Where Azaleas Bloom by Sherryl Woods Read Free Book Online Page A

deny yourself that just to avoid a few innocent questions?”
    “There is absolutely nothing innocent about any of your
questions, Raylene. You could give those 60 Minutes reporters a run for their money.”
    “Then you must know it won’t do any good for you to try to
dodge me,” she said cheerfully. “See you at the table in a half hour.”
    For a man who’d been bemoaning the loss of the most important
woman in his life and the ensuing loneliness, he suddenly had a surplus of
bossy, know-it-all women around him. Once he was back home tonight, he was going
to have to think about exactly how he felt about that.
    * * *
    “I may have some idea about what’s been happening to
that money Ed’s supposed to be paying,” Helen told Lynn when she stopped by with
a check.
    As soon as the words left her mouth, she glanced around
guiltily. “Are the kids here?”
    Lynn shook her head. “Lexie’s next door and Jeremy’s down the
street playing with friends in the park.”
    “Good. I wouldn’t want them to overhear this.”
    “What’s happening?”
    “Jimmy Bob is supposed to be taking care of those payments,
right?”
    Lynn nodded. “That’s what Ed told me.”
    “Well, Jimmy Bob’s nowhere to be found at the moment.”
    Lynn regarded her with surprise. “You mean he’s vanished?”
    “Vanished, gone on vacation, who knows? All I know is the
office was closed up tight when I stopped by, and there was a sign on the door
that said the law practice was closed indefinitely. I called my investigator and
asked him to see what he could find out.”
    “I know you’re not crazy about the way Jimmy Bob practices law,
but isn’t this odd, even for him?” Lynn asked.
    Helen nodded. “He’s pulled quite a few stunts over the years,
but I’ve never known him to disappear in the middle of a case. We have another
court date next week. Unless he gets a postponement, which so far I’ve had no
indication that he’s asked for, the judge is going to expect him to appear. Ed,
too.”
    “Maybe they’ve both run off on this fun-filled golf trip I hear
Ed is on.”
    Helen shrugged. “Could be, but that doesn’t feel right, either.
His secretary should be there fielding calls at least. He doesn’t even have an
answering machine turned on.”
    “Maybe he just figured if he was on vacation, she might as well
be, too,” Lynn speculated. “That happens, doesn’t it? Small offices just shut
down and everyone goes on vacation at the same time?”
    “Not in my profession, with court dates always changing and
emergencies cropping up with clients,” Helen insisted. “Of course, Jimmy Bob
doesn’t always operate the way a real professional should.”
    She waved off the discussion. “There’s no point in trying to
figure out what Jimmy Bob is up to. We’ll know soon enough. In the meantime, the
check should tide you over, and I’ve scheduled an appointment with the bank
manager tomorrow. I’ll let you know what sort of temporary terms I’m able to
negotiate. I don’t think they’ll be unreasonable until we get this mess
straightened out.”
    “Thank you, Helen. I honestly don’t know what I’d do without
you. I think I knew when we were still in high school that you were going to be
this mega-successful attorney for the underdog. Remember when you defended Jane
Thompson before the student court for cheating? Nobody thought you stood a
chance of getting her off.”
    “She was innocent,” Helen said, smiling.
    “Really?” Lynn said skeptically. “She wasn’t caught red-handed
passing a note in the middle of an exam?”
    “She was caught red-handed with a note,” Helen admitted. “But,
in fact, it was Jimmy Bob West who’d shoved it into her hand when he saw the
teacher heading their way. He was scum even back then.”
    “Didn’t he try to convince you to go into practice with him a
few years ago?” Lynn asked. “I’d like to have been there when you gave him an
answer.”
    Helen chuckled. “I just told