The Champagne Sisterhood

by Chris Keniston

  “Anna’s from New York. She works some high-pressure job at a department store. Has a Park Avenue boyfriend. Kids and her world don’t mix. I don’t know Erin or Kat’s story.”

  “But you know Anna’s?” Brad’s brows rose high on his forehead as his gaze settled on his brother.

  “She’s Marcia’s godmother, and don’t look at me like that.” He rolled his eyes at his brother. “All I need is for you to go running home telling tales to Mom. Anna is Marcia’s temporary guardian and very much involved with her high-class live-in lawyer boyfriend.”

  “I see.”

  “No. You don’t see. She’s taken, and I’m not looking. Besides, if I were in the market for a relationship, it wouldn’t be with someone who can climb the corporate ladder with one hand tied behind her back.”

  “Right. You keep telling yourself that.”

  “Am I interrupting something important?” Kevin stepped onto the porch with Marcia in his arms.

  “No.” Mark reached out to grab her.

  “She’s tugging on her ear and rubbing her eyes. I think it’s time for bed.” Kevin stepped back once Mark had a hold of her, splitting his gaze back and forth between his two brothers.

  “Yeah. I’d better take her upstairs. I’ll be back in a few minutes then we can head back to my place.”

  “No hurry,” Brad said, watching his brother go into the house.

  As soon as the screen door slammed shut, Kevin turned his attention to Brad. “So how’s he really doing?”

  “I’m not sure. We talked about Tom, the funeral, Marcia, dating, but he mostly talked about Anna.”

  “Oh, really?” Kevin waggled an eyebrow.

  “She’s got some hot-shot live-in boyfriend back in New York.”

  “Oh, then I guess there’s nothing there.” Kevin took a seat by the patio table.

  “I’m not so sure.”

  “What?”

  “I think he doth protest too much.”

  “Since when did you become a fan of Shakespeare?” Kevin leaned back, putting his feet up on the table.

  “You’re going to fall and crack your head open.”

  “Yes, Mom.” Kevin dropped his feet to the floor. “What are you talking about? Mark doesn’t make a play for married women.”

  “She’s not married, she’s just living with the guy.”

  “To Mark that’s the same thing and you know it.”

  “Maybe.”

  “What maybe? You sound like Mom. What the hell are you talking about?”

  “I don’t know. Something about the look in his eye when he talks about her. It’s different. I know it makes no sense, but I think he’s already a goner.”

  “You’re crazy.” Kevin pushed away from the table and walked over to the rail by his brother.

  “Mom will know.”

  “Okay, ten says you’re wrong.” Kevin stuck his hand out.

  “You’re on. When Mom and Cher come for the funeral we’ll see who’s right.”

  Kat reached the ground floor first. “Okay, I’ll admit that looks easy enough. The trick is will she let us try?”

  Mark had gotten Marcia changed for bed, read her a story and tucked her under the covers in what had seemed like a matter of minutes.

  Erin came down off the last step and looked over her shoulder at Mark. “I’m more worried about when she wakes up in the middle of the night.”

  The concerned glint in Erin’s eye added to Anna’s already frazzled nerves. She hadn’t considered that possibility.

  “She’s been sleeping through the night since she was four months old. She won’t wake up till almost seven tomorrow morning. I’ll be back before then, just in case.” Mark gave them a smile meant to reassure. It worked.

  “I’m holding you to that.” Anna followed the group into the living room where Kevin and Brad were in the midst of an animated discussion.

  Brad rose from his seat. “I was beginning to think I was going to have to leave without saying goodbye.”

  “You’re leaving, so soon?” Kat shamelessly batted her lashes at him.

  Anna resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Some people never learned. If there was one thing they didn’t need now, it was Kat headed for another heartbreak.

  Brad’s eyes, soulful and sympathetic suddenly sparkled when he turned to Kat. “I have a presentation tomorrow I can’t get out of, but I’ll be back with Mom and Cher for the funeral.”

  “I still say Sarah’s going to be pissed we’re not telling her.” Kevin grabbed the car keys from his brother. “Women don’t like being left out of things like this.”

