by Dana Moss
~
Taffy tapped the edge of her steering wheel all the way home. Between Melanie and Monica, her irritation quotient was way up. And now Cara’s secret weighed heavily, too.
At home, she didn’t bother telling Ethan she’d seen Melanie at yoga. She showered quickly, feeling very preoccupied. Ethan surprised her by slipping under the spray with a soapy loofah sponge and managed to scrub away all of her worries, at least temporarily.
By the time she was dressed and ready to go to the airport, she was almost late.
Taffy took her chances speeding along the highway and eventually screeched to a halt in front of the Arrivals doors. Her grandmother stood beside a full cart of matching luggage.
“Maybe I should have brought Atticus. He could have done the driving.”
Taffy rolled her eyes as she loaded the luggage. Atticus was Nana’s financial advisor, right-hand man since Papa Grayson Belair passed, and occasional driver and gopher for Nana.
“I’m sure he deserves a holiday.”
“You think the mouse plays while the cat’s away?”
“Always.”
“He does deserve a break. He’s been getting your apartment ready to put on the market.”
“What if I want to move back?”
“Are you still dating that young ranger, Ethan?”
“Of course.”
Nana’s eyes twinkled. “I don’t think you’ll be moving back to New York anytime soon.”
Taffy frowned. “You never know. I’ve got a rival now.”
“You? I find that hard to believe.”
“There are some things I’m not very good at, Nana.”
“I can see your driving has improved.” It still took all of Taffy’s resolve to hover around the speed limit.
“You might need to take the Bentley back to the city. I think it gives the wrong impression.”
“Oh no. It gives a very right one.” Nana adjusted her seat with the automatic toggles on the side.
“Abandon is more of a pickup truck and Jeep kind of place.”
“I can’t picture you driving a Jeep.”
“Me neither. That’s what I’m afraid of.”
They pulled up in front of Maria’s house. Nana wanted to see Rosa on her way to the house. Just to say hello.
As they pulled up to the curb, Taffy eyed the camellia bushes in the front yard. “Usually she’s out in the garden…”
“Doesn’t she have help for that?”
“Maria always offers, but she insists on doing it herself.”
“She always was stubborn and stoical.”
They knocked on the front door. Hearing the words, “Come in!” Taffy pushed through into the tiny foyer.
“Is that the princess and the queen arriving?” Rosa called from the living room.
“Rosa!” Nana strode toward her as she was trying to stand up from her comfy chair. Nana said, “Don’t get up on my account.”
Rosa sat back down. “Just a bit winded lately.”
Maria came up from the basement with a load of laundry. She set it down and gave Nana a hug. When all the pleasantries about good flights, who wanted coffee or tea, and cheese and crackers versus cookies was sorted out, Rosa and Nana settled in to chat while Taffy followed Maria to the kitchen to make tea and set out a plate of cookies.
“I could use another box of Wafer Wonders,” Maria said scanning the pantry.
“My grandmother refuses to eat them. Got anything imported?”
Maria pulled out a bag of mini biscotti. While she filled the kettle, Taffy opened the bag. She dug out a two inch lemon-almond wedge.
“I tried talking to Monica today.”
“And?”
“She passionately believes Rex had nothing to do with Tyler ending up in that canoe, but I think her passions have more to do with protecting Rex than telling the truth.”
“I think she likes messing with you.”
“I think you’re right.”
Maria turned from the stove, opened a box of tea, withdrew two tea bags, and set them beside an ugly yellow teapot.
“So how was yoga this morning?”
“Great,” Taffy said, suppressing an inkling of guilt. She’d purposely not mentioned Cara, or even Melanie for that matter. She felt awkward keeping things from Maria. Taffy desperately wanted to tell her about Cara’s secret news, but she’d made a promise. Was keeping secrets the measure of true friendship? If she wasn’t willing to betray Cara’s trust to Maria, whom she now considered her best friend, did that mean she valued Cara’s friendship more than Maria’s? Did Taffy secretly want Cara to be her BFF instead of Maria? She bit into another cookie. Maybe Monica was right. Maybe she was acting like it was high school all over again.
