"Three?" Nina mouthed silently, her eyes round. "Wow."
"Very happy," Audrey confirmed smugly, giving up her own battle of the bulge for the day when she saw Nina, Katherine, and Jacie each go for a spiced pumpkin bar.
Gwen poured herself some coffee and grabbed a package of Sweet & Low from the porcelain dish sitting temptingly close to the dessert. "With all those exes you must at least be getting decent alimony?" She hadn't recalled any additional sources of income for Katherine, but it paid to know every detail.
Katherine rolled her eyes. "Gimme a break. My boyfriends-slash-husbands were all of the ‘poor as a church mouse' variety."
Audrey moaned around a bite of nutmeg-laced nuts. "God, these are awesome," she murmured, dusting the crumbs off her slightly sticky fingers and fighting the urge to lick off the gooey droplet of cream cheese frosting that had thus far escaped her lips. "So your new boyfriend is poverty stricken, too?"
"Not really." Katherine's expression turned thoughtful. "I guess he does okay, but I'd love him just the same even if he didn't. He's really different from the other men I've been involved with. Plus it doesn't hurt that I'm crazy about him."
The other women smiled at Katherine's heartfelt declaration.
"Good for you," Gwen announced happily. "Love is the most important thing, but having money does make life's wheels turn a little smoother." She looked directly into Katherine's eyes, hoping to spot a crack in their arctic-blue veneer. "Don't you think?"
Katherine shrugged one slim shoulder. "I guess I wouldn't know. But I'll take your word for it." Then she turned to Jacie as though an idea had suddenly come to her. "So, Jacie, what's it like to go down on a woman?"
Coffee shot out of Jacie's mouth, spraying a fine mist all over Audrey. "Jesus Christ, Katy," she sputtered, wiping her chin with the back of her hand and choking a little.
Gwen gasped and Nina's face fell into her hands as her body shook with silent laughter.
"Damn." Katherine let out a throaty chuckle at Jacie's reaction. "That good, huh? No wonder some guys dig it so much."
"Couldn't you have waited till she was finished drinking?" Audrey asked, plucking her napkin from her lap and wiping a dangling drop of coffee off the tip of her nose.
"What?" Katherine complained, taking the napkin from Audrey's hand and wiping her chin as though her cousin were a messy 3-year-old. "Like you didn't want to know."
"Well, duh. Of course I wanted to know. But I was going to get her liquored up tonight and hope she'd spill her guts and give us the juicy…." she winced at her choice of words. "Errr… the interesting details."
Katherine frowned. Why hadn't she thought of that?
Gwen's eyes were a little wide. "Is that really something you consider interesting?"
The cousins looked at each other and exchanged devilish smiles. "Yeah," they said in unison.
"God," Nina chuckled, enjoying the red tint to Jacie's cheeks. "You guys are as warped as ever."
Doing her best Miss Piggy hair toss, Audrey sighed dramatically. "Curious is not the same thing as warped. Besides, couldn't you see that Katy was willing to do anything to get the topic of conversation off her many, many ex-husbands."
Katherine took her last bite of pumpkin bar and unrepentantly licked her fingertips. "Speaking of ex-husbands and lesbians... My second husband, Junior, could make you straight, Jacie. I guarantee it."
This time it was Nina who began choking on her coffee.
Audrey slapped her on the back absently as she anxiously waited for Katherine to continue.
Nina gave Katherine an incredulous look. "Where do you get these insane ideas?"
"He could, Nina! Well, maybe he couldn't make her straight. But he sure as hell could make her straight
ish
. At least for one night." Her eyes twinkled. "He was an acrobat who performed on the flying trapeze at Circus Circus in Vegas." Then her voice dropped an octave, "And amazing."
Gwen blinked slowly and allowed her imagination to take hold. "Just how amazing are we talking?"
Jacie's eyes thoughtfully regarded Nina, her friend was plainly uninterested in Junior's flexibility or talents. When Jacie spoke, her voice was quiet and resolute. "It wouldn't matter how amazing he was. I'm pretty sure your ex wouldn't have had much luck with me, Katy. I know who and what I am, and I'm happy with that." She gave Nina a meaningful look.
"I don't feel very well," Nina suddenly announced, pushing to her feet. Her gaze never strayed from the dark wood tabletop. "I'm sorry. I think I'm going to go up to my room for a little while."
Gwen's words tumbled out in a rush. "Can I get you something? Some medicine? Or a doctor? I could call Malcolm and he could–"
"No." A quick shake of the head and Nina tossed her napkin the table. "I think I just have a headache." She laid a hand on her belly.
And my stomach is in knots.
"I'm sorry," she mumbled and hurried from the room.
Jacie closed her eyes and rubbed her temples for a few seconds. "I'm going to see how she is."