  “When did you become an expert on women?” Mark asked, pulling his own keys out of his pocket.

  “Excuse me, but this is our sister Sarah we’re talking about. She won’t care how much the kids looked forward to this vacation on the beach, she’ll have wanted to be here.”

  Anna watched the three brothers with an absurd fascination. With seven and fourteen years between her and her siblings, there wasn’t much interaction between them when she was growing up and even less to squabble over. As adults they all got along well enough, but this was a very entertaining view of brotherhood.

  Making their way to the door, the three men were still debating the pros and cons of telling their sister about the funeral when Anna stopped them by the door. “You’re sure she’s going to sleep through the night?”

  “Positive. See you in the morning.” Mark waved and Anna watched as the three men hugged before separating for their respective vehicles.

  “He’d better be right.” Anna closed the door.

  At exactly three twenty-two in the morning, Marcia proved Mark wrong. Dragged from the warm comfort of her bed, in a groggy haze, Anna scrambled to Marcia’s door, almost tripping over her robe. Erin and Kat were only seconds behind her.

  “What the heck do we do now?” Erin asked.

  “Maybe she’ll drift off to sleep,” Kat suggested.

  Marcia’s tiny sobs grew louder with impatience.

  “I don’t think so.” Anna gripped the doorknob, turning it in painfully slow degrees. Her heart beating double time, she took a deep calming breath. “We’re going to have to go in and try to settle her down.”

  As the door creaked ajar, Marcia’s cries slowed. At the sight of Anna and company, she let out a loud screech before kicking the sobs up a notch on the Richter scale.

  “Shh shh. It’s all right, honey,” Anna murmured in a vain attempt to soothe the frantic baby. When she held her arms out Marcia sat down and screamed even louder, stopping Anna in her tracks.

  “Maybe we should call Mark,” Kat suggested quietly over Anna’s shoulder.

  “I’d rather not. The guy has to be exhausted. He’s rocked, carried, cradled and comforted her almost non-stop all day today. If Brad and Kevin hadn’t shown up he wouldn’t have had a moment to himself. Let him sleep.” Anna forced her legs to advance, taking a tiny step closer to the crib.

  “Maybe a toy?” Erin suggested. “She’s got a whole bunch here. There must be something that soothes her.”

  “She did like sucking on that inchworm,” Kat agreed.

  “I’ll go get it. I think it’s still downstairs.” Erin fled from the room as though it were on fire. Anna could hear her pounding down the stairs at the speed of light. In what felt like the longest thirty seconds of her life, Erin returned shoving the plastic toy in Anna’s face.

  “Thanks.” Anna inched forward, waving the toy like a white flag at the enemy. “It’s okay, honey. Aunt Anna’s here.”

  Marcia continued screaming as Anna made her final approach. Almost an hour later Marcia had stopped pushing Anna away but continued her ear piercing sobs, taking gulping breaths that broke Anna’s heart.

  “How long can she keep this up?” Kat asked pacing beside Anna.

  “I don’t know.” Anna patted Marcia’s back, praying for the wisdom of Solomon.

  “Y’all would think she’d run out of tears.” Erin walk
ed on Anna’s other side.

  Anna closed her eyes, praying for calm to miraculously settle over her distraught goddaughter. Clearly Babs had been delirious when she chose Anna for Marcia’s godmother. She’d tried everything she’d read in the scores of baby books cluttering Babs’ bookshelves. A clean diaper, a warm bottle, a lullaby, the rocking chair. Nothing worked. She had only one choice left.

  “I think it’s time we called in the big guns.” Anxious for help, Anna turned on her heel, waiting for her friends to do the same before proceeding with her march.

  “Big guns?” Erin and Kat asked simultaneously.

  “My mother.”

  CHAPTER NINE

  Mark slipped in the front door as quietly as he could at six twenty the next morning. He’d spent the better part of the night chasing sleep. At five o’clock he gave up. Not wanting to disturb Barb’s friends any earlier than necessary, he made an early breakfast and waited as long as he thought safe before coming over.

