Come Rain or Shine: Rose Gardner Investigations #5 (Rose Gardner Investigatons) Read online

  COME RAIN OR SHINE

  ROSE GARDNER INVESTIGATIONS #5

  DENISE GROVER SWANK

  Copyright © 2019 by Denise Grover Swank

  Cover: Bookfly Cover Design

  Model photography: With Magic Photography

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Created with Vellum

  CONTENTS

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Also by Denise Grover Swank

  Also by D.G. Swank

  About the Author

  CHAPTER 1

  “T oday is a good day to die.”

  I threw back my bedroom curtains and glanced over my shoulder. “You stop talkin’ nonsense right now, Violet Mae Beauregard.”

  “We all know it’s comin’,” she said with a sigh. “I should at least have a say about the kind of day I’m gonna go out on.”

  I spun at the waist to face her, lowering my hand to my hip. She’d spent the last two months under my roof, but I still wasn’t used to seeing my previously healthy and robust sister looking like a concentration camp victim. I wasn’t sure I could ever get used to that. But I held on to my irritation, because she much preferred it to pity. “You already had your say when you refused further treatment. You want to special-order the weather now?”

  “Well, of course I do,” she said, leaning back on her stack of pillows. “I’m the one dying; I should get to choose the weather.”

  I turned my attention to the next window. “Why don’t I ask Jonah to come by and help you put in that special request.”

  Jonah Pruitt was the pastor at the New Living Hope Revival Church, and a good friend who had helped me in more ways than I could count, including counseling me off and on for the past year.

  “No need,” she said in a smug tone. “Already taken care of.”

  “You talked to Jonah?” I asked in disbelief.

  She gave me a look that suggested I was a fool. “I’ve got the same line to God as Jonah Pruitt.” Then she held up her hands in front of her as though in prayer.

  She had a point, and I was actually relieved my sister was still trying to manipulate the world to her liking. Death had her in its jaws, but she was still Violet. The past few days had been rough. Her pain had progressively worsened, and the only thing that seemed to help was a medicated sleep. She’d been on heavy doses of pain medication for the past week, and the hospice nurses had told me she’d need it from now up until the end.

  They’d warned me that the end would be here much sooner than I would like.

  But today seemed like a good day. Violet was sitting up and had a bit of color in her cheeks.

  “Good mornin’, Violet,” a cheerful voice called out from behind me. “How are we feeling today?”

  Carly. Violet had called her one of my “strays” when I’d first brought her to the nursery we co-owned, and there was no denying that my best friend Neely Kate and I had found her stranded on the side of the road next to her broken-down car. We’d known from the beginning that Carly was running from something that scared the crap out of her. I’d given her a job and a room in my four-bedroom home until she could figure out where to go next, but she’d paid me back a hundredfold. She was helping me care for Violet, which had turned into a nearly full-time job over the last week or two as Violet’s health deteriorated.

  “I’ve had better days,” my sister said. “I was just telling Rose that today would be a good day to die.”

  “True,” Carly said as she started to take Violet’s blood pressure with a mechanical device hospice had loaned us. “The weather’s perfect today. The sun’s supposed to shine all day. But if you haven’t keeled over by midafternoon, maybe we could get Joe to help carry you downstairs so you can sit on the front porch and watch the kids play with Muffy. Mike said he’d bring them out to the farm after he finished work.”

  Violet was silent for a second, then said in a softer voice, “I’d like that.”

  An eavesdropper would have been horrified by Carly’s statement, but Violet loved the way she talked. Carly held her own, throwing back irreverent comments, and she didn’t treat my sister like she was made of glass.

  I was relieved to hear that Violet’s kids were coming to visit, but it hurt knowing we’d gotten to this state with Mike. Up until now, I was the one who’d made the arrangements to get the kids to and from Violet’s ex-husband, but he’d obviously gone around me. Mike had become more and more distant over the past few weeks, so while I was relieved the kids were coming, his attitude didn’t bode well for my relationship with them after Violet was gone. At least he wasn’t as confrontational as he had been before Violet had moved out to the farm. For that, I knew I had James “Skeeter” Malcolm to thank. The last time I’d seen James, he’d promised to see to it that Mike would be more cooperative. But that begged the question: how did my brother-in-law know the king of the Fenton County crime world?

  The world may have known him as Skeeter, but he was James to me. We’d neither spoken to, nor seen, each other for two months, but he was never far from my thoughts. I tried to remind myself that I’d known from the beginning he would never be mine. Still, I lay awake at night thinking about him. Wondering where he was and what he was doing. Hoping, above all, he was safe.

