Instead, she said, “I’m so mad at you two!” She sounded like a child with a limited vocabulary, but it felt good to get it out.
Her mom looked shocked. Phil shrugged.
“I’m done,” Gabby yelled. “Don’t talk to me for the rest of the trip.” She was gesturing too wildly with her second drink, and some of it sloshed over the rim. Whatever the waiter had put in this cocktail was serious. Or maybe it was hitting her harder after two days of healthy living. Her body no longer recognized alcohol.
Markus gave Gabby a hand and helped her to stand. He brought her in for a hug. “It’s okay. We’re gonna get through this.”
“Are you sure?” she asked, tears pricking the back of her eyes. It didn’t feel like they were going to get through any of it intact.
The voice of reason, Markus said, “I think this has been stressful for all of us. Weddings are difficult. If we could all just relax and support each other.”
Gabby snorted. They weren’t even getting married.
Her mom didn’t look sold on anything. “Wait till I tell Mason about how unwelcoming you’ve been to me when I only came down to help.”
To help—now that was funny. “Who’s Mason?” Gabby asked. “Do you mean the dog sitter?”
“I tell Mason everything. I have a better relationship with him than I do with you.”
That wouldn’t be hard.
Gabby tried to recall a Mason. He’d been a neighbor for a long time, one of those older men with a lot of weird opinions on everything, the kind of guy you couldn’t get to stop talking once he’d started.
“Mason brought Prince to the vet last week after a chocolate scare. He didn’t have to do that, but he did. You didn’t even invite me to your wedding.”
An idea smacked Gabby right between the eyes. If her mom was buddy-buddy with Mason, then maybe, just maybe…
“Ohmygod. I have to go.” She just needed to quickly call Sheridan’s cat sitter and see if Sheridan had a Mason in her life too.
Her mom looked extremely disgruntled.
“Thank you, Mom!”
“Gabby, are you hormonal? What is going on with you? Where are you going now?” Her mom called after her, but Gabby was already headed back to the second floor.
Markus trotted after her.
Gabby kept her head down, focused on the mission. She wanted to take the stairs, but the pineapple-guava-whatever had been stronger than she’d thought, so she hit the button on the elevator.
Once inside, Markus pulled the emergency stop button. “What are you doing?”
“I have a hunch. You’ll see.” She made angry eyes at him. “Sheridan told me you returned her phone. Why didn’t you tell me that? Why didn’t you tell me where you found it?”
“Sorry,” he said, “it slipped my mind. After getting fired, it didn’t seem like it mattered anymore.”
“Oh, it mattered,” she said.
“Gabby,” he said sharply, “what about ‘sit in your hotel room and wait to be evacuated,’ didn’t you hear?”
“All of it,” Gabby retorted. “What part ofDie Harddid you miss? The part where Bruce Willis is abandoned by the department and then does the right thing on his own? OrBeverly Hills Cop,Lethal Weapon. There is nothing more American than a rogue cop. It’s who we are.”
Gabby was a little drunk, but she was also right.
“This isn’t a movie,” Markus said.
“If Glen Powell got fired, he wouldn’t quit. End of story.” She’d seen most of the Glen Powell movies on Netflix.
“Who’s Glen Powell?”
