“You also named Ms. Rourke standby guardian of your children should you ever be, quote, unable to provide a stable home.”
He looked up.
“Ms. Brooks currently resides in a homeless shelter.”
The word dropped on the porch like a plate.
Somewhere a chair creaked.
Miss Odessa, a woman of eighty in a hairnet, stopped with a forkful of cornbread halfway to her mouth.
“That’s not a stable home by any court’s definition,” Pike finished.
“Michael.”
Ashley was beside me now.
She slid her arm through mine, warm and fragrant with gardenias, and her fingers closed on my sleeve.
“I didn’t want it to come to this,” she said.
“You’ve been so confused, darling. Let me make it simple.”
“Call off your little detective.”
“Set the wedding date. June first.”
“Sign the new signing authority on the Carter Ridge accounts.”
“And I tear this up right here, in front of all these nice ladies.”
