“Genes. Look at Mother. I’ve never seen her mussed.”
“I guess so. God knows my father didn’t cotton to good grooming.”
“Don’t expect any pity from me. You know your rugged good looks are irresistible to the ladies. We’re different types, that’s all.”
“Together, we’d be great.”
“We were.”
“Huh?”
“Remember the night we shared one of the Gail sisters behind the National Guard armory. Which one was it?”
Reede chuckled. “Damned if I remember. I’m too tired to think, much less remember.”
“You’ve been putting in a lot of overtime, haven’t you?”
“It’s taken that,” he paused strategically, “just to keep an eye on Alex and keep her from getting hurt.”
Reede saw the interest spark in Junior’s eyes. “She’s a handful, all right.”
“I’m not joking. She almost got killed this afternoon.”
“What?” Junior swung his feet over the side of the bed to the floor. “What happened? Is she hurt?” Reede told Junior about the incident on the highway. “I’d better call her,” he said as soon as Reede finished.
“Don’t. When I left her, she was asleep. They gave her a painkiller at the hospital and it was already working.”
He could feel the weight of Junior’s inquisitive stare, but he didn’t acknowledge it. He wasn’t going to explain why he’d felt it necessary to tuck Alex in. It had taken all his willpower to walk out of that room and deny himself the luxury of lying beside her all night.
“Some Mexicans witnessed the whole thing. They said it was an ME truck, and it deliberately ran her off the road.”
Junior looked confused. “My first guess would be that preacher.”
“Where would he get one of your company trucks?”
“A devoted member of his flock could be an employee.”
“I’ve got a man checking out that possibility, although I doubt anything’ll turn up.”
The two friends were silent for a moment. Finally, Reede said casually, “I understand you had breakfast with Alex this morning.”
“She called and asked me to meet her.”
“Why?”
“She said you told her about Celina’s attempted abortion.”
Reede averted his head. “Yeah.”
“I don’t like to second-guess you, friend, but—”
“Then, don’t.” Reede rolled out of the chair and came to his feet.
“Okay, okay. I just fail to see why it was necessary.”
Reede didn’t intend to talk about last night at all. “What else did you discuss over breakfast?”
“The night Celina died. Alex wanted to know if I’d proposed.” Junior recounted that morning’s conversation with Alex.