Death on a Deadline

we’ve looked everywhere else in town.”
    He raised an eyebrow. “And the fact that you’re practically drooling over that silver Mustang out front has nothing to do with it, right?”
    “Hey, cut a girl some slack, okay?”
    He shook his head. “Gotta keep you on your toes.”
    Amazing how easily we’d gotten back into our old banter. He kept me on my toes all right. Every time I thought of him, my feet barely touched the floor. But I wasn’t ready to tell him that yet.
    Honest Larry walked out to meet us. We exchanged pleasantries with him and I glanced around at the cars. The silver Mustang made all the others in the lot look like scrap metal. I’d bought my first car for safety, same reason I’d taken the teaching job. Now I was finally ready to step out on faith a little bit, take a chance. The Mustang was a step.
    “ Wanna drive her?”
    “Hmm?” I looked at Larry. He and Alex were both watching me.
    “What? The Mustang?” I smiled, trying hard for nonchalant, but I could tell by Alex’s knowing grin I’d missed the mark. “Sure, I’ll take her for a spin.”
    Less than two hours later, I drove away happy in my new-to-me silver Mustang.

Twenty

    I tucked my legs up under me on the couch and looked at the letter again.

    Dear Pru,
    My house is a mess, my kids are rude, and my husband doesn’t appreciate me. But today for a few minutes, we were outside raking leaves and the love was as tangible as the cold rake handle. Should I take advantage of those times to talk about how awful it is the rest of the time? Or just leave well enough alone?
    ~ Unsure.

    *****

    After we’d gotten the car, Alex had left his truck at my house and followed me over to Mama and Daddy’s in Mama’s Buick. Everyone ran out to see my new car, and we’d all teased Zac mercilessly for asking first thing if he could borrow it. When Alex and I were leaving, my parents and Carly and her kids stood on the big front porch for a few minutes, laughing and talking, enjoying one of those simple times that you want to freeze and replay over and over. I’d leaned against the porch rail and silently thanked God for the love he’d given us all.
    I thought of that as I penned my reply:

    Dear Unsure,
    Sometimes, even in the midst of chaos, you have to grab little moments of peace and happiness wherever you can get them. I’d find a blank-slate time, like first thing in the morning, to discuss your problems. Let life’s joys be spontaneous and unhampered. Peace to you and yours.

    *****

    I picked up another letter. I’d started with an easy one, but they seemed a little more difficult to answer this week. Maybe my mind was just too distracted. I reached for the folder of archive letters I’d brought home the first week. A refresher in how the preceding Dear Prus answered might help. I flipped through the questions and snappy answers. Snappy was cute, but sometimes it was too close to snippy. Besides, I wanted to develop my own style.
    I started to close the folder when the bright yellow brochure that Carly and I had seen earlier caught my attention. I picked it up.

    Makeover for Couples!

    Two-for-One Special at the Luxury Spa in Memphis
    Thursday, Sept 5 thru Sunday, Sept 8

    Surprise your Special Someone with a spa weekend
    featuring Botox and collagen injections in the privacy
    of your Luxury suite with your own personal attendant.
    Tanning beds, permanent makeup, and elimination
    of spider veins and unsightly age spots included.
    No need to grow old together gracefully
    when you can stay young for each other forever.

    Something bothered me about that brochure. I just couldn’t put my finger on it. The dates were long past. I glanced at them again. Actually, the dates included the day Hank was murdered. Had Hank considered doing this with Marge and then not gone through with it? If he had, it might have saved his life. Somehow I couldn’t imagine him and Marge with tautly stretched skin and full-lipped smiles. That was more up Byron and Amelia’s alley.
    Of course. Their stiff smiles at the funeral. Amelia’s perfect makeup. My thought that they were plastic. They must have been doing little procedures here and there for a long time. Even Hank’s upcoming editorial about the mayor being up to his eyebrows in something was a clue. I touched the brochure. Hank must have figured out they were going and intended to rat them out in the paper when they returned.
    It wasn’t worth killing someone to keep a few beauty