Penny Sue Got Lucky

“And just what did Doc Stone’s receptionist tell you I’ve done?”

“You’re wasting Aunt Lottie’s money on the most foolish notion I’ve ever heard of,” Val said. “Hiring a bodyguard for that stupid dog is outrageous. Whatever were you thinking?”

Sticking her nose in the air, hoping for a snooty look since she couldn’t quite pull off defiant, Penny Sue replied, “I was thinking that Lucky needed protection from whomever is trying to kill him.”

Val groaned. “Nobody is trying to kill that mutt. You have no right to spend Aunt Lottie’s money—”

Penny Sue stuck her index finger right in Val’s face. “It’s not Aunt Lottie’s money anymore. It’s Lucky’s money.” Val’s expression hardened, putting wrinkles in her forehead and between her eyes. Val wasn’t aging well. Another trait she must have inherited from the other side of her family. The Paines always aged well. “Have you forgotten that someone shot Lucky and nearly killed him?”

“It was an accident. All the men around Alabaster Creek own guns and many of them target practice in their backyards, so it’s not that big a stretch to think a stray bullet might hit something other than its intended target. Even the police think that Lucky was just in the wrong place at the wrong time and—”

“Hogwash.”

“What?”

“You heard me—hogwash. One of my relatives—” she looked pointedly at Val “—is willing to murder Lucky in order to inherit his money.”

Val huffed, then sucked in her cheeks and pursed her lips.

Penny Sue wondered if Dylan had ever noticed that his wife was not a pretty woman. Sexy. Yes. Attractive in a floozie kind of way. Yes. But pretty. No. And as she grew older, the good Paine genes she had inherited from her father—a first cousin to Lottie, Dottie, Douglas and Percy—were being ravaged by the less-favorable genes she had inherited from her mother. Valerie’s mother had not been a pretty woman either. None of the Good-wins in and around Alabaster Creek were good-looking.

“You should know that I’ve called a meeting for this evening so that we can discuss what you’ve done,” Val said. “Even Aunt Dottie is upset with you.”

In her peripheral vision, Penny Sue caught a glimpse of Hazel Carruthers cautiously coming up the aisle, her eyes wide, her attention focused on the loud disagreement. “Call all the meetings you want. I’ve done what I thought best for Lucky and there’s really nothing you can do about it.”

“I think someone other than you should be named executor of Aunt Lottie’s will and made Lucky’s guardian.”

Penny Sue took a step toward her cousin, who took a step back, her eyes rounded in surprise. “I’m not going to hit you, even though a part of me would like to slap you silly. You’re such a twit. Aunt Lottie chose me for good reason. And Uncle Willie made sure there’s little chance of her wishes being overturned in any court of law. Lucky inherited Aunt Lottie’s money and I’m her executor and Lucky’s guardian and I intend to see that Lucky lives to a ripe old age. He’s only four. He could easily live another ten or twelve years.”

“Do you intend to throw away millions on a private bodyguard for the next ten years? If you do, you’ll be certifiably insane and we might be able to have you committed.”

Penny Sue grinned. “Get real, will you? I’m a Paine. I’m supposed to be eccentric. And as for keeping a bodyguard indefinitely—I don’t think that will be necessary. Once we find out who tried to kill Lucky, Uncle Willie says it’s possible that we can legally remove that person from the list of heirs.”

“You can’t do that!”

“No, I can’t, but Uncle Willie probably can. There’s a provision in Aunt Lottie’s will that speaks to that issue.”

“I don’t remember Uncle Willie reading anything about—”

“It was worded in legal jargon and everyone was so upset and making all kinds of threats that day that I seriously doubt anyone was listening when he read the specific provision concerning disqualifying heirs.”

“Well, I can assure you that Dylan and I would never harm a hair on Lucky’s head,” Val said. “And I really don’t think anyone else in the family tried to kill Lucky, but if they did, then they should definitely be removed from the list of heirs who will inherit when Lucky dies.”

Penny Sue’s grin widened. Valerie had changed her tune rather quickly. No doubt she was calculating how much more money she would inherit if the list of heirs was cut by one. That meant either she was not the would-be killer or she was trying to figure out a way to frame someone else.

“I’ll let the others know that this bodyguard you’ve hired for Lucky is only a temporary thing,” Val said. “However, since you’re the one who hired him, I think you should be the one to pay him—out of your own pocket. It’s not fair to take money away from the rest of us, now is it?”

