“Because I don’t like to be nauseated. What’s going on here?”
“We’re trying to figure out what to do with this situation,” Irene said, using both hands to gesture to Edie and Marcy. “We still don’t know why she is here.”
“How does she even know where here is?” Joan asked. “Did you tell her, Edie?”
“No! I didn’t tell anyone,” Edie said, defensively.
They all looked at Marcy.
She grimaced. “Nana left a list, and this address was on it. It didn’t take a detective to figure it out.”
“Alist?” Joan repeated. Now, everyone looked at Edie.
Edie groaned. “I accidentally left my to-do list. Don’t look at me like that. I am postmenopausal and can’t remember my name half the time. But I called our housekeeper and asked her to put it in my closet.”
“She did,” Marcy said. “I was in there to borrow some shoes.”
“See?” Irene said, gesturing at Marcy. “This is why we can’t write things down.”
“Not my Choos,” Edie said with a gasp at the same time Frances asked, “So, what did you do, Marcy? Just hop on a plane to this address?”
Marcy winced painfully as she shook her head. “I googled it first. I dug around and found out it was an Airbnb.”
“And then, what, you just bought yourself a ticket to Vegas with money you don’t have?” Edie asked sharply. “Without talking to anyone?”
“I told Mom I needed to get out of town and borrowed the money from her.”
“Oh my God,” Edie groaned.
“I was going to explain it all to you, but I knew you’d be mad, so I stopped for a drink. Liquid courage, Dad always says.”
“Looks like you had a bucket or two of liquid courage,” Irene said with a snort.
“It’s just really hard to talk to Nana when she’s mad.”
“Well, it’s going to be impossible for you to talk to me now, because I amlivid.How dare you invade my privacy again? Howdareyou chase after me like I’m five? You have no right. It is not your place. And it’s sopushy, Marcy.”
“Okay, okay,” Frances said, and maneuvered to stand between Edie and her granddaughter out of fear Edie might haul off and smack her. Or worse, say something she could never take back. “Let’s wait until Marcy gets her sea legs.”
“Good idea. We’ll sober her up and then I can put her on the next plane to her father.”
“If you do, I’ll tell him what I know,” Marcy said.
That threat brought everything to a standstill.
“Excuseme?” Edie said. “What do you know? Nothing, little girl. I’m obviously on a trip with some old friends.”
“If you’re on a trip, then why did you lie about where you were going? I heard you. I heard all of you in Hunterville,” she reminded them, pointing at Frances, Irene, and Joan. “And then I heard even more when you rented that stupid house in Hunterville.”
The color began to drain from Edie’s face. “You didn’t hear anything. I sent you home.”
“Right,” Marcy said. The color was coming back to her cheeks, indicating she would probably live. “I drove around the corner and walked back to the house through the alley. And then I stood below the kitchen window, which was cracked, and heard it all.”
Joan turned on Irene. “You didn’t shut the window?”
“No! The place smelled like gas. Jesus, this kid is a like a cockroach—we can’t get rid of her.”
“I’m not stupid,” Marcy said. “I understand why I don’t know anything about your past now. And I know you hate Rocco. So do I.”