Maria opened her mouth to say something, but before the words came out there was a crash in the living room, and Nana yelled, “Maria! Come quick.”
Rosa was lying on the living room floor.
“She got up to get a photo album to show me and just collapsed.” Nana kneeled close to Rosa, held her wrist. Maria had the phone in her hand and was calling the ambulance. Rosa’s eyelids fluttered.
“I’m all right,” she whispered. “Stop fussing.”
“You’re not all right,” Maria snapped. The ambulance was on its way. Nana made an effort to rise from her knees.
Rosa, from her position on the floor, chuckled. “Just look at my rickety friend here. We just might need two ambulances.”
Nana looked down at her and shook her head. “Always joking.” But she couldn’t help smiling. Then she looked at Maria. “What’s been going on?”
“More weakness. Arthritic pain. I took her to a new doctor to run some more tests—”
“I’m right here,” Rosa said in a singsong voice. “I’m not some old biddy you can talk over like I’m not here.”
“You are an old biddy,” Nana said. “We both are. But you’re our old biddy, and you need some taking care of.”
Taffy had settled next to Rosa so she could lean her head on Taffy’s knee.
The paramedics arrived. Taffy recognized Ellie’s boyfriend, Pete.
“Mrs. Salinas. Been into the sherry again?” He winked at her. She smiled.
“Sherry makes me dance. Gin makes me argue. Must have been the champagne that made me lose my balance.”
“We’ll get you back up and dancing in no time,” Pete said, taking her blood pressure and checking her pupils while his partner brought in a stretcher. Maria was as white as pastry flour.
“You make good on your promise, young man,” Rosa said as they moved her onto the stretcher. “My friend just promised she’d take salsa lessons with me. Now I’ve got to live to see her waggle that skinny tush of hers.”
Nana grabbed her hand and squeezed. “We’ll salsa till the wee hours, I promise.”
Maria’s eyes looked wide and scared, as if it had just hit her that this was serious. “I’m coming with you, Pete.”
Rosa looked at Maria. “I’m sorry, baby. The hospital bills… I don’t know if insurance will—”
“Oh hush about that,” Nana said. Taffy saw her taking it all in stride, but there was a glistening in her eyes.
Taffy said, “We’ll lock up the house and follow you to the hospital.”
Maria nodded, her eyes on her mother.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
They waited at the hospital while the doctors ran some tests on Rosa. When they got the results, they pulled Maria aside. A few minutes later, she joined Taffy, Nana, and Finn—who’d come straight from the golf course—next to the vending machine.
“They want to transfer her to the general hospital in Salem.” She looked pale and worried as she relayed the detailed information about a complication with her reaction to new arthritis medication and a new condition that had a direct effect on her heart.
Finn slid his arm over her shoulder. “It will be all right. Don’t worry.”
Maria leaned into him, nodding as if she agreed with
him, but Taffy could see the doubt in her eyes, the defeat in her posture. Finn squeezed her hand tightly.
Nana was matter-of-fact. “Can she see visitors now?”
Maria nodded.
Nana strode past them toward Rosa’s shared room. The rest of them followed.
Rosa had an oxygen tube in her nose and an IV in her arm.
“Don’t tell me I’ve never looked better,” she said as Nana perched on the side of her bed.
“Tubal accessories are overrated at our age,” Nana said, grasping Rosa’s free hand. “Listen, I hear they want to move you to Salem General. Now I’m not knocking the good doctors there, and Lord knows money can’t buy happiness, but it can buy exceptional health care. I want to take you to the Mayo Clinic to sort this out.”
Maria stepped out of Finn’s embrace. “Mrs. Belair, you can’t—”
“You’re still calling me Missus? Tut, tut. I’ve seen your baby tush, Maria. We’re as good as family. Now you let me do this for your mother.”
“But how?”
“I made some calls on the way over.” Nana turned back to Rosa. “They’re expecting us in the morning.”
Rosa was trying to frown, but her underlying smile wouldn’t let her. “Still throwing your money around, I see. I’d call this a bad gamble.”
“It’s a sound investment in my books.”
