Page 10 of Rest In Pink
Molly changed the subject again, probably to get away from my bad memories. “So, who is Thomas Thacker, besides Skye Blue’s latest squeeze? And why is he writing horrible things about Burney?”
She grinned at me again, not upset in the slightest. That was Molly Blue for you; she was a true Perpetually Cheerful Blonde, although not little. They built blondes tall and busty in our family, and Molly was family twice over, both my cousin and my sister.
Yeah, Uncle Dad had some things to answer for.
“I don’t like it,” I told her. “That little tick has been harassing me for money for months because he thinks I stole his research on Anemone, which was lousy since he never listened to her, and then all of a sudden, he stops, builds a website, sets up a pre-order for his book, and threatens scandal? It’s not like the man has morals or a sense of decency.” I realized what she’d said. “What do you mean Skye Blue’s latest squeeze? He just got to town.”
“Skye spends time in Cincy,” Molly said. “She’s in school there and has an apartment. A pretty snazzy one from what I hear.”
“She met Thacker in Cincinnati?” I asked.
Molly nodded.
“How do you know that?”
“It’s Burney,” Molly said. “Ever try to keep a secret here?”
“My mother did.”
Molly didn’t touch that one.
Meeting Skye can’t have been an accident, so Thacker had tracked her down. She’s the last of the tragic Cleveland Blue family, if you don’t count his granddaughter, little Peri. “Are they really sleeping together?”
Molly shrugged. “It’s Skye, who knows? Enough about Thacker, he’s boring. When is Vince going to pop the question?”
“Which question? He’s popped several, most of them beginning with ‘How about if we try . . . ?’ The man is inventive.”
Molly wrinkled her nose. “Yeah. That didn’t work for me.”
“Good. You can’t have him back until I leave town in September. You know, I never asked: How long were you guys together anyway?” I looked in her basket for a spare onion ring, but she’d destroyed the whole bunch.
“One night,” Molly said. “I ordered you a burger and sides. It’ll be here any minute. What kept you anyway? You’re never late.”
Since she obviously didn’t want to talk about that ‘one night’—and what the hell, Molly, how could you only have him once?—I was a good sister and changed the subject. “So, what’s your next gig? I can’t believe you’re still in town.”
“About that,” she began, and then Kitty Porter came over and put a basket down in front of me with a Diet Coke. She said, “Stop frowning, Molly, it ruins your looks,” and then looked at me. “Where’s that boy of yours, Lizzie?”
“I have no boy.” I grabbed an onion ring from my basket before Molly could get it. That woman is like a locust, but she’s a locust who runs five miles a day so she’s still fairly slim. Four years of high school track gets in your blood. Ask me how I know.
Kitty was still looking at me, so I added, “I am boy-less.”
“Uh-huh. When should I put his burger on?”
“Any time now.” I bit into my onion cautiously. Fresh out of the fryer, Kitty’s rings could leave first degree tongue burns. But so worth it.
“On it,” Kitty said and went over to the next table to harass a consumer.
I looked at Molly. “You are frowning. This is not like you.”
“I’m thinking about staying in town, taking a job here in September,” she said, sticking her chin out while she said it, like she was defying me.
“Here inBurney?”
She stole a fry while I was frozen with shock. “The high school’s music teacher is leaving. She recommended me for the job. The salary is mediocre, but there’s great health care and a retirement plan. I could live at home. My mom won’t be out of prison for at least ten years.” She took a deep breath and another fry. “We’re thirty-three, Liz. We need to start thinking about the future.”
“You wouldn’t miss being on the road? Show business? The roar of the greasepaint, the smell of the crowd?”
“Yes,” Molly said, pulling my basket closer. “But I would like health care and a retirement plan. I’m tired, Liz.” She took an onion ring. “You should be thinking about this, too. The police department probably has good benefits.”