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the shovel and met his gaze with eyes the same color as the freshly polished copper pipes down at the hardware store. “I might be interested in. . .”
    Interested in what? Him?  
    Ben set his cap back into place and tried not to puff his chest out too much. He was old but evidently not that old.  
    Just about the time he decided to ask her if she wanted to talk about her interest over supper over at the steakhouse, Lia’s expression turned sour. “What’s wrong?”  
    He swiveled to follow the direction where she stared and saw a taxi cab swerve to avoid a rut. “I don’t believe I’ve ever seen a taxi ‘round these parts. Why, the nearest airport’s-”
    “Oh, it can’t be. She wouldn’t.” Lia stabbed the shovel into the loose dirt then brushed past him as if he weren’t even there.  
    Ben fell in step beside her. “What’s up?” When she didn’t respond, he gestured to the cab. “Someone you know?”
    Lia stopped long enough to give him a look that told him she wasn’t pleased in the least. “You could say so. It’s my mother.”
    Before Ben could blink twice, the driver had jumped from the cab to unload two large suitcases and stack them next to the mailbox. That job complete, he opened the back door.  
    A tall woman with silver hair stepped out of the taxi and handed the driver a wad of cash then gave him a hug. “You are an absolute dear. I don’t know what I would have done without you.” She held the man out at arms length then hugged him again. “I declare I’d be sitting by the side of the terminal back in Dallas waiting for a connection.”
    “Dallas? Mother, that’s three hundred miles from here.”
    Ben glanced over at Lia. “More actually,” he said. “It’s right at three hundred miles from Dallas to-”
    “Darling!” The silver-haired woman headed their direction to engulf Lia in an embrace. Ben couldn’t help but notice that Lia’s mother treated her like she might break, gently patting her back before holding her at arms length. The contrast to the healthy hug the taxi driver got was striking.
    Then the woman aimed her attention at Ben. “And who is this handsome man?”
    “I’m Ben.” He stuck his hand out to avoid the hug he figured was on the way. “Ben Corbin.”
    “He put in the mailbox today.” Lia touched Ben’s sleeve. “I’m sorry. Ben, meet my mother, Cordelia Stephanos.”
“Pleased to make your acquaintance,” she said. “Thank you for seeing to the mailbox.”
    Her expression told Ben he was dismissed. Then he caught the look on Lia’s face. Unless he missed his guess, she was practically begging him to stay.  
    “How about I haul these suitcases up to the house for you, Mrs. Stephanos?”  
    A few minutes, later the ladies were headed for the porch, leaving Ben to try and figure out how to keep from looking like a fool. The bags were much heavier than he’d expected, and by the time he’d accomplished the task of getting both items from the road to the front steps, his back was complaining and his knees had set to wobbling.  
    Once he had the bags situated in the spare room, he was more than a little happy to bid the Stephanos women good-bye and head his truck back to town. Thoughts of those copper-colored eyes and the way Lia flirted with him chased him all the way home.
    So did something else: the image of that snake and how it seemed to be struck dead right in little Samantha’s hand.
      Ben pulled into the parking lot of the bait shop and turned off the ignition. As the silence fell around him, he closed his eyes.  
    “Lord,” he whispered, “You heard me at the old Terro place, didn’t You? You listened when I begged You to do something, and You went and did it.”
    No answer came, but Ben felt fairly sure of the answer. Just like his buddy said, the Lord had been waiting for him to sit still long enough to listen. If only he could know for sure.  

    * * *

    There were two things Lia knew for sure about Cordelia