“Oh dear.” Riva didn’t like the sound of this.
“I know. Awkward. Not long after that, Marcus came in, said his goodbyes, and went home.”
“What did Kitty do?”
“She was all chipper and cheerful. Just like this morning. She happily headed off to bed.” Windy paused, glancing around. “So Fiona gathered up her instruments, and I went upstairs. On my way up, I could hear Laurel and Kitty talking. They were sort of arguing about past bad relationships, like who had the worst of it. Kitty pointed out how Marcus was different, and Laurel started getting louder. I was about to go up and interrupt them, you know, before it got too out of control.” She paused to sip her coffee and perhaps catch her breath.
“And?” Riva waited impatiently for the rest of the story.
“It sounded like Laurel was trying to calm down and act mature, so I thought I should wait a bit and let them work things out. But then Kitty started to taunt poor Laurel. It was similar to what she just said to us, telling Laurel to get Botox or see a plastic surgeon. She told Laurel if she fixed herself up enough, she might trap a man. But not Marcus. That’s exactly what she said.”
Riva closed her eyes, shaking her head. “You gotta be kidding.”
“I wish. About then Fiona came up the stairs. She had all her instruments, and I was trying to clue her in and lighten her load, but I dropped the drum, and they heard us upstairs. Laurel called Kitty another bad name and another door slammed. We went on up, and Kitty met us on the landing, looking like sugar wouldn’t melt in her mouth. She gushed about the food and the music and thanked us for a wonderful evening. She said she loved living here, then she hugged us both good night.”
Riva’s eyes popped open. “Oh my.” She could imagine Kitty wanting to make alliances within the household for her own purposes. “This is a little unsettling.”
“Yeah. Kitty’s a smooth operator.”
“I feel sorry for Laurel.”
“Me too.” Windy shook her head. “I can sort of understand Kitty thinking the way she does. After all, she works in the beauty industry. Her whole livelihood is about appearances. So much so that she can’t see what really matters.”
“I’d hoped readingPride and Prejudicemight help.” Riva grimaced. “But she may be too far gone for that.”
“I still can’t believe Laurel was the one who wanted Kitty to live here.”
“Poor Laurel. She wanted us to be the new Golden Girls, but it looks like Kitty’s got something more like Charlie’s Angels in mind.”
“Yeah, and she’s Farrah Fawcett.”
“And she’d probably like one less angel around here.”
Chapter14
To Riva’s relief the next two days passed quietly. Laurel’s nose was definitely out of joint over Kitty, but with Kitty being gone at work during the day, Laurel seemed to get over it. Or else she focused her angst on creating order. Concerned about housemates using their own foods, she decided to organize the fridge, labeling spaces to keep things separated. “I hope you don’t mind,” she told Riva as they were fixing breakfast Thursday morning. “But after some of my yogurts went missing, I thought it was necessary.” She frowned. “And I’m pretty sure I know who took them.”
“I think this is a great idea.” Riva removed her own carton of orange juice and filled a glass. “Thanks for doing it. You’re so good at organization.”
“Hard to forget all those years of keeping the middle school office and most of the faculty on the same page.”
“Well, I appreciate it.” Riva closed the fridge. “Five women living together might be a bigger challenge than we expected.”
“How are you feeling about it all?” Laurel refilled her coffee mug. “Having second thoughts?”
“Honestly?” Riva sat down on an island stool and sipped her juice.
“Yeah, honestly. Do you wish you hadn’t opened your home up like this?”
“I’m torn. Of course, I’m relieved to be able to keep my house, but I’m also concerned about the, uh, mix of personalities.”
“Specifically Kitty and me?”
“Oh, Laurel. I love you. I’ve known you for so long. I’m glad you’re living here.” She took another swig of juice.
Laurel’s brows arched. “But you’d like to kick Kitty to the curb?”
Riva chuckled. “Not exactly.”
