It wasn’t Bella on top. Though Myrtis still seemed eager to please Anton’s old flame, it was Cousin Charlotte deciding what could or couldn’t be said.
“I understand that Patty Swanson took you ring shopping and that mothers can be”—I struggled for the word—“they can be persuasive, but Anton literally left town to get away from you and his family.”
Bella spoke again. “How do you know about ring shopping?”
“Anton told me,” I said, my knuckles white as I gripped the steering wheel. “At the same time that he told me that it’s over between the two of you—and has been for more than two years.”
“It’s not over.” Bella shook her head, and when she spoke next, there was a quiver in her voice as if I’d broken through her hard outer shell for the first time. “It can’t be.”
“Watching someone marry someone else is a pretty surefiresignal that they’re no longer interested,” I said more gently this time.
“We talk at least once a month,” Bella offered as a kind of defense.
That information did catch me off guard, as I was sure Bella expected that it would. Anton had failed to mention that tidbit, but it still didn’t mean that he was interested in her romantically.
“He never mentioned Lacy by name,” Bella said, her voice low. “I didn’t think it was serious. I thought that with all of the changes… I thought he would be back home any day now.”
“What changes?”
Myrtis leaned forward again, whispering conspiratorially. “Patty thinks that if Anton comes home, then the business will be more profitable. Then Uncle Michael will start behaving himself again.”
“Behaving himself?” I asked, recalling how Anton had mentioned his parents’ separation even while they continued living together.
“Aunt Patty told Uncle Michael to leave,” Myrtis added. “But he wouldn’t. Stayed put in the same house, and they basically all but drew a line down the middle. It was around the same time that Anton ran off and the ranch started bleeding money.”
This time Charlotte didn’t silence her cousin, but I did catch the look she shot at Myrtis.Be careful, it silently commanded. I had a feeling that Myrtis was now carefully choosing her words.
“Whether or not it’s true, in Aunt Patty’s mind, everything is connected,” Myrtis continued. “If Anton returns home like a good son, then Uncle Michael will stop running around, and he might even start making level-headed business decisions.”
“But Patty seems happy enough dating the priest,” I countered.
“Who?” Myrtis asked, clearly confused.
“Reverend Todd?” I reminded her.
“Oh, the priest, right,” Myrtis said with an uncharacteristic smile, though it seemed to be one of mockery more than anything else.
“Does the reverend also live with Patty back in Swanson?” I dared to ask, though I tried to sound like I was interested only for the sake of gossip, not because I was trying to put disparate pieces together in order to stay one step ahead of this bizarre family.
“Todd stays in the pool house,” Myrtis answered knowingly. “Uncle Michael doesn’t seem to mind too much since he’s found a way to work with him.”
Work with him?I sensed that I was getting closer to some key piece of information, but then Bella changed the subject.
She cleared her throat. “Anyway, Charlotte’s right. We shouldn’t talk business this weekend.”
I could tell I’d heard something that I shouldn’t know, so I swallowed back further questions, even though I planned to keep an even closer eye on this crew. It was beginning to sound like they’d brought more than an uninvited guest this weekend, and that meant trouble.
“That’s enough gossip too.” Charlotte spoke with the authority of someone who very much felt she was one of them. “Myrtis forgets herself when she talks too much, don’t you?”
We drove on in silence, the glow of the Christmas tree in the center of town coming into view. Such a festive atmosphere for a car full of family secrets.
Myrtis sat back in her seat, obeying Charlotte for whatever reason as Bella reached out a hand and turned up the music this time. We drove the last couple of minutes into town with Chris Martin’s raspy voice crowing “A Rush of Blood to the Head.”
THIRTEEN
I was relieved to park outside The Reel and step inside the theater to be reunited with the more stable side of this bachelorette party.
Lou, the grizzled owner, greeted us with an almost-smile when we stepped into his theater lobby decorated with greenery, lights, tinsel, and classic holiday movie posters.It’s a Wonderful Life,The Bishop’s Wife,andWhite Christmaswere coming to life again this season. I’d never seen the theater this festive, and I was certain it was because Lou wanted to bring a bit of cheer to Lacy’s bachelorette party, though he would never admit it.
