“Charlie, Diesel, am I glad to see the two of you.” Helen Louise slipped off her jacket after giving me a kiss and the cat a scratch of the head. “I’ve spent the most frustrating hour. I’m about ready to take somebody’s head off.”

“Uh-oh. What happened?” I took her hand and tucked it into the crook of my arm. I led her toward the kitchen, while Diesel made circles around us on the way.

“Vera Cassity. That’s what happened.” The venom in Helen Louise’s voice didn’t surprise me, considering Vera was the cause of her distress.

“What did she do?” I asked as we walked into the kitchen.

“All she’s doing,” Helen Louise replied, eyes flashing hatred, “is trying to run me out of business.”

EIGHT

Helen Louise sank into the chair Sean pulled out for her. Diesel put a paw on her leg and laid his head beside it. He warbled for her, and she sighed and rubbed his head. “Oh, you sweet boy. You’re just what I needed.” She glanced at me and then at the other two faces regarding her with concern. “All of you.”

“How is the Wicked Witch of North Mississippi trying to run you out of business?” Laura handed Helen Louise a glass of iced tea.

Helen Louise took a quick sip before she responded. “Delicious. Vera had the gall to come into the bakery around four thirty this afternoon and inform me—in a voice loud enough for everyone within five miles to hear—that the Friends board was canceling its order for the gala. Do you know how much money I spent on the ingredients for all those pastries and cakes?”

“Why on earth would they cancel? The gala’s only a few days away.” Laura frowned. “That doesn’t make any sense.”

“No, it doesn’t,” I said. “Did Vera give you a reason?”

“She certainly did. She had the colossal nerve to say someone on the board had heard that several people came down with food poisoning after eating some of my food.” Helen Louise drained the rest of her tea. “That was an out-and-out lie.”

“Of course it was.” I squeezed her shoulder, and she put a hand over mine as she smiled up at me.

“How about a refill?” Sean reached for Helen Louise’s glass.

“Definitely,” she said. “Slip a little bourbon in it while you’re at it.”

Sean grinned. “If that’s what you want, I think Dad’s got some stashed away somewhere.”

Helen Louise laughed. “No, only kidding. If I start on the bourbon, I’ll just get maudlin, and none of you needs to see that.”

“What did you say to Mrs. Cassity about the food poisoning?” Laura asked. She bent to peek in the oven. “Time to get this out.”

“I lit into her like a wild dog after Jezebel.” Helen Louise offered a grim smile. “I told her exactly what I thought of her, and I also told her my lawyer would call her first thing tomorrow and she’d better be prepared for the biggest lawsuit for slander the great state of Mississippi has ever seen.”