April hated this part of any catastrophe. The part after things settled when she actually had to feel the things without the benefit of an in-the-chaos adrenaline hit.
“Jack.” April let the phone go. “He’s coming here.”
Chapter Five
“This too shall pass. It may hurt like a kidney stone, but you will live and be stronger tomorrow.”
—Cindy, New York, United States
April
April’s heart was still pounding at the thought of Jack on her doorstep when the door flew open and the force of Kitty blew through.
Kitty was tiny, blond, and when she wasn’t gossiping with whoever would listen, she was hitting the StairMaster she kept on her front porch or welcoming new guests to the room in her home she provided as a vacation rental.
Right then? Kitty looked ticked.
“I had to hit up the store for rum,” she ranted as she tore through the entry. “Hereyouare in the middle of acrisisand I can’t even bring you liquor. Me?” She gestured to her chest. A chest that was, even April had to concede, impressive. “I never run out.” She shook her head, platinum blond hair flying.
April happened to know from loads of experience that Kitty often ran out of rum.
“It was that last guest who stayed with me.” Kitty waggled her finger. “I swear he took the entire bottle when he left.Andthe bottle of body wash in the shower. The special kind I buy online made of mud from the Amazon. Who does that?” She jerked her gaze between Simone and April, eyes wide, like she expected them to answer. But she obviously wasn’t expecting them to answer because she just kept going. “My next guest is going to sign a soap agreement. I swear, I never thought I’d see the day when I’d have to present a contract so my guests don’t five-finger discount my mud soap!” She paused. Settled. “Hey, look. You showered today. That’s fabulous. Do you have any of those tropical-punch juice boxes?” She held up the fresh bottle of rum.
The fact that her grabbing a shower was news for the neighborhood was something April needed to seriously consider. She cocked her head toward the kitchen. “I have the berry fruit punch kind.”
“I can work with that.” Kitty nodded as she sauntered toward the pantry in the kitchen. “What’d I miss? Somebody fill me in.”
Oh, where to begin?
Simone smiled that reassuring smile of hers, but it didn’t quite work like it usually did. Because even Kitty’s rum didn’t change the fact that Jack was on his way.
To clean up April’s mess.
…
“When will Jack be here?” Harmony asked, bouncing on her tush on the now laundry-free sofa.
Oh, it hadn’t been folded; it had just been tossed onto the bed in the spare bedroom.
“Soon.” April lifted her gaze to her eldest from the current post she drafted. Then she froze. Then she yelped.
“What’s on your face?” she asked, already knowing the answer.
Harmony had helped herself to April’s makeup. That was Coral Crush along her kiddo’s cheekbones and an abundance of Paramount Pink all over her lips. “Lips” being a loose term, given that it appeared Harmony had slipped a little and then tried to recover. Poorly.
April let out an audible gasp.
Harmony’s eyebrows bunched together. “It’s not right?”
Not. At. All.
But April reined in her shock. In the scheme of all that was happening, this was not a big deal. It was a small deal. Minor, really.
Making an internal note to show Harmony the skill of minimalism, she rolled her lips between her teeth. “You’re perfect.”
Harmony smiled a lipstick-smeared grin.
April crossed and uncrossed her arms, and finally let them fall to her sides. It was what it was.
