Ladies' Night Andrews, Kay (great novels .txt) 📖

making me pay to have the bitch’s house and car repainted, it’s costing me a fortune.”

As they talked, a Prius rolled up to the office.

“Oh good, here’s Suzanne now,” Grace said. “Looks like the gang’s all here.”

“What about Wyatt?” Ashleigh asked. “We can’t leave him behind.”

“It’s five after,” Grace said. “Maybe he’s ditching us tonight.”

“Who’s ditching us?” Suzanne asked as she joined the group. “And why are we all standing out here on the sidewalk?”

“Paula’s got some kind of family emergency,” Grace said, pointing at the note on the door.

“Allegedly,” Camryn added. “We’re just talking about going out to dinner, since we’re all here anyway. Care to join us?”

Suzanne hesitated. “Well, since I’m here anyway … but what about Wyatt?”

Grace made a show of checking her watch again. “He’s probably not even coming tonight. Look, we better get going if we’re going to Saint Armand’s. You know how crowded it gets there.”

“Saint Armand’s?” Suzanne’s face fell. “I, well, never mind. You all go on without me. I’ll get something to eat on the way home.”

“No, Suzanne,” Grace protested. “We don’t have to go to Saint Armand’s, if you have a problem with that. We could go anywhere.”

“What’s your problem with Saint Armand’s?” Ashleigh asked. She was promptly given a not-so-subtle elbow in the ribs from Camryn.

“Why don’t we just go over to the Sandbox, like we usually do?” Camryn said. “I’m not really in the mood for a twelve-dollar martini tonight anyway. Your mom serves food, right, Grace?”

“Sure, anything you want, as long as it’s fried.”

“Then it’s settled,” Camryn said. “Suzanne, do you need a ride? I can drop you back here afterward.”

As they headed for their cars, Grace took a quick look around, mentally crossing her fingers and hoping Wyatt would not drive up as they were leaving.

When she got home, she bounded up the outside stairs at the Sandbox, unlocked her bedroom door, and opened the top of the tote bag. Sweetie climbed out, yawned widely, then hopped onto the bed.

“Good girl,” Grace laughed. “I’ll be back in a couple hours or so, and we’ll take a quick walk before bedtime.” She scratched the dog’s ears and earned a generous tail wag for her efforts.

*   *   *

“You’re early,” Rochelle said when Grace strolled into the bar. “But I already reserved your table. Where are the rest?”

“They’ll be along,” Grace said, moving toward the table. “Could you bring some menus when they get here? We’re going to have dinner.”

A few minutes later, Rochelle appeared with menus, a glass of wine for Grace, and a basket of popcorn for the middle of the table. “Did your therapist pass out on you again?”

“She wasn’t there,” Grace said, helping herself to a handful of popcorn. “There was a note on the door saying she’d had some kind of family emergency. Very cryptic. Very mysterious.”

*   *   *

“Does anybody really believe Paula had an emergency tonight?” Ashleigh speared a french fry with the tip of her fork and chewed slowly. “I mean, I find it hard to believe Paula even has a family. She’s just so … spacey. I mean, can you imagine having her for a mom? Or a wife?”

“It might not be something with a child or a husband,” Suzanne said timidly. “Maybe she has elderly parents. A friend I teach with has to use up every day of her sick leave and vacation time caring for her mother and her aunt, who both have dementia.”

Grace tore off a piece of her patty melt and chewed slowly. “I was thinking it could have something to do with Paula’s behavior last Wednesday night. She was definitely on edge.”

“Family emergency, my ass,” Camryn said. She squirted ketchup on her burger. “I knew all along there was something odd about that woman…” She broke off her sentence.

“Oh, my precious baby Jesus! Will you look at that boy’s poor face?”

They all turned to see what she was talking about. And that’s when they spotted a familiar-looking figure, threading his way through the maze of tables and chairs in their direction.

He was still dressed in the neatly pressed navy slacks and dress shirt he’d worn to court earlier in the day, and the bill of the baseball cap was still tilted low over his eyes, but he’d removed the sunglasses.

“How’d he find us?” Grace muttered, but as he got closer to the table and she saw his face, she gasped aloud.

“Hey, ladies,” Wyatt said. He pulled a chair from a nearby table and sat down. He nodded curtly at Grace. Before he could say anything else, Rochelle arrived with a pitcher of beer and two glasses. She poured one and handed it to him, then sat down and poured a glass for herself. Rochelle reached out and gently touched Wyatt’s cheek. “Your face! Did you fall into a fire-ant hill?”

“Not exactly. I did something even stupider. I purposely cut down a Brazilian pepper tree.”

“That’s bad?” Camryn asked.

“It is if you’re allergic to the sap, which I apparently am,” Wyatt said. He tried to smile, but his stiff, swollen lips were nearly immobile. “I know it looks pretty gnarly, but this is actually an improvement. My aunt dragged me to a doctor, and he gave me a cortisone shot and some steroid cream, so I’m starting to feel semihuman again, even if my face does look like a piece of raw meat.”

Ashleigh leaned her body across Suzanne’s to get a closer examination, and to give her pseudo-professional opinion. “Hmm. It looks like the eruptions haven’t scabbed over. That’s a good thing. I’d hate for you to have scars all over that pretty face of yours.”

Wyatt ducked his head, obviously embarrassed by all the attention.

“What can I get you to eat?” Rochelle asked. “Hamburger? Wings? Loaded potato skins?”

“Nothing, thanks,” he said. “I had a late lunch after my date with Stackpole.”

“Stackpole?” Grace stared, wondering what he’d been up to, halfway dreading the answer.

“Yeahhh,” he said slowly. “It’s kind of a long story.” And then his face cracked painfully, but he smiled anyway.

“Well, since Paula called