Down Home and Deadly

English is n’t his native language, he pays close attention to all his orders. He makes fewer mistakes than . . . ” She put her hand over her mouth and looked at me.
    “What?” I looked right back. “I know you don’t mean me.”
    “Of course I don’t,” Carly said. “I just realized it might be unprofessional to discuss my employees.”
    “So, who do you want to discuss?” Alex asked , and we all laughed.
    I cleared my throat. “We could talk about employers.”
    “Now wait a minute,” Carly drawled.
    “I mean ex-employers, silly. I was just going to say that even though I’m sorry that it took Lisa getting in trouble to do it, I’m relieved that I’ve kind of made peace with Bob.”
    “Funny you should mention Bob and peace in the same sentence.” Elliott dipped a chip in the cheese dip.
    I frowned. “Why?”
    He shrugged. “Just that I heard something weird out on the links this week.” He stuck the chip in his mouth.
    “About Bob?” Alex said.
    Elliott nodded t hen chewed the chip for what seemed like forever. Maybe I was wrong about him being the perfect guy for Carly. Didn’t he know I was dying of curiosity over here?
    He swallowed. Finally. “I heard he and Wilma were full-fledged hippies back in the day. You know, peace, love, flower power. All that stuff.”
    “Like when they were teenagers?” Carly asked.
    Elliott shook his head. “I honestly just heard bits and pieces, but I think it was more recent than that. Maybe when they were our age.”
    “So they were old hippies,” Alex murmured.
    “Speak for yourself,” Carly and I said at the same time.
    We grinned.
    “Wonder what changed him?” I mused.
    Elliott took a drink. “From what I heard, something big.”
    “What?” Carly pushed a jal a pe ñ o over to the side of her plate. “He got arrested for smoking pot?”
    “I really don’t know. More than one group of older men have alluded to it during golf games this week for some reason. But still , all I know is that apparently something bad happened out at Bob’s place back then. And whatever it was, it put him on the straight and narrow.” Elliott took the napkin off his lap and laid it beside his plate.
    “I wonder why people are talking about that now,” Carly said .
    “Because Lisa’s a suspect in a murder?” I suggested.
    “Everything comes back to the murder with you, doesn’t it, w ater g irl?” Alex teased.
    *****
    “I’m so glad you’re feeling better, Mrs. Hanley,” I hugged the tiny, elderly woman gently. “We’ve missed you the last couple of weeks.”
    “It’s good to be here ,” she beamed up at me. “When you’re ninety - six, it’s good to be anywhere.” She laughed as much as I did over her joke. As I moved aside so others could welcome our congregation’s oldest member back, I scanned the crowd for Alex.
    Finally , I spotted him in the corner, in an earnest discussion with Mr. Foshee, the elder who taught Sunday morning Bible class. I sent up a silent but fervent prayer of thanks that the man I loved loved God.
    “Jenna?” Mama appeared beside me. “You and Alex are coming to lunch, aren’t you?”
    My brows drew together , and I nodded. Didn’t we always? Sunday afternoon at Stafford C abins w as a tradition since Carly and I’d moved back to town. I usually contributed green beans or corn , and Carly always brought some elaborate recipe she’d whipped up in her spare time.
    “I’ve got a roast in the oven, but I don’t have a salad. Since Carly’s not going to be there, do you want to bring green beans and corn?”
    “Sure I will. But what do you mean Carly’s not going to be there?” Alex and I had playfully spent the ride to church guessing what culinary delight Carly might have cooked up for lunch today.
    “Didn’t she tell you?”
    “I’m pretty sure she didn’t.” I’d been overworked and tired lately , but my mind hadn’t quite gone on vacation yet.
    M ama smiled. “I guess if she had, you’d have known. She and Elliott are eating together today. But the kids are coming to the house. Zac’s taking them home to change out of church clothes and then bringing them on.”
    “She and Elliott? Alone? This sounds serious. Is it? What exactly did she tell you?” Maybe Carly had finally decided to act on the fact that Elliott was the man of her dreams.
    “Jenna, please remember what curiosity did to the cat.” Honestly , sometimes Mama treated me as if I w ere the twins’ age. “Besides, she