The handwritten note from Delaney further confirms that this is my guest room, but my carry-on and purse are nowhere to be seen. After looking next to each of the bedside tables and inside the drawers of the oversized dresser, I check the bathroom but am sidetracked by my appearance in the mirror. My hair is a frizzy mess, with loose strands pulled out of the front of my ponytail and pointing every which way, and my red, blotchy skin from a long day of travel deepens a shade by the embarrassment of the fact that I’ve looked this unpresentable the entire time.
I finally locate my things in the walk-in closet off the bathroom and dig my phone out. Amongst the dozens of missed calls and texts from Scott, Gabe, and Monika is a single text from a 704 area code.
Unknown:Did you find your room?
A quick glance at my call log confirms that the text is from Cameron, but my phone lights up with a FaceTime request before I get a chance to text him back. I answer it and set my phone down on the counter so that I can get ready while we talk.
“Hey, Gabe,” I say, as my brother-in-law’s concerned face appears on the screen.
He lets out a deep sigh of relief. “Drew, you have no idea how good it is to see your face. Hang on, let me add Monika.”
I take the opportunity to wet my toothbrush and deposit an oversized glob of toothpaste on it. I get to work scrubbing the fuzzy feeling out of my mouth.
“Hey, Drew,” Monika says when she’s connected. “How’s everything going so far?”
“Fine,” I say, through a mouthful of minty lather. “ ’Ow ’bout you?”
“Better now.” Gabe pulls the phone away enough that I can see Scott behind him. “Are you getting ready for the wine tasting?”
“Trying to.” I spit and rinse my toothpaste with water from the sink. “Sorry for the ride mix-up. This whole trip has been crazy so far.”
“How so?” Gabe asks tentatively.
I plop my bag on the end of the countertop and dig through it for supplies to start tackling my appearance.
“I packed you a cosmetics bag. It’s the one with pink flowers on it,” Monika interjects, and I push aside the mountain of her clothes that she insisted I borrow to dig for it.
“Thanks,” I say when I find it, and unzip the stuffed pouch to sort through the brand-new makeup. “It’ll take too long to explain everything, so I’ll just give the bullet points real fast. Obviously, you guys already know about the miscommunication with the ride. Cameron thought that you were an abusive boyfriend or something when you chewed me out over the phone, Scott, so I had to explain to him that you were just my annoying older brother. One good thing that came from that is when I was in his office, I got to check out his record collection which is the best I’ve ever seen. But then, the smoke alarm went off because a guest named Judith hates rich people and purposefully burned cookies to teach the host a lesson. You’d be proud, though. I stepped in to help de-escalate their screaming match, and it worked. Cameron is sending the cookie burner home first thing in the morning, so things should be a little calmer from here on out.”
I finish patting some of the concealer that I opened during my monologue under my eyes and on my cheeks, then screw the lid back on and search for mascara before I notice that the phone is silent. “You guys still there?”
“We’re here,” Scott says, in the same guarded tone that Gabe had just a second ago. I look down at the screen to see if our connection is bad but catch the end of a glance that passes between Scott and Gabe instead. “What? Do I have a booger in my nose or something?”
“No,” Gabe laughs. “You look fine. It’s just that . . .”
“What?” I ask, swiping the mascara over my lashes and searching for a lip balm to call it good. “Spit it out, I have like, two seconds before I have to run out of here, and I still need help picking out an outfit.”
“Wear the periwinkle dress. It’ll bring out the gold flecks in your eyes,” Monika says, then sits back to let Gabe continue.
“Well . . .” Gabe stops, then starts again. “I guess we are just wondering how youfeelabout all of that?”
I laugh. “How do I feel? Fine, I guess. I just wish I had time to shower before the wine tasting, but it is what it is.”
“What they are trying to say is, you seem rather unaffected by the craziness, which is usually not the case. Why is that?” Monika asks, always the one I can count on to be straightforward.
I shove the makeup bag aside to start searching for the dress, “I see. You are wondering if my curse caused all of that, and how I’m dealing with it.”
“No—” Gabe starts, but I continue before he can finish his lie.
“Like I told Scott earlier, my curse seems to be more reserved since my birthday.” I pause when I find the dress to think about their question. “And I don’t think the Judith stuff is my fault. She’s just a grumpy old lady who retired from a long career and hasn’t fully decompressed yet. She would have acted this way whether I was here or not.”
“What did she do for work?” Monika asks.
“Retail,” I say, and she nods in understanding.
I hold up the dress that Monika suggested when someone knocks at my door.
“Hang on, I think my friend Leah is here,” I say, and jog to answer it. “She probably wants to walk down to the tasting together.”
