Page 19 of Rest In Pink

“Let us discuss this,” I said, “after our omelets.”

Anemone sniffed and dug in again.

“I’m only putting up with this grumpiness of yours because of Marianne’s cooking,” I told her. “It has nothing to do with you.”

“You adore me and you need the money,” Anemone said, and that was true, so I changed the subject.

“Where did you find Marianne, anyway?”

“She was cooking for a local. I doubled her salary and she came here.”

I stopped chewing. “Which local did you screw over to get Marianne? I’m not criticizing, I’m all for it, good for you, I just want to know who has a grudge against us now.”

Anemone forked up some omelet. “The O’Tooles.”

“You stole the mayor’s cook?” I said, and watched Anemone nod as she chewed.

“They were tragically underpaying her.” Anemone smiled at me. “You’re right. This is an excellent omelet.”

I thought about Anemone’s past five marriages. “You really are thinking about fixingBurney, aren’t you?”

“Of course not, darling. I’m only here until September.”

I would have argued with her, but Marianne was a miracle cook, screwing over the O’Tooles was always a good thing, and changing Anemone’s mind was a lost cause.

I picked up my fork again.

That omelet really was delicious.

* * *

Anemoneand I had just gotten settled on the blue couches—really, Faye must have just called a furniture store and said “Send over everything you have that’s blue”—when the doorbell chimed. Marianne does not answer the doorbell, the doorbell evidently annoys Marianne, so I went to get it to protect my future lunch.

When I opened the door there were three people and fourHello Kitty!suitcases on the porch along with a six-foot red teddy bear. Three foot sitting down.

I ignored my mother and Margot Blue and looked down at seven-year-old Peri Blue. “You moving in, kid?”

She nodded, a little woeful.

I moved out of the way so she could come in. “Well, you’ll have a great time. The food is incredible, there’s enough room to play soccer in the living room, and there’s a room upstairs that’s just for watching movies. It has a balcony. Do not fall off.”

“I’m not achild,Liz,” she said and pushed past me into our rental, a place she’d been many times before since her grandmother had been living there.

“Actually, you are a child,” I called back, but I was looking at my mother and Margot. “What’s up?”

“Margot is going to rehab,” my mother said cheerfully.

“Really?” I said. “We’ve been here before. She’s cancelled twice.”

“Third time’s the charm!” my mother said, firmly in cheerleader mode. “They had a last-minute opening after the person who took her place cancelled and they called her and she was so glad, she took it!”

I looked at Margot. She did not look glad.

But she did look sober, so that was a start.

“We’ll take care of Peri,” I said, all snark gone. “Come on in and we’ll talk—”

“No,” my mother said, still cheerful. “We’re going to the centerright now, they’re waiting for Margot, and we knew you’d already agreed to take Peri the first two times, so we know she’s safe with you—” She squeezed Margot’s arm. “—and she’ll be back in a month, so everything isfine.”