The other woman stopped to take a call on her cell, turning by chance in Mary Beth’s direction. Her red-lipsticked mouth gaped, and not because she was holding up her end of the unheard phone conversation. Even under her makeup, it was possible to see the color drain from her face.

“I’ll get right back to you,” Luellen said hastily, ending the call and slipping the phone into her tiny tote as Mary Beth approached. “Hello. This is a surprise.”

“What are you doing here?” Mary Beth inquired.

“Probably the same thing as you,” Luellen said airily. “I came to see Bobby Joe.”

“You have some nerve.”

Luellen stood her ground in sky-high heels, her long legs wobbling. “How is he?”

“Better. But the nurses would have told you that. You didn’t have to show up.”

“It’s a free country. You can’t stop me,” Luellen retorted.

“No, but I can make you feel good and goddamn sorry you decided to do this.”

Luellen cleared her throat and gave Mary Beth a cold stare from her superior height. “Why would you want to do that?”

Her rudeness only made Mary Beth more angry. “You know perfectly well why. There’s no need for you to upset him, or his mother.”

The mention of Alma seemed to put a dent in Luellen’s confidence. But not for long. “I’m not here to see Mrs. Weston. I doubt she even knows who I am.”

“Oh, she knows, Luellen.” Mary Beth fisted her hands on her hips and glared for all she was worth. “Trust me, she knows.”

Luellen cleared her throat. “Well. That can’t be helped. And there is nothing wrong with my visiting Bobby Joe. I did call in advance.”

They stood there for a few moments in a standoff that neither would break.

“You spoke to him?” Luellen had to have called the room phone.

“No,” Luellen replied.

Bobby Joe’s cell had been destroyed in the crash. Mary Beth’s memory flashed on how she’d snooped through it, looking for Luellen’s number and not finding any calls to or from her after the engagement party fiasco.

Parr had it now. He’d been handed the box with Bobby Joe’s and his mother’s personal belongings—or what remained of them—when he’d arrived at the ER. Mary Beth thought fleetingly that could have been his reason for purchasing the tablet.

“I spoke to a nurse just a few minutes ago, who was very helpful. She informed me that Bobby Joe didn’t have visitors at the moment,” Luellen continued.

“Aha. So you went out of your way to confirm he was alone.”

“Don’t put words in my mouth, Mary Beth. Now, if you’ll excuse me,”—Luellen tapped her foot impatiently—“I want to pick up a bouquet for him.”

“The gift shop is closed.”

“Is it? You seem to know a lot about this hospital.”