Poisoned Petals Read Free

squeak came out as Jenks put his hand on her backside and propelled her to the top of the embankment. She had to drop her burlap bag so she could grab the tufts of grass and pull herself the rest of the way out. A car sped by only a few feet from her face.
    “I’ll take these to the truck.” Jenks came up after her with all the bags of tubers slung over one shoulder. “Are we done here?”
    “If Pete got the others, that’s it.” Peggy took a step back from the road as another car zoomed by. “Thanks for your help.” She handed him her vest, conscious of Luther waiting to talk to her.
    “Yeah. Right.” The supervisor tucked her vest under his arm. “Are you showing me where to take these plants?”
    “No. Pete’s going with you.” She waved to the other botanist who was waiting by the truck.
    “Great.” Jenks sighed and picked up his bags. “Thanks for coming out. Now we can get going on the road project.”
    “My pleasure. Thanks for all your tolerance.”
    He grinned at her. “Sure thing. If you can climb down there and don’t mind looking like something the cat dragged in, I can take a few hours on the county and help you out. Nice meeting you, Dr. Lee.”
    “What was that all about?” Luther watched Jenks as he walked toward the truck.
    “Just relocating some endangered plants. You know me. I’m all about the plants.” Her voice reflected the awkwardness of their meeting.
    He was gaunt beneath his suit. She was sure she could see every bone. His head was skull-like, dark skin stretched tight across his features. He had been a much heavier man until his recent bout with cancer. “I didn’t know your church was out here. I thought you were still in Rock Hill.”
    “We moved here last year. How is my brother?”
    “I haven’t seen him in a few days, but I’m sure he’s fine. Always busy.” Peggy wasn’t surprised Luther didn’t know how Darmus was doing. The two brothers had never been particularly close since she’d known them.
    The three of them had attended the University of South Carolina at Columbia more than twenty years ago. Peggy was from Charleston. Darmus and Luther were from Blacks-burg, South Carolina. Peggy and Darmus became lifelong friends. Luther avoided them when he could.
    “Good. Good.” Luther adopted his pulpit stance, hands pulled behind his back. “He’s an important person now. Head of Feed America. That’s a worthy group. It was started by the Council of Churches, you know.”
    “Yes, I’ve heard.” She waved to Pete and the NCDOT supervisor as they started up the bright yellow truck and drove past them.
    “I’ll never understand why there isn’t a pastor at the helm,” Luther complained as he did every time they talked. “Darmus is a fine choice. Just fine. But a man of God would have been better.”
    “I don’t see how anyone could do it better than Darmus. Feed America is thriving.” Peggy knew the group Darmus had started to help feed the hungry was already in every state and had reached out to several other countries.
    Luther and Darmus always had a rivalry problem. They were almost twenty years apart and from a large family. Luther was the baby and Darmus the eldest child. Darmus was charismatic and a popular overachiever. But he waited to go to school until his eight brothers and sisters were through and was almost forty when he started college. That was how he came to be at school at the same time as his much younger brother.
    During college Luther lurked on the sidelines and complained about his own lack of popularity without ever appreciating what his brother had done for him by taking care of him when their parents were killed in a car accident. He was as dark and dreary as Darmus was light and sunny.
    “I suppose that’s true enough,” Luther half agreed. “But a man of God—”
    “Well, I have to go.” Peggy knew she had to get away. She didn’t agree with him but didn’t want to argue, either. Fifteen minutes with Luther was