  The last words he’d spoken to me had implied that he was working undercover for someone. That he was attempting to protect me and clear the way for us to be together, although he hadn’t explained what he’d meant. More than anything, I was confused—if he truly loved me, wouldn’t he have found a way to reach out? Especially when he knew my sister was dying and I needed the people who loved me more than ever.

  There wasn’t much time to stew over it, all told. Violet deserved my full attention, and so she got it. The kids had been staying at the farmhouse with us at first, but they’d started spending more time with their father as Violet’s illness progressed. While I knew Violet hated missing a single minute of what time she had left with them, I also knew she was relieved they didn’t have to see her suffer.

  It was a delicate balance between letting Violet be with her children yet sparing them the horror of her illness. I suspected two-year-old Mikey would only have hazy memories of Violet—a snatch of a song she’d sung him, the sense of being loved in the way only a momma could—but six-year-old Ashley…she’d remember everything. Violet always put on a show of cheerfulness whenever the kids were visiting, and then she’d fall into a deep, exhausted sleep after they left.<
br />
  But Vi’s sassiness this morning gave me hope. Maybe we’d have weeks or months rather than days.

  “I think Joe has several meetings this afternoon,” I said. “But I bet Jed would be more than happy to help.”

  Violet grinned. “I wouldn’t mind Jed Carlisle carryin’ me down the stairs like Rhett Butler carryin’ Scarlett O’Hara on that grand staircase in Gone with the Wind.”

  “You have that silky robe your Aunt Bessie brought you last week,” Carly said as she removed the cuff from Violet’s arm and set it in the nightstand drawer. “We’ll make sure you’re wearing it.”

  I laughed. Violet was all about the drama, and Carly not only encouraged it but took it to the next level. “I’m pretty sure Rhett carried Scarlett up the stairs.”

  Violet rolled her eyes. “Details.”

  “You better be careful,” Carly teased. “Neely Kate’s pretty protective of her man.”

  “She won’t mind,” Violet assured her, then looked up at me. “In fact, this plan works perfectly. I invited Neely Kate and Jed for dinner.”

  That was news to me. “When did you invite them?”

  “Yesterday afternoon. I guess I forgot to tell you.” It was a perfectly reasonable explanation, but I knew my manipulative sister, and I could see she was up to something.

  “Neely Kate’s not cooking, is she?” Carly asked, scrunching her nose. “I love that girl, but I can’t eat another one of her concoctions.”

  We all laughed, but Violet’s laughter transitioned into a deep cough, a bitter reminder that she was living with me and sleeping in my bed while we waited for her to die. No amount of banter would change that. Nothing about our situation was normal. Violet slept in my bed, day and night, while I slept in a spare bedroom. Joe, Neely Kate’s brother and my ex-boyfriend, had moved into the farmhouse to help keep us safe.

  Carly picked up a cup from the bedside table and headed into the bathroom to refill it.

  Violet’s coughing episode settled down, and I forced cheerfulness into my voice as I said, “I’ll cook. We haven’t had a good dinner party in ages.”

  “I want lots of people,” Violet said.

  Carly emerged from the bathroom, handing the cup to Violet. “Sounds fun,” Carly said. “I’d love to help. In fact, why don’t you leave dinner to me, Rose?” She shot Violet a mock glare. “Any more surprise guests? I figure I’ll take your head count and make twice as much food.”

  “Joe, of course,” Violet said. “Now, that man loves your cookin’.”

  “Violet,” Carly said in a warning tone as she turned to tidy up the room.

  “What?” Violet said. “Joe’s unattached. You’re unattached. You should try to snag him. He’s probably the best catch you can find around here.”

  “Second-best catch after that vet, Levi Romano,” Carly teased. “Every married woman I’ve met since arriving in Henryetta has been quick to point that out the moment they find out I’m single.” She lifted a brow and shot me a teasing grin. “And we’ve been over this before. The last thing I need is another man in my life. The last one was a lying asshole, but I would have married him none the wiser if I hadn’t overheard him scheming with my father. Obviously, my judgment in men is not to be trusted.”

  Carly had run from her old life after discovering her fiancé had proposed to her as part of an arrangement with her father.

  “Then trust me,” Violet cooed. “I’ve known Joe for over a year, and they don’t make men as good as him. You better snatch him up before someone else does.”

  “Even if I were interested in Joe,” she said, “he’s not interested in me. He’s not interested in anyone right now. He’s still getting over his last breakup.”

  Violet released a white-flag-waving sigh. “If you’re not interested in Joe, you should take Muffy to the vet. I’m pretty sure I saw her limping.”

  Muffy, who had taken up residence under the bed, let out a whoof.