Penny Sue glowered at Val. The bell over the entrance door chimed again. Since Hazel stood only a few feet away, that meant someone new had entered the shop. Momentarily taking her eyes off Val to check on the newcomer, Penny Sue saw her cousin Eula, who had retired from her job at Alabaster Creek Utilities last year, at the age of sixty-two. Eula worked part-time at Penny Sue’s Pretties now. And today was one of her three half-days, which included Wednesdays, Saturdays and Fridays.

Val turned and smiled when she saw Eula. “I’m glad you came in before I left. I’m phoning everyone in the family to let them know I’m hosting a meeting tonight to discuss Penny Sue’s decision to hire a bodyguard for Lucky. Telling you in person saves me a phone call.”

Eula’s faded brown eyes glanced from Val to Penny Sue. “You hired a bodyguard for Lottie’s dog?”

“An expensive bodyguard who’ll watch Lucky twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week,” Val said. “Isn’t that a ridiculous waste of money?”

Frown lines wrinkled Eula’s forehead as her narrowed gaze confronted Penny Sue. Eula was a true Paine in looks and personality. A first cousin to Penny Sue’s father, Eula possessed the same dark eyes, hair and complexion as Lottie and Dottie, as well as the high-strung, opinionated and eccentric nature for which all the Paine women were infamous. And, she, too, was an old maid.

“You still think one of us tried to kill Lucky, don’t you?” Eula asked.

“I know one of the heirs shot Lucky and it’s my job to protect him,” Penny Sue said.

“Then you’ve done the right thing by hiring someone to guard him around the clock.” Eula moved past her cousins and headed toward the back of the store.

“Eula!” Val shrieked the name.

Eula stopped, turned and said, “Valerie, did your mother not teach you that it’s very unladylike to scream?”

Scowling, Val walked toward Eula. “I believe Penny Sue should cover the cost of the bodyguard herself and not take the money out of our inheritance.”

Eula cocked her head to one side. “Hmm…” She cocked her head to the other side, then sighed dramatically. “No, that wouldn’t be right. Lucky is Lottie’s dog, so Lottie’s money should pay for protecting him.”

Val fumed. You could practically see the steam rising off the top of her bleached-blond head. “Since you’re apparently on Penny Sue’s side in this matter, there’s no point in your being at tonight’s meeting. I’ll tell the others—”

“That won’t be necessary,” Penny Sue said. “Eula and I are family. We’re two of the heirs who will inherit when Lucky goes to puppy-dog heaven, so we will most certainly want to be present at the meeting. As a matter of fact, I’ll even bring Lucky’s bodyguard with me so y’all can meet him.”

Val’s eyes grew large as saucers and her mouth gaped into an outraged oval.

“Close your mouth, dear,” Eula said, “before you start catching flies.”

Val shut her mouth, then opened it again, wide enough to speak. “Seven o’clock, at Aunt Dottie’s. She’s graciously agreed to allow us to meet in her home since my house is rather small.”

“How very gracious of Aunt Dottie to offer her home, especially considering that she’s living in Aunt Lottie’s house, which, by the way, is now my home. Mine and Lucky’s.”

“But I thought you moved back to your place after Lucky was shot,” Val said. “I naturally assumed—”

“Never assume,” Penny Sue told her. “I simply took the opportunity to go back to my place and start packing in order to make the move into the Paine mansion permanent.”

“Oh, I see.”

Penny Sue barely managed to hide the smile beginning to curve her lips. Every member of the family had wanted the house, but Aunt Lottie, who had owned it free and clear, had left the house to Penny Sue, with the provision that both Lucky and Dottie be allowed to live there for the remainder of their lives. The Paine mansion was the biggest and best house in town. Built in the early 1880s, the three-story Victorian house boasted wide porches, two circular towers and a profusion of elaborate gingerbread trim. Aunt Lottie had chosen to paint the place in various shades of green and pink. Nothing gaudy, just colors that were appropriate for the style and design of the house. Original paint colors, true to the Victorian era.

Eula reached out and patted Val on the shoulder. “We’ll see you tonight then, dear. At seven. At Penny Sue’s house.”

Val forced a smile before jerking around and stomping out of the shop.

The minute the bell over the door chimed, Hazel Carruthers rushed toward Penny Sue and Eula.

“I…uh…I’ll come back later and discuss redecorating the bedroom. I do apologize for being present while y’all discussed family matters. But I swear not a word of what I heard will go one bit further. I know how to keep my mouth shut.”

