“My dead friend mailed back the dress I lent her. Insane is my baseline right now,” I whisper back. “All I need you to do is wait here.”
“Why?” Nora crosses her arms as she looks between me and the side door to her old garage. “What if someone sees you?”
“I don’t have time to explain it all right now. Polly’s at tennis and Ford’s at the pro-am charity tournament.”
And I need to know if the broken tees in a jar in my closet match the brand Ford uses.
“Okay, then why are we whispering?” Nora asks, finally matching my hushed tone.
“Polly’s nanny, Ms. Dowling, might be home. And I’m not entirely sure, but I think she has the authority to ground anyone, including me.”
When Nora lived in this house, I knew it like the back of my hand. And lucky for me, I enjoyed a front-row seat for all of the move-logistics coordinators and home decorators who unpacked Ford and Polly’s house, giving me a perfect view of the cache of sporting equipment they spent hours organizing in the garage.
“Wait here and whistle if someone pulls into the driveway,” I whisper.
“Who whistles? I don’t know how to whistle.”
“Then chirp like a bird. I don’t care. Just be my lookout.”
“All right.” She shoos me toward the garage. “But hurry.”
As I creep toward the side of the house, I’m hoping no one ever repaired the faulty latch on an outside door leading into the garage. Nora always complained about Will’s forgetfulness. And Will would counter, “Who has time to think about the doors outside of the doors? If someone wants to swipe the Gatorade Mia keeps in the outside refrigerator, let them.”
And as I jiggle the door handle now and feel the latch’s weak grip give way, I say a little prayer of gratitude for Will’s memory and push into the McGinnises’ garage.
The room is dark, and a faint odor of motor oil and cardboard hangs in the air. I turn on my phone’s flashlight and leave the outside door open for some extra light. Then I book it toward the shelves on the opposite wall, searching for golf tees.
Carefully sorted boxes of golf balls and chipping targets sit next to towels and rangefinders. My eyes scan past regripping kits and club-cleaning tools before I finally land on boxes of tees. A flash of Gemma flirting with Ford the night she died runs through my mind as I prop my phone up on a shelf so I can compare a picture of Ford’s tees to the brand in the jar.
What if something went wrong between Ford and Gemma? Was he the complicated married guy she was seeing?
I needsomethingto shake loose the story of what really happened. When I see that every tee Ford owns is the same matte white, though, my shoulders slump. The tees in Gemma’s jar vary in color and in some cases material—some are wooden while others are plastic.
I’m reshelving the tees when I hear a faint cawing sound coming from Nora that would be funny if it didn’t send a bolt of panic through me. Before I can drop the tees and run, the light snaps on, illuminating everything around me.
“Fuck,” I hiss, dropping the boxed tees in shock.
“Este Walker?” Carol Parker crosses her arms. “What are you doing?”
This is not ideal.
“Carol.” I try to smile and sound nonchalant as I reach down for the box of new tees I’ve dropped. “I could ask you the same thing.”
“Ford forgot the autographed pin flags. He asked me to come get them,” she says, eyes cutting to the box of tees in my hands. “Didn’t expect to find you shopping.”
As if things couldn’t get worse, Ms. Dowling appears behind her in the doorway, arms folded in the exact same pose as Carol’s. Neither of them has to say a word for me to know I’m fucked.
I knew I should have called Carol to settle the debt on her lawn maintenance after the TPing. But now, it would look like I’m trying to bribe her.
Wait. Should I try to bribe her?
No. No. I have to find anoncriminalway out of this one.
“Oh,” I start, grasping in thin air. “Ford asked Beau to bring him a fresh box of his tees, but Beau forgot. He’s already up at the club. I thought I’d save everyone the back-and-forth.”
“Exactly,” Nora calls from the other side of the door.
It’s barely helpful, but I know she wants nothing to do with this house. So this actuallyisthe best she can offer.
