minded than I would be if my husband left me for another woman. Why, if Randy Rucker so much as looked at somebody else, I swear, Weezie, I’d have to take the law into my own hands.”
Caroline and Gerry Blankenship were walking toward the front door. Caroline stopped once, looked over her shoulder at me, trying to figure out what I was doing.
Merijoy saw where I was looking. “I swear, Weezie, don’t you want to just kill her?”