Penny Sue and Eula exchanged yeah-sure-tell-me-another-one glances. Hazel hurried out of the shop, as if her butt was on fire. The first person she met once outside on the sidewalk was Stella Lowrance, the owner of the Cut and Curl beauty salon.

Penny Sue groaned, then shook her head and laughed.

“Well, the family’s personal business will be front-page news by suppertime tonight,” Eula said. “The two biggest busybodies in town are Hazel and Stella. Everybody’s going to know that you’ve hired a bodyguard for Lucky and that most of the family members aren’t happy about it. We’ll be the talk of the town.”

Penny Sue shrugged. “Everybody in town would have known anyway. It seems Tanya over at Doc Stone’s is telling everyone she sees. Besides, what do we care what other people say about us? The Paines have been the talk of Alabaster Creek for several generations. I can’t imagine what the good citizens would find to talk about if not for us.”

Vic slowed the rental car, a mid-size black Chevy, as he entered the downtown area of Alabaster Creek. Apparently a recent renovation of the area had restored many of the old buildings to their original splendor, giving Main Street the look of a bygone era. Underground utilities, trees and shrubs on every corner and gas-lamp-style streetlights added to the ambience. He drove slowly up the street, glancing at the shops on his left. He passed a bakery, a drugstore/ice cream parlor, a hardware store and—Penny Sue’s Pretties. He whipped the car into a parking place, the only empty one on the block, at the very end of the street. He should probably take the time to read over the file folder Daisy had given him on Ms. Paine, but there should be time enough for that tonight. He could have read the file on the plane from Atlanta, but the flight had lasted less than thirty minutes, so he’d opted for a quick nap. When he’d phoned Ms. Paine from the Huntsville airport, she’d told him that they wouldn’t be picking up Lucky until tomorrow, so he wouldn’t be on official bodyguard duty until then.

“The family is having a meeting tonight,” she’d said. “Some of them disapprove of my hiring you. I intend for us to be there and I want you to make it clear that you’ll be investigating the crime and bringing the person who shot Lucky to justice.”

Vic grunted as he got out of the car and stepped up on the sidewalk. It wasn’t that he didn’t like dogs. He did. As a boy, raised in the backwoods of Kentucky, near the Tennessee border, he’d known men who thought more of their hunting dogs than they did their wives. He’d even had a dog himself when he was a kid. But Old Beau had slept outside and eaten scraps from the table. In the dead cold of winter, he found a spot under the floor near the gas furnace to stay warm. People of Vic’s acquaintance didn’t pamper dogs, didn’t treat them like they were humans. And they sure as hell didn’t leave them twenty-three million dollars.

He paused before entering Ms. Paine’s shop, a two-story structure painted pale yellow, with a bright blue awning over the entrance and two huge display windows flanking either side of the glass door, the wooden trim also a bright blue. Hanging on the brick wall at the second-story level were large bright blue wooden letters that spelled out Penny Sue’s Pretties. As he glanced into the display windows, he noted a variety of items, from an antique chair covered in a floral material to scented candles and an assortment of toiletries. Scattered throughout the other items on display was an assortment of Easter items, such as baskets, hand-painted porcelain eggs and toy bunny rabbits.

Just the thought of going inside this store made him shiver. He avoided “girlie” places like the plague. His idea of hell on earth was going shopping with a woman. Any woman. He appreciated seeing a woman in a sheer silk teddy and lying on satin sheets as much as the next man, just so long as he didn’t have to go with her to shop for her undies or her bed linens.

Drawing in a deep, you-can-do-this breath, Vic reached for the door handle. The minute he opened the door, he heard a bell tinkling. Oh, God! Looking up, he saw the little silver bell attached to the facing over the door so that any entrance to or exit from the shop would trigger the chime. After stepping into the shop overflowing with wall-to-wall “pretties,” Vic scanned the interior. There were half a dozen shoppers, each carrying a yellow straw basket approximately twelve-by-twenty inches in size. Then he saw the person he assumed was Ms. Paine standing with one of the customers, pointing out the superiority of soy candles over wax candles.

“These are a new line of candles that we just started carrying a couple of weeks ago,” Ms. Paine said. “They’re clean-burning and soot-free. You must smell this one.” She picked up a glass container, popped off the lid and held it under the customer’s nose. “Cinnamon. Isn’t it heavenly?”

