A handsome young man walked our way. Gloria raced over and grabbed him by the arm to pull him toward us. I suspected he was in his late twenties. Tall and lean, he made a dashing figure in his Rhettlike suit. He possessed a chiseled face and light brown hair, more of an Ashley Wilkes. You could swim in his blue eyes, and he boasted the longest eyelashes of any man I’d ever seen. If this was Gloria’s son, no wonder she was so proud of him.

“Ladies, I’d like you to meet my son, Steven.” Gloria brushed a piece of lint from his jacket, hovering around him like he was a young child.

“I hear you recently graduated.” Dee Dee gave him a dazzling smile.

“Yes, ma’am. I received my Doctorate from the University of Georgia.”

Wow, smart as well as handsome. No wonder Gloria was vying for him to take over Doc’s position. That still didn’t make it right. She had no call to push Doc out of his post. It couldn’t be that long before he retired.

Nana surprised me with her next words. “Sir, would you like to dance?” Oh my goodness. What was she up to?

Steven answered without missing a beat. “Why, I’d love to Scarlett.” Nana grinned from ear to ear as she hooked her hand though his crooked elbow. They made their way to the dance floor.

We sipped on lime punch as we discussed the museum’s history. In a few minutes, Sammy, whom I met earlier at the museum, asked me onto the floor for a lively polka. Why not? I jumped at the chance to pry some information out of him.

“May I call you Trixie?” Sammy bent over in a gentlemanly bow. Once on the floor he was a wonderful dancer.

My knee ached, but I toughed it out. I didn’t want to miss this chance. “Oops, didn’t mean to step on your foot.” Way to go, Trix.

“A little lady like you can’t hurt my foot. Don’t worry about it.” Regardless of his denials, I sensed he pulled back a little.

“Sammy, what keeps you busy when you aren’t attending board meetings?”

“I own a real estate company. Most of the buildings in downtown Marietta are part of my holdings.”

A smug grin appeared. He acted the exact opposite of Gloria’s son Steven. Where Steven appeared humble, Sammy exuded arrogance. I suppose if you owned most of a town the power might go to your head.

As I was pondering the differences between the two men, without warning, the lights went out. Everything happened so fast. Pushed from behind with forceful hands, I fell to my knees. Screams split the air. Then I realized the shrieking was mine. As quick as the lights went out, they came back on. The entire episode lasted only a matter of minutes.

I lay on the floor writhing in pain. I grabbed my knee. Lord, please help me. Someone called for an ambulance, and then everything went black again.

Dee Dee’s round face hovered an inch above me. We both emitted a little screech.

“Well, it’s about time you woke up.” She grabbed my hand and gave it a squeeze.

“Yeah, you had us worried to death.” Nana pushed Dee Dee aside to peer down at me. They were still dressed in their Scarlett dresses. I didn’t care if I never saw a hoop dress again in my lifetime.

“Somebody knocked me down when the lights went out.” I knew it was no accident. Who wanted to hurt me? Were we getting too close to the killer?

“Guess who your doctor is?” Nana cooed.

“Nana, please. I don’t feel like guessing.” My head throbbed and my knee ached.

“You don’t have to. Here he comes.” Dee Dee moved out of the way. Dr. Rossi loomed over me, his white coat almost as bright as his pearly whites.

“How is our patient feeling?” He leaned over and looked into my eyes.

Well a little better now that you’re here.

“I fell on my bad knee. The pain caused me to black out.” I surveyed the area. The curtained off area and the voices close by tipped me off we were in the emergency room. “Do I have to stay overnight?”

“No, not if you promise to prop up your leg and stay off that knee as much as possible for several days.” He tapped his pencil against the chart. “We’ve taken x-rays, and nothing’s broken. Have you been told you are going to need a knee replacement soon?”

“Yes. I’ve tried to put it off as long as possible. I don’t know how much longer I can hold out.” I raised my head to garner a look. Yuck, it was swollen and had already turned blue and purple.

“I promise to keep off it tonight.” Well, that was better than no promise at all.

“Doctor Rossi, you release her into my custody and I’ll promise she won’t go anywhere.” Nana winked at me, then the Doctor. “You make house calls?”

While I wished I could disappear altogether, he seemed unaffected.

“I’m sure you’ll look after her.” Doctor Rossi laid his muscular arm across Nana’s thin shoulder.

“I’ll get the nurse to wrap you, and I want you to go home and ice it. Keep it propped up as much as possible. You need to visit an orthopedic surgeon when you return to your home town.” He drew back the sheet, and gingerly felt around on my sore knee one more time.

I flinched.

“I’m sorry if I hurt you.” His touch reminded me of Beau, and how much I missed him. Even though we’d only been dating a few months, I realized how much I loved how he made me feel safe when I snuggled in his arms. I needed him.

“Ladies, I’ll probably see you again when you visit Dora. Please take care, and call my office if there’s anything I can do for you.” A nurse drew the curtain back and informed Dr. Rossi another patient needed his attention “STAT .”

When he’d left, the emergency room nurse deftly wrapped my knee while Dee Dee drove the Jeep to the patient loading area. I dreaded not being able to drive for a few days.

An attendant wheeled me out through the emergency entrance. Dee Dee helped me in the car. Still dressed in a hospital gown, I detected a cool breeze blow from behind. I grabbed for the back and pulled the pieces together. I had no desire to show my rear end to the world. Nana had to sit in the back this time. Dee Dee had her hands full helping her in. Even through the pain, I couldn’t help but smile at Nana as she sat in the back seat with her dress spread around her.

Silence shrouded the car. For a few minutes anyway. “Trixie, what’s going on? Are you positive someone pushed you down? Are you sure you didn’t fall.”

“I’m sure I didn’t fall. I felt hands push hard on my back. Someone purposely wanted to hurt me.” I mentally pictured the suspects who were at the ball. It couldn’t have been, Sammy, he was in front of me. I flashed back to being in his arms one minute and on the floor the next.

Nana leaned forward. “Who would want to hurt you, Trixie?”

“I’m not sure who, but I think I know why. Someone doesn’t appreciate me asking questions. I must be getting too close to the killer.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

Right now, I want to get home and lay my weary body down.” I prayed the pain pills would kick in soon and result in a good night’s sleep.

“Yeah, me too,” Nana said. “But didn’t we have an exciting night? I’m so glad I didn’t miss out on this one.” I rolled my eyes and hoped Nana wouldn’t notice in the dark.

Rhett and Scarlett were sitting in the library, when I heard the phone ring. That’s strange; they didn’t have phones back then. Oh, it’s my phone. I glanced at the clock. Morning had arrived way too soon, and I’d been dreaming of Tara.

“Hello.” I managed to squeak out.

“Hi, Mom.”

“Jill? How are you doing, sweetie.” No matter how old she became she would still be my sweetie. Yes, we’ve had our disagreements as parent and child have during the teenage years, but she had grown into a mature young woman.

“The question is, how are you doing? Dee Dee called me last night and said you took a pretty awful spill and wound up in the emergency room. Did you hurt your bad knee?”