“Believe me, Mr. Noble, Clayton would preach us all a sermon if we served liquor.” Dottie tsk-tsked. “The man’s a fanatic, if you ask me. Can you imagine anyone being rude enough to tell me that I shouldn’t dye my hair and wear so much makeup because it’s pure vanity and vanity is a sin?”
“Clayton was a real hell-raiser when he was a boy, but when he went off to college he met Phyllis, whose father and brother were both ministers, and before we knew what was happening, Clayton got religion and up and joined that Unity Church,” Penny Sue explained. “Generations of Paines turned over in their graves when that happened. We’ve been Methodists since the first Paine set foot on American soil.”
“Valerie married a Baptist preacher, the first time,” Dottie said. “That was another disappointment for the family. But she got a divorce and remarried. Dylan is a good Methodist boy. He used to come to church every Sunday with Penny Sue, back when—” As if suddenly realizing she had said something inappropriate, Dottie hushed immediately. Her rouged cheeks darkened. She cleared her throat and changed the subject as she looked at her niece. “Perhaps you should show Mr. Noble up to his room. Douglas’s old room should do nicely.”
God, yes, Vic thought, show me to my room. He needed some time alone after listening to these two chirping Paine women rattle on and on about nothing.
“I asked Ruby to air out both Uncle Douglas’s old room and Daddy’s as well,” Penny Sue said, “so Mr. Noble can choose which he would prefer.”
Both women looked at him and smiled. He forced the corners of his mouth to lift in a hint of a smile.
“What a good idea.” Dottie patted Vic on the arm. “They’re both lovely rooms. And very masculine.” Suddenly the old woman gasped. “Did you hear that? I believe it’s Puff.”
They all listened to the mewing and scratching sounds coming from outside the front door. Dottie rushed out of the room and into the foyer.
“We might as well go on up,” Penny Sue said. “As soon as she brings Puff inside, she’ll take him out to the kitchen and give him a treat of some kind. And while she’s in the kitchen, she’ll have Ruby fix her a cup of tea and they’ll talk about dinner tonight.”
Vic nodded.
Penny Sue stared at him as if expecting him to respond in some way. He didn’t know what to say, had no idea what she wanted from him.
“I asked Ruby to prepare stuffed pork chops tonight,” Penny Sue said. “Do you like—”
“Yes,” he replied.
“If you have any special dietary needs—”
“I don’t.”
“Do you prefer your coffee black or—”
“Black.”
“Can’t you let me finish a sentence!” She glared at him, her chocolate-brown eyes focused on his face and her full, soft mouth closed in a frown.
Without giving any thought to what he was doing, he reached out and brushed his fingertips over her forehead. “You’re a beautiful woman, Ms. Paine, but frowning isn’t very attractive.”
His fingertips lingered a little too long, edging across and down to her cheek. She sucked in her breath. Her eyes widened as their gazes locked. Suddenly she smiled and it was as if everything wrong in the world suddenly became right.
Vic snatched his hand away. What the hell was the matter with him?
“Nothing like having your own words come back to condemn you,” she said.
Doing his best not to look right at her, he nodded. “How about showing me to my room?”
“Certainly. Follow me.”
She led him up the wide wooden stairs covered with a plush burgundy carpet runner. The banisters were intricately carved and had been stained a dark walnut to match the steps and the flooring in the foyer and upstairs hallway. Although the house was old and the furniture antiques, the interior had a warm, homey feel to it.
“Did you grow up in this house?” he asked when they reached the landing.
“As a matter of fact, I did. My mother died when I was four and Daddy and I came here to live at the old homestead with my aunts.”
“So your aunts were your surrogate mothers?”
“Most definitely. I suppose that’s why I’m a real Paine, through and through. Although my auburn hair and my full figure came from my mother. She was a Bailey from over in Tishomingo, Mississippi. Her daddy, my granddaddy Bailey, was a pharmacist and her mother a teacher. I used to visit them often when I was growing up, but they both died before I turned twelve. They’d been older when they married and had my mama. She was an only child.
“I was very fortunate that my daddy had two old maid sisters who both doted on me. It was like having two mothers. Although I have to admit, sometimes I felt a bit like a bone being tugged on at both ends by a couple of determined dogs. Aunt Lottie was the disciplinarian whereas Aunt Dottie let me get away with murder. I suppose it all evened out in the end, but—”
“TMI,” Vic blurted out, his head spinning from listening to this chattering woman.
“I beg your pardon?” She cocked her pretty little head and stared at him questioningly.
“Too much information, Ms. Penny Sue.”
“Oh.”
He couldn’t take his eyes off her mouth. Wide. Full. Moist. His body hardened instantly when he thought about what her soft, moist mouth could do to him.
Then she licked her lips, running her tongue in a circular motion. “Is my lipstick smeared?” she asked. “Or do I have something in my—”
“Just show me to my room, okay?” He hadn’t meant to snap at her, but damn it, she unnerved him. “I need to check in with headquarters, unpack, and read over the file folder on Lucky.”
“Yes, of course. The rooms are this way.” She indicated left, then took several tentative steps down the hallway.
“Where does Lucky sleep?” Vic asked.
“What? Oh, Lucky used to sleep with Aunt Lottie. Now, he sleeps with me. If he’s not with me, he whines and cries all night.”
Lucky was a damn lucky dog to sleep in Penny Sue’s bed every night.
“And where is your room?”
She looked in the opposite direction, to the rooms on the right. “First door, down that way. It used to be Grandmother Paine’s room. It’s the largest room in the house and has a small attached room in the turret. That used to be the nursery.”
“Is there a bed in the turret room?”
“Yes, a day bed.”
“I’ll sleep there.”
“You can’t.”
“Why can’t I?” he asked.
“Well, it wouldn’t be proper, that’s why. There is a connecting door between the old nursery and my bedroom. Besides, you wouldn’t have your own bathroom and—”
“Okay, okay.” He held up a restraining hand. “No need to elaborate. Tonight, I’ll sleep in one of the other bedrooms. Down there.” He motioned toward the rooms on the left. “But if I’m still on this assignment tomorrow night, after we bring Lucky home—”
“What do you mean, if you’re still on this assignment?”
Vic groaned. “Dundee sent me because there was no other agent available. I’ve been promised a replacement as soon as possible, which I’m hoping will be tomorrow.”
Penny Sue tilted her chin and stuck her