Vic cleared his throat. Both women looked at him.

“Yes, sir, I’ll be with you in a moment.” Ms. Paine smiled at him.

Vic nodded, then tried his best to be as inconspicuous as possible, which wasn’t easy for a guy who stood six-four. For a couple of minutes he stared down at the wooden floor, then he hazarded a glance to the right and then to the left. In both directions, he saw women staring at him, sizing him up, whispering about the stranger in town. At least he figured that was what they were whispering about. Cutting his gaze sharply toward the ceiling, he tightened his hands into fists. He released, then tightened, then released again.

How long did it take to sell a woman a damn candle? When he glanced in Ms. Paine’s direction, he noted that she was leading the customer toward the glass counter at the front of the shop where a computerized cash register waited to ring up the sale. Ms. Paine looked older than she’d sounded on the phone. Her voice had been bubbly. And soft and slightly sexy. He’d imagined her to be in her twenties or thirties. But this lady had to be in her fifties. In her younger days, she’d probably been pretty. Even now, with short gray hair and tiny wrinkles framing her eyes and mouth, she was attractive, in a neat and orderly sort of way.

Vic headed for the checkout counter just as Ms. Paine rounded the corner and came toward him.

“Yes, sir, how may I help you?” She smiled pleasantly.

Maybe this woman wasn’t Ms. Paine. She could be an employee, couldn’t she? “Ms. Paine?”

“Yes.”

He didn’t know whether to be relieved or disappointed. Relieved, he told himself. “I’m Vic Noble.”

She stared at him quizzically, as if she’d never heard the name before in her life. How was that possible? He had spoken to her only an hour ago.

“Vic Noble, from the Dundee agency,” he told her.

“The Dundee agency?”

“Dundee Private Security and Investigation.”

“Oh!” Her mouth formed a wide-open circle. “You must be Lucky’s bodyguard.”

“Yes, ma’am. We spoke on the phone. I called you from Huntsville.”

She laughed. “Oh, my dear young man, you didn’t speak to me. You spoke to—”

“You spoke to me, Mr. Noble.” The syrupy-sweet voice came from behind him.

He turned, took one look at the lady and felt as if he’d been pole-axed. The woman smiling at him as she came forward took his breath away. He didn’t know any other way to describe how he felt. As a rule, women either turned him on or they didn’t. This woman did a lot more than turn him on. She turned him inside out, and he sure as hell didn’t like the feeling.

She held out her small, delicate hand. “I’m Penny Sue Paine. It’s so nice to meet you, Mr. Noble.”

He stared at her hand for a split second, then took it, shook it a little too hard and released it as if it were a red-hot poker. Say something, he told himself. Don’t just stand here looking at her. But his male libido told him to look all he wanted, to appreciate every lovely curve of her body, every feature of her pretty face.

So this was Penny Sue Paine? Executor of Lottie Paine’s will and guardian to Lucky, the multi-millionaire dog.

She stared at him with huge, chocolate-brown eyes, fringed with thick dark lashes. Her features were almost too perfect. Small, tip-tilted nose. Full luscious lips. Oval face. Flawless olive complexion that probably tanned easily. And a mane of dark auburn-brown hair that flowed around her slender shoulders.

And her body? Holy hell. The body was to die for. No more than five-four, with an hourglass shape. Tiny waist, rounded hips and high, full breasts.

“Are you all right, Mr. Noble?” she asked.

“Uh…yeah, I’m fine. I was just surprised there for a minute. I thought the other lady—” he inclined his head toward the older Ms. Paine.

“That’s my cousin, Eula,” Penny Sue said.

“I see.”

“Now that you’re here, we can go to Doc Stone’s so you can meet Lucky or we can go to the house so you can settle in or—have you had lunch? If not, we can go over to the Country Kettle. What would you like to do first?” Penny Sue asked.

What would he like to do first? The one and only thought that popped into Vic’s mind was I’d like to screw you, Miss Penny Sue. That’s what I’d like to do.

Chapter 2

Penny Sue walked alongside the Dundee agent she had hired to protect Lucky and wondered exactly what kind of man this Vic Noble was—other than being a devastatingly attractive male specimen. The first moment she’d seen him, she had instantly gone weak in the knees. And that wasn’t something she did all that often. It had only happened a couple of times in her entire life. The first time had been when Dylan Redley French-kissed her when she was fifteen. The second time had been when she’d met Mr. Tom Selleck in person.

