Carlos spun and detoured, hurrying away from us. At the door, he tossed the plate with Maddie’s eggplant as well as his dessert into a large garbage can. Now, the storm was pounding a drumbeat on the roof of the tent. I thought for a moment he’d stop by our table to get his coat.

But he never even glanced back as he walked outside into a driving rain.

A tiny forkful of lemon meringue pie stalled on its way to Marty’s mouth. She stared over my shoulder. Maddie kicked me under the table. I leaned over to rub my shin.

“Is it Carlos? Did he come back?’’

Speechless for once, Maddie shook her head. Marty’s blue eyes were enormous. She lowered her fork and whispered a name like a prayer.

“Kelly Conover.’’

I’d rather it was Carlos. But he hadn’t returned to the tent. Moments after he stalked out, Jeb left, seemingly unaware of the trouble he’d caused with that casual arm around my shoulder. The irony was that Jeb’s Hollywood fantasy woman was now showing up at the dining area just after he’d managed to doom my relationship, and then disappear.

I turned in my seat. Sam had come in, too, glued to Kelly’s side. I waved. She smiled at me, and signaled with a Wait-a-minute finger. The two of them exchanged a few words, Sam’s dark head bent toward her golden one. Then he walked to the dessert table, while Kelly headed our way.

“Okay if Sam and I share your table?’’

Her demeanor was 100 percent movie star: breathy voice; twinkling eyes; dazzling smile. My sisters were still staring. I gestured for her to have a seat, as we scooted our chairs around to make room. Kelly was gracious as I made introductions. She struck me as a bit fake, the head cheerleader being sweet to the unpopular girls in the cafeteria. My sisters either didn’t notice, or they didn’t care.

“I’m a big fan,’’ Maddie finally managed to choke out.

Kelly gushed her thanks, like it was the first time she’d ever heard such an original compliment.

My little sister simply sat there with a goofy grin on her face. When Kelly said, “You have such beautiful eyes, Marty,’’ she blushed like the captain of the football team had just asked her to go steady.

Then the star then turned to me. “I owe you an apology.’’

“Don’t worry about it.’’

“No, Greg and I acted like spoiled children with those raccoons today. That man always manages to bring out the worst in me. I’m sorry. Will you forgive me?’’

You could have tumbled me over with a tickseed flower. As she searched my face with those big green eyes, I managed to sputter out something like, “S’fine.’’ I felt my mouth shifting into a smile, probably just as goofy-looking as Marty’s.

Sam’s arrival at the table, bearing a brownie cut in half, saved me from saying or doing anything more embarrassing. I hadn’t technically met him, so Kelly performed introductions all around. I took the time to try to regain my composure. I had to forget she was a Hollywood movie queen, and treat her like I’d treat anyone else. Anyone else, I’d flat-out ask what I wanted to know.

“Something has been bothering me since the day Mama and I found Norman’s body,’’ I said. “Sam told you, ‘It’s over now. He can’t hurt you anymore.’ What did that mean? How had Norman hurt you?’’

The two of them exchanged a long look. Finally, Kelly seemed to come to a decision. She touched her friend’s shoulder. “It’s all right, Sam. I want to talk about this. Now that Norman’s dead, everyone’s saying how he wasn’t that bad. I can’t stand to hear such a lie. He was a lowdown bastard.’’

She looked at my sisters and me. “You want to hear how low?’’

Kelly confirmed what Savannah had hinted, pouring out her heart about how Norman raped her when she was starting out in the movie business.

“He said I should come to a dinner party at his house so we could talk about a part he had for me. I should have known something was off when I got there. All the other guests were men.’’

Tears pooled in her green eyes.

“How old were you?’’ Marty’s voice was soft.

“I’d just turned sixteen.’’

Beside me, Maddie inhaled sharply. Sam held tight to one of Kelly’s hands; Marty patted the other. Kelly went on, sketching out the details—how she’d taken such care with what to wear; how her dress was ripped and stained afterward; how her own mother had forbidden her to go to the police.

“She said we wanted to keep Norman on our side. He could make my career.’’

We were transfixed. It was like watching a movie, only Kelly was right here and real. Sam’s face was etched in reflected pain. Finally, Kelly’s torrent of words slowed, and then stopped. She sniffled. Sam whipped a tissue from his shirt pocket and handed it to her.

“So, Mace, that’s how he hurt me, and that’s why I hated him.’’ She delicately blew her nose. “I consider his murder a blessing from God, but I didn’t have anything to do with it. That’s what you suspected, isn’t it?’’

I studied my hands, folded on the tabletop in front of me.

“Of course she didn’t,’’ Marty quickly said.

Kelly was staring at me when I raised my eyes. Sam was, too.

“I’m sorry,’’ I said. “I didn’t know the whole story. All I saw was you spitting on the ground and damning his soul.’’

She shrugged. “What can I say? I’m part Roma … gypsy, you’d call it. Plus, I’m an actress. So I’m a drama queen and I’m hot-blooded.’’

Everybody chuckled. Even if the laughter was more forced than genuine, it let me off the hook. I felt sorry for Kelly. Her story was heartrending. But that didn’t mean I didn’t still suspect her. If anything, what she’d just revealed gave her a compelling motive for murder.

Breaking off a tiny nibble of the half-brownie Sam brought, Kelly announced they needed to leave. Maddie at least waited until they were halfway to the door before she helped herself to the leftover sweet.

“Normally I don’t approve of cursing, but Kelly was right when she called that awful man a bastard. Sam seems nice, though.’’ She popped the brownie into her mouth.

“I wonder if my boss, Rhonda, would like him?’’ I looked across the table at Marty. “What do you think, sister? Ohmigod, don’t tell me I’m becoming a matchmaker, like Mama!’’

Marty’s gaze followed the movie star and her friend, making their way to the exit. “Your boss might be smart and beautiful, Mace, but that wouldn’t matter to Sam. He’s already in love, with Kelly.’’

“Well, it’s not reciprocated,’’ I said, recalling the conversation between Kelly and Tilton.

“Doesn’t matter,’’ Maddie said. “There’s no passion like unrequited love. Sam would go to any lengths to make Kelly care for him like he cares for her.’’

As Maddie’s words echoed in my head, I remembered how Kelly’s pain showed on Sam’s face. How he worried when she was hungry. How he was ready with a shoulder or a tissue when she cried.

How far would he go to make all Kelly’s problems go away?

_____

“Maddie, please get your fork out of my dessert plate. I’m still eating.’’ Marty pulled her pie closer to her body, shielding it like a prison inmate with the crook of her left elbow.

We’d extended lunch, waiting for the storm to play itself out. I listened to the last drops of rain drizzling down on the roof of the tent. Suddenly, Sal stomped in through a side entry. It looked like all the day’s dark clouds had found their way onto his face.

Mama ran to keep up, trailing him in full costume as Ruby. She wore a towering red wig. Her red satin dress featured a big skirt and a breathtakingly tight bodice. A cameo pendant was cradled in the deep crevice of her cleavage.

“Don’t you want me to be happy, Sally?’’ Catching up, she tugged at his wrist. He didn’t answer, just shook her off like an elephant evicting a gnat.