  The sight of three women sprawled across miscellaneous pieces of living room furniture brought him to a dead stop. His mind raced with ridiculous possibilities. They’d all been poisoned. Ate or drank something that left them unconscious and hanging onto life. Shaking the irrational thought clear, he reconsidered more likely options. They must have had as much trouble sleeping as he had and merely dozed off chatting.

  Of course, that made more sense. Stepping into the room, he took in more details. Kat slept in the oversized chair, her legs folded beneath her, she hugged the padded arm, using it as a pillow. In a near fetal position, Erin was tucked into the loveseat, one arm hanging over the side like the victim of a theatrical murder mystery.

  He shook his head again. He wasn’t going there. When his gaze fell on Anna at the sofa, one leg stretched out in front of her, one leg on the floor, an arm draped over her eyes and the other arm wrapped protectively around an open mouthed, drooling, little bundle, he knew exactly what had happened. Marcia hadn’t slept through the night.

  Through clenched teeth, he cursed himself under his breath, spun out of the room, and headed for the kitchen. He shouldn’t have left them. Marcia was unsettled, out of sorts. He’d known that, and yet he assumed she’d follow her normal routine.

  Pouring water into the coffee maker, he heard light footsteps behind him. “Coffee should be ready in a few minutes.”

  “Thanks, but I’m a tea person, myself.” Erin pulled a mug out of the cabinet.

  “You knew.” Mark leaned back against the counter waiting for the coffee to brew.

  Filling her cup with water, she squinted through one eye at him. “Knew?”

  “You knew she was going to wake up. You told me you were more worried about her waking up in the middle of the night, but it wasn’t simply concern. You knew. What time was it?”

  “Around three.” She placed the cup in the microwave and pushed a few buttons.

  “You’re the Taisch,” he whispered. All of Barb’s stories suddenly made sense.

  “My reputation precedes me.” Erin smiled, her eyes drifting closed as she leaned on the counter beside him.

  “I’d almost forgotten the story about Barb’s appendix.”

  “Not a night I care to repeat any time soon.”

  “There was something about a burglary too.” Mark pulled three mugs from the cupboard and set them on the counter by the coffee pot. “Who was that?”

  “Kat. I didn’t know her apartment had been broken into. I just knew something wasn’t right. That’s all I ever know. I woke up the morning of the accident feeling like I’d swallowed an electric basketball. I couldn’t eat, couldn’t sleep and I knew whatever was wrong it was the worst thing that had ever happened to us.” She swiped a lone tear from the corner of her eye. “I wasn’t wrong.”

  “Barb mentioned more than once that she trusted your feelings more than the six o’clock news.”

  Turning her back to him, Erin pulled her cup from the microwave and slowly dipped a teabag in and out of the steaming water. “I didn’t tell them at first. When I was younger, kids would tease and call me warlock.”

  “I thought warlocks were men.” Mark filled his mug with fresh coffee.

  “Didn’t matter. Someone called me that once and instead of being pegged as an idiot for not realizing warlocks were men, I had a new nickname.” She blew lightly over the steaming mug.

  “I’m sorry.”

  “Thanks.” Tilting her head to one side, she flashed him a brief smile. The cup cradled in her hands, she seemed to study the brew. “Babs was the first one to notice something was different with me. Even back then she was always in mother hen mode, didn’t like it when her chicks were out of sorts. The problem was she thought my jitters and nerves were due to man trouble. She was determined to uncover who it was I had a crush on and make everything right for me. Took forever to convince her I wasn’t in love with my professor--”

  “Your professor?” Mark cut her off.

  “English Lit. The man was boring as the Energizer Bunny with a dead battery, but he also made a young Tom Cruise look like Mister Magoo. He was absolutely gorgeous and Babs was positive he’d broken my heart.”

  “I see.” Mark took a sip of his coffee, stifling a laugh.

  “It’s not funny when Babs is on a mission.”

  “Oh, trust me I know. She got it in her head that her neighbor’s granddaughter would be perfect for me.”

  “Uh oh.” Erin chuckled.

  “Yeah, that about covers it.”

  “I gather it didn’t work out?”

  “Fortunately for me the granddaughter decided it was time to tell granny the truth and brought her girlfriend Kelly home to meet the family.”

