Frank laughed. “Oh, no. They just stared out the window and ogled him. Loudly!”
Bernadette giggled. “Those ladies are so funny.”
“Then I remembered that Jacob was looking for a place to live,” Frank continued. “I figured if anyone would know if you still needed a renter, it would be your mom.”
I could feel the blood draining from me. If I was following Frank’s story, he was telling me thatmy momand her crazy friends knew about Jacob as far back as a week and a half ago!
What the frickity frack is going on here? Did Jacob know all along? Was this some elaborate game?
“Are you okay, dear?” Bernadette asked. “You don’t look so good.”
I gave her a wan smile. “I’m fine. Just been a long day. I better run and let you get to your ice cream.”
They waved goodbye, but I was already sprinting to my car and yanking out my cell phone. It was almost a quarter till ten, a little late for me to call Mom…under different circumstances. But right now, she owed me an explanation!
Chapter 20
“Okay,” Mom said, “I got ahold of the other girls. We’ll be at your house by nine o’clock. Have coffee ready.”
I’d barely slept last night. Mom and I did nothing but talk over each other on the phone in the car, both of us upset. It finally ended when I pulled into the driveway and told her I didn’t want to hear anything else until I heard it from all the girls.
“Not how I wanted to start my Friday morning off, Mom,” I said.
“Just hush and give us a chance to explain. We’ll see you shortly.”
I put on a pot of coffee for something to do. I’d purposely stayed upstairs this morning when Jacob left so I wouldn’t see him. I couldn’t make myself believe that he’d known my mom and the girls beforehand. It seemed so callous.
“Monica?” Mom called out. “Are you in the kitchen?”
“Yes.”
Mom, Mimi, Gilda, and Ingrid rounded the corner and strolled into the kitchen. They didn’t look ashamed, which immediately pissed me off.
“What’s going on?” I demanded.
“Let’s have coffee first,” Mimi said. “I always deal better with theatrics once I’ve had my coffee.”
Theatrics? Oh, I’m gonna show you theatrics!
I sloshed coffee into cups and then shoved the mugs at each of them. “Okay. You have coffee…now talk!”
Mom sighed. “I’m not sure where to start.”
“Is Jacob in on the joke?” I whispered. “Did he know the first day he came here to see the cottage it was all a setup?”
“No,” Mom said emphatically.
“Let’s start at the beginning,” Gilda said. “Put the girl out of her misery.”
I let out a short hysterical laugh as Ingrid poured milk in her coffee, took a tiny dagger from the inside of one of her braids, and used the tip to stir her coffee.
When did my life get so crazy?
“I guess it’s been two weeks now,” Mimi said, “when Daniel came over to the senior center to finish last-minute things on the gazebo like hooks in the roof so we can hang plants inside. Just small things like that.”
“Okay,” I said slowly. “With you so far.”
Mimi rolled her eyes. “This isn’t rocket science. I would hope you could follow that.” She must have heard my growl because she hurried on. “Anyway, Jacob—although we didn’t know his name at the time—came with him to finish up.” Mimi gave me a pointed look. “I’m sure I don’t have to explain why we thought he was a hunk. So we all stood at the window and watched those two good looking boys work.”
