“I guess I needed to say them,” she confessed.
He nodded with a thoughtful expression. Perhaps he was just soaking it in. But realizing neither of them were speaking now, she got uncomfortable. Was it wrong to be sitting in the same room that she and Paul had so happily occupied together—with another man? Apparently old habits, and thought patterns, really did die hard. But she reminded herself that she was living a new life now, and the awkwardness evaporated. She sighed in relief. Baby steps, she told herself. Just keep moving forward ... one small step at a time.
Chapter22
It wasn’t until the guests had departed, and Riva’s housemates, other than Windy, had shuffled off to bed, that Riva got to hear details about what had transpired out on the patio while she and Marcus were talking. All she knew was that as soon as they emerged from the library, a mass exodus appeared to be taking place. She and Windy politely thanked their guests for coming and told them goodbye. Then, seeing they were alone in the foyer, she turned to Windy. “What happened?”
“Privately?” Windy asked.
“Come to my room,” Riva told her. Then with Windy in the chair and Riva perched on the end of her bed, she listened as Windy gave her the report.
“So we were having a really nice time. We missed you and Marcus, but we figured you guys were talking. And that’s cool. Anyway, the six of us were enjoying ourselves ... until Kitty decided to make an appearance.” Windy frowned. “I don’t like to say it, but we all felt pretty sure she was snookered. Drunk as a skunk.”
“Oh, dear. I know she’d been drinking with girlfriends earlier, but I hoped having some food in her stomach would help.”
“Laurel is certain that Kitty hides alcohol in her room and that she’s been up there imbibing.”
Riva wasn’t too surprised but didn’t know what to do about it.
“Laurel and I took turns dancing with Wes until the band got tired of playing and Fiona put some music on her speaker. Her plan was to teach us an Irish folk dance. Anyway, we were learning some new moves, just laughing and having fun, and then Kitty showed up.”
Riva imagined the scene fromThe Wizard of Ozwhen the Wicked Witch of the West crashed a Munchkin celebration. “What’d she do?”
“Oh, you know, it was typical bad Kitty behavior. She was loud and obnoxious, attention seeking, and flirting with every male out there. First, she wanted to know Marcus’s whereabouts, but no one seemed to know, so she set her sights on Wes. Fiona had just been teaching us a tricky spin, and Wes and Laurel were trying it.” Windy’s eyes widened. “Kitty told us she wanted to dance too and pretty much shoved Laurel aside to claim Wes as her partner.” Windy shook her head. “Well, Laurel was not having it.”
Riva cringed. “That must’ve been interesting.”
“Honestly, it looked like it would turn into a big hot mess.”
“A real Kitty fight?” Riva attempted a weak smile.
“For sure. Laurel was so enraged, I thought she might flatten Kitty.”
“But she didn’t, did she?”
“No, no ... thank goodness. Laurel was frothing, but she didn’t say anything. Just stormed out. I checked on her a little bit later. That might be when the party started to dissipate. Laurel was getting ready for bed, but she’s still furious. She told me in no uncertain terms that if Kitty doesn’t go, she will.”
“I don’t want Laurel to leave.”
“None of us do. Well, aside from Kitty. I suspect she wants Laurel to move out. I don’t even know why. I mean, it seems like it’s about the men and jealousy. But, really, I don’t think Kitty sees Laurel as real competition.” Windy’s brow creased. “So I sort of took the bull by the horns. The musicians were alreadypacking up to go so I pulled Kitty aside to talk. I didn’t get angry. I just explained how she’d really hurt Laurel’s feelings and that it wasn’t the first time she’d stepped on Laurel’s toes. Then I told her that Laurel was threatening to move out.”
“What did Kitty say?”
“She said ‘dibs on Laurel’s room.’” Windy shook her head. “She honestly thinks she deserves the ensuite. She even used the worddeserve.”
“How in the world did she draw that conclusion?”
“She claimed it’s because of her work. To keep up her image, she needs a better space to fix up. She says Laurel doesn’t work so she doesn’t need it.”
“But Kitty has the hall bath pretty much to herself.”
“She doesn’t like that Fiona and I take showers there. Not that we enjoy it much. The bathroom is a pigsty.” Windy frowned. “I hate saying this, and I hope I’m wrong, but sometimes it feels like Kitty is trying to drive us all out.”
“Wow.” Riva pursed her lips, trying to think. “Well, I’ll read the rental contract tomorrow and try to find a way to gently evict her.”
Windy looked amused. “A gentle eviction? Sounds like an oxymoron.”
“And until we figure out the Kitty problem, I’d like to boycott male guests. It just seems like it always stirs up trouble where Kitty is concerned.”