“I hope you don’t mind walking,” Penny Sue said. “I always walk to and from the shop. It’s good exercise and gives me a chance to do a little politicking when I see my neighbors on their porches or in their yards.”

When he didn’t respond, she cut her eyes in his direction to see if he’d even heard her. Since they had turned his rental car in, at her suggestion, over at Burns’s Service Station and Mini-Mart, the man hadn’t said ten words to her. She’d had to explain to him that Burns’s was also the automobile and moving-van rental place in town. Old Man Burns had believed in diversifying and his two sons, Dwight and Dwayne, were following in his footsteps.

“You won’t need a car,” Penny Sue had told Vic. “You can use either my car or Aunt Lottie’s car while you’re here.”

As she glanced at Lucky’s protector, Penny Sue noted how very tall he was. She was five-four and he stood a good foot taller than she. Without being too obvious, she let her gaze travel over him, from his thick, dark hair, down his proud nose to his wide, hard mouth. Didn’t this man ever smile?

Several times, he had walked a few steps ahead of her, but when he’d realized she couldn’t keep up with his long gait, he’d slowed and got in step with her. As they left the commercial blocks of downtown Alabaster Creek and moved on to the first residential street—Maple Avenue—she began searching for any voters who might be out and about this afternoon. So far, she’d paused to speak to half a dozen people in town, but Maple Avenue seemed deserted, not a person in sight.

“Alabaster Creek is one of the oldest towns in north Alabama,” Penny Sue said, just making conversation, which wasn’t easy with this man. “We were actually a town before Alabama became a state.”

Vic Noble didn’t say a word. With his black vinyl suitcase in hand, he marched alongside her. Tall, dark and silent.

“Most of the houses here on Maple Avenue were built post-War Between the States, but there’s one—see, right up there, the two-story white wooden structure—that was built in 1838. It’s the Rutland house. And would you believe descendants of the family who built the house still live in it today. As a matter of fact, Tommy Rutland is running against me for mayor. His father was once the mayor, but then again so was my father and my grandfather.”

“Hmm…”

Most people found the history of Alabaster Creek interesting, but not this man. What was his problem? Didn’t he know that not keeping up your end of a conversation was considered bad manners?

“You aren’t much of a talker, are you, Mr. Noble?”

“No, ma’am, I’m not.”

He didn’t bother even to look at her, which irritated her no end. This man might be big and macho and terribly attractive in a caveman sort of way, but his dour personality wasn’t the least bit appealing. But perhaps she shouldn’t judge him too harshly. After all, they’d just met and it took some people more time than it did her to warm up to others. Also, there was his profession to consider—he was a bodyguard and a private investigator. Lord only knew what kind of life this man had lived and what sort of cases he’d worked on over the years. It could be that he’d seen too much of the dark side of life. She’d heard that tended to make men somber and introspective.

“I suppose most of your cases are different from this one,” Penny Sue said, hoping that by talking business, she could encourage him to open up a bit.

“Yeah. Very different.”

Aha, he could talk. “Have you ever guarded a dog?”

“No, ma’am, I haven’t. This is a first for me.”

“You’ll like Lucky. He’s precious. Everyone adores him.”

“Not everyone.”

“What? Oh, yes, you’re right. Not everyone. Not the person who shot him.”

“Do you have any idea who that person might be?”

She shook her head. “One of the heirs. But there are eight of us and other than knowing for sure that I didn’t shoot Lucky, I can’t imagine who did. And I shouldn’t have said everyone adores Lucky. I should have said most people do. Even Aunt Dottie, whose cat, Puff, hates Lucky, admits that Lucky is a dear.”

“Ms. Paine, why would your aunt leave twenty-three million dollars to a dog?”

When she stopped on the sidewalk in front of the Kimbrew house, he paused and looked at her for the first time since they’d left Burns’s. Her stomach did a naughty flip-flop when he settled his gaze on her, his pensive hazel-and-blue eyes incredibly sexy. She’d always thought only brown eyes could be referred to as bedroom eyes, but now she knew better.

Penny Sue sighed. “You might as well know before you meet everyone tonight. The Paine family is…well, we’re the town eccentrics. You know, slightly peculiar. Just a bit off center. We tend to do things our own way. And the women in our family are the worst. I suppose that’s why so many Paine women die old maids. It’s not that we don’t want husbands, it’s just that we seem to intimidate most men.