Maria looked on the edge of relief but hesitant to accept. “But if we leave tomorrow—”
Nana said, “I’ll take her there. You don’t have to worry about a thing. We’ll call you every day.”
Rosa met her daughter’s eyes. “You know this queen won’t give us a chance to argue. She’ll take me as a hostage if I fight her.”
Maria offered a weak smile. “If you’re sure. I wouldn’t want to—”
Nana hushed her. “You pack your mother a nice bag, Maria. Tuck in her dancing shoes just in case.”
The prognosis looked bleaker than that, but everyone seemed to appreciate Nana’s firm hand and even firmer faith.
~
Taffy went to use the restroom before leaving the hospital. On the way down the hall, she saw Monica coming out of one of the hospital rooms. She looked tired and sad.
“Monica?”
As soon as she looked up and saw Taffy, she toughened, her jaw forming a firm, hard line. “What do you want?”
“What are you doing here?”
She glanced back at the room she’d just left and then said, “None of your business,” and walked toward the elevator.
Taffy followed her. “You were at the campground that night. Do you remember seeing a canoe at the campground, near the shoreline?”
“Why do you keep asking me?”
“Because you were there.”
“I told the police everything I know already.”
“I don’t think you did. I think you know a lot more.”
Monica was so cool. She didn’t let anything slip. The elevator doors opened. Monica stepped in and turned back to Taffy.
“Like I told you once before, Blondie, don’t waste too many neurons, or your head might explode.”
“That was totally uncalled for,” Taffy huffed. The elevator door started closing. “And stop calling me Blondie!”
Monica gave her a small wave. Her brittle smile disappeared behind the narrowing slit of the elevator doors.
Taffy stomped her foot with frustration and turned on her heel to find the restroom. Then she paused and pivoted slightly. She walked toward the hospital room that Monica had just emerged from.
Inside were four beds, each one occupied by a dozing patient. In the right corner by the dark window, a lamp was still on. Someone coughed, a hacking, phlegmy eruption that sounded as if parts of the cougher’s lungs were sloughing off and needed to be spit out. As Taffy peeked behind the curtain, a middle-aged woman was doing just that—spitting into a small metal bowl. She set the bowl down and leaned back, sighing with exhaustion.
“Excuse me.” The quiet voice startled Taffy as she lingered beside the curtain. The nurse looked at her curiously. “You’re not part of the Lewis family. You’ll have to leave. She only takes visits from family.” The nurse took hold of Taffy’s elbow and guided her toward the door.
“What’s wrong with her?”
The nurse spoke in a low hush. “Final stages of lung cancer. Not much time left, I’m afraid.”
Taffy glanced back, but she couldn’t see beyond the curtain from here. “Her name’s Mrs. Lewis?” That was Monica’s last name. Did that mean that was her mother?
~
When Taffy finally found the restroom, it was in the midst of being cleaned, and she was directed to another restroom one floor down. If that poor woman in the hospital room was Monica’s mother, and she was dying of lung cancer, how could Taffy blame Monica for spreading her anger and resentment around? That poor kid. And she had a sister. That girl Carlie from the coffee shop. The nurse hadn’t mentioned anything about a husband or father. If she died, would that leave Monica and her sister alone?
On the next floor, there were signs for the blood labs, x-ray rooms, and ultrasounds. Taffy navigated her way toward the restroom sign. As she turned a corner, she nearly ran into Melanie, who was pressing one hand against her opposite arm. When she recognized Taffy, she stepped back, her gaze seeming to flick around for an exit route.
Everywhere Taffy went these days, Melanie seemed to show up. “What are you doing here of all places?”
Melanie swallowed deeply and admitted, “Giving blood.”
Taffy looked down at the space below Melanie’s inner elbow, where her fingers pressed tightly against a small round bandage.
“Simply out of the goodness of your heart?” Taffy hadn’t meant to sneer, but somehow her words came out that way.
Melanie nodded meekly and looked past Taffy again.
She felt a headache coming on. She pressed her fingers to her temples. “Are you for real?”
“Huh?” Melanie looked confused and a little bit worried. Taffy wondered if she turned Melanie around and lifted up her shirt, she might find a little door engraved with “insert batteries here”; she was like some Daisy Do-Right Doll. It was maddening.
