“I haven't done nothing,” Rick sulked.
Resisting the urge to correct his grammar and inform him that his sentence meant that hehaddone something, he asked, “Then why did you run?”
“You were going to blame me for something. Cops arealwaysblaming me for stuff I didn't do.”
“Haveyou done something we’d be interested in?” Jonathon asked.
“No.”
“You know a Jeannie Jones?” Matthew asked as they led him back toward their car.
“No,” he answered quickly. A little too quickly.
“You’re a gardener, correct, Rick?”
“Yes,” he replied hesitantly as though he expected them to trick him, but he wasn't quite sure how.
“And you work on people’s gardens?”
“Yes.”
“Before that you worked at a school, right?”
Rick didn't answer but they felt him tense.
“A middle school, wasn't it? I think you were pretty interested in the parents. Well, the moms anyway,” Matthew said.
Again, Rick remained silent.
“You ever been married, Rick?” Jonathon asked.
“No.”
“But you were engaged, right?”
“Yes.”
“She left you at the altar. You dated for three years. Were engaged for almost another two. She planned a lavish wedding, spared no expense, left you in debt when she just ran out on you.” Matthew couldn’t imagine standing at the alter on what was supposed to be the happiest day of your life only to have the woman you were about to marry never turn up.
Rick just growled.
“You would have thought that might have soured you on women and relationships,” Matthew said conversationally. “But it didn't. You wereveryinterested in finding a woman to date. From what we heard that was all you were interested in.”
“So, I used to talk to the moms, so what?” Rick snapped. “Not like it went anywhere.”
“Because they wouldn’t reciprocate,” Jonathon said.
Rick nodded slowly. “I was just talking to them, wanted to find out about them, find out what kind of women they were. But they blew it out of proportion, acted like I was stalking them or something.”
“You used to watch the teachers too.”
“Teachers make good wives.”
“You want a good wife, Rick?”
He shrugged. “Don’t we all?”
“Jeannie Jones, I bet she would have made a great wife. She loved kids, she loved to cook, she loved art and visiting galleries, she loved to travel, she was sweet, kind, pretty.”