“Maybe you’re not exciting enough for him,” Scarlet said. “He’s been a cop his whole life. Maybe you don’t live up to the adrenaline rushes he’s used to. It’s hard for those of us who’ve constantly put our lives on the line to live a regular life.”
“Not helping, Aunt Scarlet,” I said, giving her another look.
“You know how these things go,” I told Mom. “Sometimes cops get dragged into cases or situations with no provocation of their own. Vince is a good guy. I think you need to give him the benefit of the doubt. We’ve proven he’s not cheating. Let that be enough for now.”
“Fine,” Mom said. “Then where is he? If he’s not sidled up with that hussy Angelica then why isn’t he home?”
This was the part I was going to have to fib on. I had no idea where Vince was, and the chances of him being in trouble or dead seemed unreasonably high.
“I’m sure he’s on his way home as we speak,” I said.
Scarlet went into a fit of coughing and I swore I heard her say, “Liar,” over and over again. I went over to pound her on the back and her cough magically disappeared.
My phone rang and I practically ran to answer it before I had to keep lying to my mother. I was praying for any way to get out of this mess.
“Hello,” I said.
“Addison, it’s Rosemarie,” she said. “I’m over at your house, and I’m afraid I need a ride.”
“What happened?” I asked.
“Barry and I had a little disagreement about your front porch.”
“We don’t have a front porch,” I said.
“You do now,” she said. “It’ll look real good in a couple days. If Barry comes back to work.”
“Rosemarie,” I said. “I don’t care what you have to do, you get Barry and his band of merry men back to that house to finish the job, or I’m going to hunt down every one of you and it’s not going to be pretty.”
I could hear Rosemarie gulp across the line. “Wow, those pregnancy hormones are working a number on you. Maybe you should switch to chamomile tea.”
I growled and I grabbed the sandwich my mom had just finished making me and took a huge bite. I figured it was best to shove something in my mouth so I couldn’t speak.
“I promise we’ll get everything smoothed over and the crew will be back at work bright and early tomorrow morning. But when Barry and I had our disagreement, he loaded up the boys when I went to the bathroom to splash cold water on my face, and they left me here by myself. I was going to just help myself to one of the cars in the garage—really, Addison, I don’t see why Nick has to have so many cars. It seems wasteful when it’s only the two of you.”
“Rosemarie—”
“Anyway,” she trilled. “I couldn’t find where y’all keep the keys, so if you could come pick me up I’d appreciate it.”
I blew out a breath and tried one of those counting exercises my mother swore by. “I’m on the way now,” I said. “Meet me at the road. I don’t want to see what you’ve done to the house.”
“Oh, good point. I want it to be a surprise.”
“Yeah, that’s what I meant,” I said, hanging up.
“I’ve got to go pick up Rosemarie,” I said, wrapping the rest of my sandwich in a paper towel so I could take it with me.
“I’ll come too,” Scarlet said. “I don’t have anything else to do, and I’m wide awake. Must be the jet lag.”
“We didn’t cross any time zones,” I said.
“We crossed cultures,” she said. “That’s exhausting. Thanks for the sandwich, Phyllis. I’m sure Vince is just fine. If he survived the drive-by and the hit-and-run, he can survive anything.”
“Wha—” my mother asked, but I was already pushing Scarlet out the back door.
I waited until we were in the van and driving out of town before I asked, “Why do you do that to Mom? I know you do it on purpose. You goad and goad until she explodes or wants to kill you. What’s she ever done to you?”
“She married your father,” Scarlet said. “And they never would’ve gotten married if you hadn’t been on the way.”
I blew out a breath and rolled my eyes. “They were married almost thirty years. One of them always could’ve left.”
“That’s their business,” Scarlet said. “All I know is they weren’t right for each other. And they had ups and downs their whole marriage because of it. Your father, bless him, didn’t have an ounce of Holmes in him except for the last name. What a square. I think your mom tried for a while. And then she stopped trying. And then she tried extra hard again.”
“What does that mean?” I asked. But it did no good because Scarlet closed her eyes and pretended to sleep the rest of the way to our house.
I saw Rosemarie standing by the road near the mailbox. She was dressed in a blue denim work shirt with the sleeves rolled up, a pair of navy pants stained with paint and plaster, and a red-and-white polka dot bandana.
“Why’s she dressed like Rosie the Riveter?” Scarlet asked.
“Oh, you’re awake now?” I asked. “How convenient.”
Scarlet smiled, and Rosemarie opened the sliding door and got in. “Boy, am I glad to see you girls. What have I missed? I heard you went to Miami. Did you have a good time? Did you go dancing? I always wanted to dance in Miami like JLo.”
“It’s not as easy as it looks,” Scarlet said. “If I didn’t have two titanium hips I wouldn’t have made it through the night. I’m practically bionic.”
“Where am I taking you?” I asked. I just wanted to get rid of everyone in the van and go home to Nick, wherever home was. Though he’d probably be at work for a couple more hours. Really, I just wanted to be in my own