“Where did you even come from?”
Melanie took a step to the side and said, “Mendocino.” And then she added, “California.”
Taffy rolled her eyes. “I know where Mendocino is.”
“Oh, well. That’s where I’m from.” Melanie took another step to the side. She moved as if she were skirting a wild animal. Taffy straightened, gave her some space. Melanie saw the gap and slipped through, saying over her retreating shoulder, “Nice to see you, Taffy.”
Clearly, the most insincere words she’d ever uttered.
Finally, Taffy found the restroom. As she sat on the toilet, she did some thinking. Was Melanie really from Mendocino? She’d said it like it could be a cover of some sort. Maybe Taffy should look into it… Maybe she should get someone professional to look into Melanie’s claim that she was from Mendocino. Taffy was purposefully fooling herself. She was looking for some sort of justification to call up Cara’s private eye. And the way Melanie had added “California” to Mendocino… Well, wasn’t that just a tad suspicious? Maybe she was really from somewhere else. And Maybe Taffy should find out where.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
After meeting up with everyone in Rosa’s hospital room, it was agreed Taffy would bring the car around and wait for Nana in the pick-up zone.
Taffy sat in her car and stared at the slip of paper with Annabelle Peach’s name and number on it. She called, half thinking no one would answer on a Saturday evening. She decided that if she got an answering service she would just hang up, because this really was a silly idea, but two rings later, Taffy heard a smooth voice come on the line. “Peach Privates.”
Taffy cleared her throat. “Annabelle Peach?”
“Yours truly.”
With a light sigh and a distant sense of misgiving, Ta
ffy explained her situation.
By the time she hung up, she felt much better. For a nominal fee, Peach Privates would do a little digging into Melanie’s background. Nothing too invasive or clandestine. Just a little background sleuthing to get a stronger sense of who this new addition to Abandon really was. Because she really was too good to be true, wasn’t she? The information Annabelle Peach dug up would remain private, available to Taffy’s eyes only, and she could do with it what she wished. Unless Peach Privates came up with something particularly criminal, Taffy had already decided she’d probably do nothing, but knowledge was power, and she’d feel better knowing more about Melanie than she did right now. She felt better already, just as Cara had predicted. She’d taken action and quelled her anxieties. By the time her Nana joined her in the car, she was smiling.
“What are you smiling about?” Nana said. “Got a secret?”
Taffy coughed lightly. “No.”
“Seems to me you’ve got the satisfied smile of a cat with a mouse in its jaws.”
Taffy blinked innocently. “Am I driving you home or what?”
Finn had driven Maria home since she had come with the ambulance. Rosa would stay overnight in the hospital and then be transported to the airport by ambulance, and Nana would meet her there after spending one night instead of five nights at Taffy’s.
“I’m guessing they’ll figure out what’s going on with her in a few days, a week at the most,” Nana said as they drove along the dark roads back to Taffy’s house. “We’ll call every day and keep you posted.”
“Maria’s really worried. Rosa hasn’t been well for a couple of months, but I didn’t think it was that bad.”
“Maybe it is, maybe it isn’t. None of us gets to hang around forever, but it sure would be nice if Rosa were around a bit longer. I’ll do whatever I can to make sure that happens.”
Taffy gripped the steering wheel a little tighter. There was something she’d been wanting to ask Nana.
“Why didn’t you make sure Rosa and Maria stuck around after my mom died?”
Nana sighed heavily and stared out at the bank of trees lining the right side of the road. “I told her she and Maria would always be welcome in our family, but we were all heartbroken at the time, and Rosa decided that a big change was necessary for her to start over. We lost touch over the years except for the occasional Christmas card. Until recently, I hadn’t realized what a good friend she’d been and how important it can be to have people in your life who’ve known you a long time, who’ve been through difficult things with you. New friends are wonderful, don’t get me wrong, but the old ones, they ‘get you’ more. You’re multi dimensional to them, and they have an easier time accepting your idiosyncratic ways. We tend to put new friends into boxes and it takes a while for them to claw their way out.”