Manhunting in Mississippi Read Free

her. “I told you I’d be glad to move in with you. It would add only five minutes to my commute.”
    “Which would be wonderful for me, but not for you, dear. No, we both need to get on with our lives, but I was hoping you’d be looking for a home when I was ready to move.”
    Yearning bubbled within Piper, but she struggled to maintain a calm expression. Despite its dubious location in the outskirts of Mudvil e, she did want the big old house she so dearly loved, and for years she’d been putting aside every spare dime hoping she’d be able to buy it someday. Her finances stil fel short of the mark, but if she received the bonus she was hoping for, she’d be within striking distance. But in case things didn’t work out, she had sworn the real-estate agent to secrecy. Piper chose her words careful y. “Gran, I can’t afford to buy this place, and I’m certainly not going to let you give it to me.”
    Her grandmother shook her head and frowned. “I know Mudvil e isn’t the most exciting place to spend the rest of your life, but I did so want you and your children to have this home.”
    “Gran,” Piper chided, “be practical. You have to have money to live on.” Then she grinned. “And in case you hadn’t noticed, I’m not pregnant.”
    She was rewarded with a wry, wrinkled smile. “Not unless it was an immaculate conception, I’d wager.”
    “Gran!”
    Granny Falkner angled her head. “Real y, dear, you conduct yourself like a nun.”
    Shock thickened her tongue. “I…I don’t want to talk about my, um—”
    “Chastity?”
    “Wel , I’m not exactly a vir—” Piper stopped and swal owed. “A Virgo.” She laughed weakly and jammed her hands on her hips in a desperate attempt to look innocent. “I mean,
    I’m not exactly a Virgo,” she repeated in a squeaky voice. “B-because I’m a Pisces…as you know, Gran.” She cleared her throat noisily and scrutinized the toes of her leather clogs.
    Granny Falkner laughed. “You young people think you invented sex. Wel , I’m here to tel you, your grandfather and I could have filed for a patent or two of our own.”
    Piper blinked and held up her hands. “Gran, I real y don’t want to hear this.”
    “Relax, Piper, I’m not going to embarrass you. I’m simply trying to get you to open up.” She reached out and ran her thumb over Piper’s cheek. “You stil don’t realize how lovely you are—with that face, you could have any man you wanted.”
    “Spoken like a true grandmother.”
    Sharp blue eyes, which she’d inherited, stared back at her. “Did someone break your heart, dear? Some young man in col ege?”
    The concern in her gran’s face sent a swel of love through Piper’s chest. The older woman knew al too wel the grief Piper had suffered al her life. Her mother didn’t even know the name of the man who had fathered her. How could she tel her grandmother that she’d lived in fear of repeating her mother’s mistakes? That she’d been embarrassed to even introduce her outrageously flirtatious mother to the young men she dated? That she’d purposely ignored boys to whom she was attracted so she wouldn’t have to deal with the overpowering sexual rush that made people do crazy things with their lives?
    Her few intimate encounters had been with timid, fumbling boys who’d been even more inept than she’d imagined herself to be. She managed a comforting smile. “I met and
    dated some nice guys in col ege, but my heart is perfectly intact.”
    “And is there a current beau I don’t know about?”
    Piper pursed her lips, then replied in a singsongy voice. “Noooooo.”
    Her grandmother sighed and crossed her arms. “I know you’re independent, dear, but sharing your life with the right person can be an extraordinary experience.”
    A pang of longing pierced Piper, but she decided to make light of the comment. Her grandmother worried enough without Piper fueling the maternal fire. “Gran, I have other
    priorities right