  “See?” Violet said. “Even Muffy approves.”

  “Muffy doesn’t have a limp,” I said.

  Violet gave me a look that said shut up and go along. She knew I wasn’t interested in Levi in the slightest, and I’d told her until I was blue in the face that Joe and I were two entirely different people from the couple who’d fallen in love a year and a half ago. She must have figured it was Carly’s turn since I’d passed on both Levi and Joe. She knew I’d been involved with someone, although I hadn’t given her any details, and since I’d steadfastly refused her matchmaking attempts, she seemed determined to get at least one person in our household matched up.

  I understood all that…so why did I feel a pinprick of jealousy over her trying to hook Carly up with Joe?

  “I don’t need a man, Violet,” Carly said again as she pulled back the bedding, revealing Violet’s emaciated frame. “I’m quite content at the moment.”

  “Content living in a house full of people you didn’t even know two months ago, taking care of a dying woman?” Violet asked in disbelief.

  Carly helped Violet sit up. “As a matter of fact, yes. I absolutely love it here.”

  “Don’t you miss your family?” Violet asked. This wasn’t a new line of questioning from her. Naturally nosy, she hated Carly’s reticence about her mysterious past.

  “I’ve already told you that I don’t have any family to speak of. My mother died when I was a girl and I don’t have any siblings.”

  “And you’re not close to your father. I get it,” Violet said as Carly wrapped an arm around her back and pulled her to a sitting position. “But what about friends? Aunts and uncles? Cousins? Who just takes off and leaves their life behind?”

  Pain washed over Carly’s face, but Violet’s attention was on her legs, which she was attempting to swing over the side of the bed.

  “Violet,” I softly chastised. “Enough.”

  Violet’s feet were now hanging over the edge of the bed, but the effort had cost her. Her breath was coming in pants. “I want to know your story before I die.”

  All hint of teasing was gone as she held Carly’s gaze.

  Carly stared at her for several seconds, then grasped her hand in a firm grip and nodded solemnly. “I’ll tell you, but not until you’re about to enter the pearly gates. You’re too far from the end for me to be spilling my story now.”

  “Deal,” Violet said, then slowly slid off the bed until her feet touched the wood floor. Her knees started to buckle, and Carly wrapped an arm around her back to hold her up.

  My heart throbbed in my chest. Violet wasn’t better. She wasn’t going to get better either.

  I rushed to her side, intent on helping Carly get her back in bed, but Violet resisted. “I still have to pee.”

  It took both of us to walk Violet to the toilet. When she finished and we got her back into bed, she said in a matter-of-fact tone, “Rose, will you call hospice and tell them Carly needs help?”

  “I don’t think we need to do that quite yet,” Carly protested. “I just didn’t have a good grip on you.”

  “I can’t go to the bathroom without two of you holding me up,” she said, her voice breaking. “It’s time.”

  Carly gave me an apologetic look, as though she thought she’d let us down.

  “Carly, we all know I’m getting weaker, and goodness knows you’ve gone above and beyond,” Violet said. “You need help, and Rose and Neely Kate have to work.”

  “The landscaping business has slowed down,” I lied. “I can spend more time at home or even work from home. Joe’s been letting me use his large-screen laptop for my designs.”

  “Rose,” my sister said in her know-it-all tone. “You know bringing in additional help was always part of the plan.” She glanced between Carly and me. “Why are you two fighting this?”

  Because bringing in a nurse for even part-time care would mean we were closer to the end than I was willing to admit.

  “Just call them, okay?” Violet said, reaching for my hand.

  Her bony fin
gers squeezed my hand, and I tried to blink away tears as I looked down at our joined hands.

  “I’ll do it,” Carly said, her voice sounding strained. “You have a full day ahead of you, Rose. I’ll call them.”

  “That wasn’t so hard, now was it?” Violet said as she released me, her hand falling to her lap as though she’d used up all her strength. “I’m feeling tired again. I think I’ll take a nap.”

  “Not yet,” Carly said, tucking her in. “You’ve got some pills to take first.”

  “I’m going to go catch Joe before he heads out,” I said, my eyes still burning with tears, “and let him know attendance is mandatory at our dinner party.”

  Out in the hall, I took several long seconds to get myself together before I headed downstairs. Muffy sat at my feet, offering her silent support. I squatted down next to her and rubbed her head. “You’re a good girl, Muff, and I know you love comin’ to work with me, but I need to ask you to do me a favor. I need you to stay with Violet today, okay?”

  I knew it was silly, but I knew how much comfort Muffy gave me, and I knew that Violet secretly loved having her around.