  “Okay, maybe your story is better than my English professor.” Erin plopped wearily in a nearby chair, her tea sloshing onto her hands.

  “So when did they figure out the truth?” Mark handed her a paper towel and took another sip of his coffee.

  “I was having a bad day.” Erin wiped the dripping tea cup. “Knew something wasn’t right. Kept calling home. When I refused to go to a frat party we’d all been looking forward to until I got through to my mom, I had to explain I had a feeling something wasn’t right. Somewhere after midnight Dallas time I reached my Aunt Mary. Mom had been rushed to the hospital with an asthma attack. She’d scared the hell out of the whole family, but no one wanted to call and worry me.”

  “Oh, that worked really well.”

  “Actually, it did. My new friends didn’t care if I had premonitions. It was silly of me to think they would.”

  Mark was about to pour another cup of coffee when a sharp wail pierced the morning quiet. “Marcia!”

  He found Anna up and pacing the living room again, swaying and patting the little girl. “There, there,” she cooed to no avail.

  “Need some help?” Mark reached out and Marcia seemed to fly into his arms. Instantly quiet, only an occasional gasp for breath told him of the night they’d spent.

  Anna collapsed like a folding chair onto the sofa. “Thank God.”

  “He works much better than the Benadryl.” Kat pointed her thumb at Mark, rolling the kinks out of her neck.

  “Benadryl?” Mark looked at Anna.

  “Yeah. When she wouldn’t stop crying I called my mom in New York. She said to give her a little Benadryl and it should put her to sleep.”

  “You drugged her?” His voice went up an octave and he was sure his eyes were bulging out of his head.

  “Not drugs.” Anna rolled her bloodshot eyes. “We didn’t give her crack cocaine.”

  “I can’t believe you gave her drugs.” He looked down at the baby snuggled against his shoulder.

  “I seriously doubt there’s an addict on earth who would consider pediatric Benadryl drugs.” Kat rolled her neck in the other direction.

  “Besides, Mrs. B. assured us it wouldn’t hurt.” Erin came into the room with a coffee mug in each hand.

  “Drugs,” he repeated, glaring fro
m one friend to the next.

  “You already said that.” Anna accepted a cup from Erin. “Thanks, I needed this.”

  Erin nodded. A tired attempt to smile tugged at one side of her mouth.

  “How could you give her drugs?” His deep voice rumbled through clenched teeth. Struggling to keep a lid on his growing anger, no other polite words came to mind.

  “Look. We did the best we could. My mother assured me it wouldn’t hurt her and to be perfectly honest, I wasn’t so sure that crying jag she was on was exactly healthy. If you don’t like the way we handled it, then you take care of her tonight.” Anna pushed to her feet and stormed out of the room before Mark could even blink.

  “You might have wanted to wait for her to at least finish her first cup of coffee before coming down on her.” Kat took a long sip of coffee and let out a satisfied moan.

  “Do you have any idea how awful last night was for her?” Sweet little Erin was glaring at him with frightening intensity. “When Anna tried to pick Marcia up, she threw herself down on the mattress and screamed louder. When Anna finally built up the nerve to lift her out of the crib, Marcia swatted at her, pushing away, kicking as though her life depended on it. When she finally stopped fighting Anna almost an hour later, Marcia was practically gagging she was crying so hard.”

  Mark lowered his eyes, suddenly feeling very small.

  “We suggested calling you, but Anna was worried you’d been too worn out and needed your rest, so she paced and rocked and paced some more before she gave in and called her mother.” Erin put her fisted hands on her hips. “Do you know how hard that was for her? To call her Italian mother and prove she couldn’t handle one little ten-month-old baby. She was more worried about you and that little thing than she was about her own feelings of inadequacy. And what do you care? Zilch!” She stomped out of the room leaving Mark alone with Kat.

  “I suppose you have something you want to say?”

  “No. I think they said it pretty well.” Kat rose from her seat and strolled out of the room after her friends.

  Mark ran his hand over Marcia’s baby-fine hair. “I don’t suppose you’d like to tell me why you don’t like the women your mama trusted most in the world?” He kissed the top of her head. She didn’t budge. “No. I didn’t think so.”