Page 20 of Rest In Pink
“Great,” I picked up two of the little suitcases and brought them inside and turned to find Margot behind me with the other two.
“Don’t let Faye get hold of Peri,” Margot whispered with vehemence, and I straightened in surprise. “She’s trying to get custody because I’m a drunk. She wants Peri’s money. Please don’t let her—”
“She willnotget her hands on Peri,” I said, serious as a heart attack now as I took the little suitcases from her. “I swear to you that will not happen.”
Margot swallowed hard. “I trust you. If anybody can stop Faye, you can. I just don’t know if anybody can stop her. I left a notarized letter at the police department, but tell Vince, will you? The two of you together . . .”
“The hell with Vince, I’ll tell Anemone. Anemone will turn Faye into niblets before she lets her take Peri. Peri’s safe, Margot, I swear. Stop worrying about her and concentrate on getting better. Then you can come home sober and tell Faye to fuck off and watch your daughter grow up.”
Margot nodded, still wobbly, and then my mother came in and dropped the giant red bear on the floor beside me and said to Margot, “Come on, love. Time’s a wasting.”
Margot kissed Peri good-bye, and it was an even bet which one would cry, but they both got through it, and Margot went out, sniffing a little.
Peri dragged her giant bear down into the living room with Anemone.
My mother turned in the doorway. “Are you all right?”
“I’m fine. I talked to Mac Blake about your bears, and he’s checking with the fire chief to see where they can store them until Christmas.”
My mother beamed. “Oh, that’s good news. We can talk about that at dinner.”
“I’m having dinner with Vince,” I said, making a mental note to remind Vince that we were having dinner. “Jill is thinking about serving tenderloins and fries at the bar, so I promised we’d stop by.” I made another mental note to warn Jill we’d be stopping by for the tenderloins she’d mentioned once and that I hoped she had in her freezer.
“Oh, well that’s nice,” Mom said. “Maybe your Uncle Day and I will come by, too.”
“My Uncle Day. Good old Uncle Dad.”
Mom sighed. “Lizzie—”
“Margot’s waiting, Mom,” I said, suddenly tired. “Get her to rehab so she can come home to her daughter.”
Mom nodded and stepped out, and I closed the door behind her.
When I went back to the living room, Peri was sitting on the couch petting Veronica and telling Anemone about her plans. “I want to swim,” she said, and Anemone said, “It’s a little cold, but that’s up to you.”
“No, it isn’t,” I said.
Anemone looked at me. “Peri can dip her toe in the pool, and if it’s too cold, she’ll wait.” She smiled at me. “She’s not achild.”
And I suddenly realized that it was me against the two children in front of me, one who was seven and one who was sixty-five.
When Peri left the room to go to the bathroom, I said, “Faye Blue is trying to get custody of her. Margot thinks she’s trying to get her hands on Peri’s inheritance from her father. She’s asked us to make sure—”
Anemone sat up, all smiles gone. “I will gut that woman where she stands before I let her touch that child.”
“So that’s Faye and Thacker sorted. Two idiots who have antagonized the wrong people.” I sat down. “Fun times. Now let’s talk about your acting career.”
“I was very young,” Anemone said. “I looked good in a bikini. I have a great smile. In the 70s, that was enough.” She thought about it. “I think I did that because it was about as far as I could reach back then. I did learn a lot.” She looked at me, straight on. “I know you think I squandered those years being eye candy, but that’s how I met Anthony, so it was worth it.”
“That is not an excuse,” I said and got to work on the rewrite.
Chapter Ten
I got a call from Liz informing me that we were having tenderloins at JB’s that night and asking me to call Jill to tell her to have tenderloins for us at JB’s that night as they’d previously discussed. She sounded distracted so I didn’t argue. I like Jill, the bar, tenderloins, and Liz, so really no reason to.
Then she said, “I had a thought.”
“I wish you wouldn’t do that.”