Gwen jumped to her feet, smoothing her blouse as she stood. "I'll go, too."
"No thank you, Gwen," Jacie said distractedly, effectively dismissing her host as she walked out of the room.
The remaining women were left in a pool of silence. Finally, Audrey let out a long breath and squirmed a little in her chair. "Boy, that was weird."
Katherine nodded. "Tell me about it. One minute we're talking, and the next Nina is as white as a sheet."
"Maybe it was the topic of conversation?" Audrey ventured.
Gwen's brow furrowed worriedly as she tapped a long, manicured fingertip against the rim of her cup. "Maybe." Then her face cleared and she fought for something normal to say. "So, Katy, if husband number two was so wonderful, why is he an ex?"
Katherine chuckled softly. "It took me a week to figure out that there was no way I was staying in Vegas, that there isn't a big call for men who work on the flying trapeze in St. Louis, and that just being ‘amazing' isn't a basis for a marriage." She waved dismissively. "It took me a year to get out of the mess I'd made for myself." She sighed and spared a wistful thought for her younger and far stupider self. "I should have known that something that started out in one of those disgusting, sleazy $29.99 wedding chapels was doomed to bring nothing but pain and misery to both of us."
"Oh, Tina!" Audrey suddenly burst into tears and bolted from the dining room.
Dumbfounded, Katherine and Gwen could only stare after her.
"Dammit!" Katherine slapped the table with an open hand. She looked at Gwen helplessly. "What did I say now?"
"Don't look at me."
"I'd better go see what's the matter." Katherine stood.
Gwen started to rise. "I'll come, too."
"No thanks," Katherine said, already halfway through the doorway.
Gwen flopped back down in her seat and looked around the empty room.
A moment later, Frances popped her head around the corner, a plastic washtub in hands. "Oh," her gaze flicked around the room, finally landing on Gwen. A well-worn apron covered her corduroy pants and thin black turtleneck. "I'm sorry. I thought you'd all left. I can come back."
Gwen sighed and motioned her in. "No, no. Now is fine." She watched the older woman work, feeling the compulsion to offer to help and then quashing it as she'd conditioned herself to do over the years. That wasn't her job.
Frances loaded up the small tub with dishes, careful not to clank the bread plates together. Gwen Langtree was high society, but the other women seemed like most of the guests that Frances encountered. Normal. Or as normal as women who wrestled, tried to spit on, and slapped each other could be. Actually, the more she thought about it, the more it seemed a good idea to lock the door to the servants' quarters tonight.
The white-haired woman performed her task by rote, allowing herself to maintain a curious, sideways glance at Gwen. "How's your gathering going so far?"
Gwen couldn't decide whether to laugh or cry. "About like I deserve."
* * *
Katherine poked her head into the guest room she was sharing with Audrey. The furnishings were decidedly Victorian with dark delicate wood, a busy rose-patterned wallpaper and mounds of crème-colored bedding and fluffy pillows trimmed in mint green and pale pink. Just seeing it made Katherine want to fling herself out the bedroom window. "Audrey? Don't make me stay in this room looking for you?" She poked her head behind a lace screen set up for discreet dressing.
But there was no one in the room. "Sure," Katherine mumbled. "Run off crying and then disappear." She had yet to see the other rooms so she headed down the hall.
A pair of hands shot out of an open doorway and pulled her inside.
"Ah!"
"Shh!" A hand clamped over Katherine's mouth. "Be quiet, you baby. It's just me."
Katherine whirled around. "Audrey!"
"I said ‘shh!'" Audrey whispered loudly. "Hang on." She stuck her head out the door and when she saw that the coast was clear she closed the door. When she turned back around, Katherine was standing nose to nose with her, her hands on her hips.
"Well?" Katherine demanded, arching a thin blonde eyebrow.
"We're in Gwen's room."
"Yeah," Katherine took in her surroundings with a smirk. "And it doesn't look like Martha Stewart threw up in here." The difference between this room and Audrey and Katherine's was like night and day. This room had a contemporary flair with leather furnishings done in contrasting shades of black and white and the occasional splash of color brought in by throw pillows or a piece of modern art. "It's actually nice."
"Who cares about the furniture? This is our chance to snoop."
Katherine's eyebrows lifted. "You mean you weren't really upset when you ran out of the dining room?"
"Yes and no. Your comments made me think about what my stupid daughter did."
"She ran off to Vegas?"
"Uh huh."
Katherine winced.
"But I've been dealing with that for weeks." She let out a deep breath as if trying to force away the stress the topic carried. "While you were all discussing what the hell was wrong with me, I really thought I could come up here and poke around in Gwen's bags." She lightly smacked Katherine's arm. "You weren't supposed to come after me. Now who's keeping Gwen busy?"
"Nobody."
"Then we'd better get out of here." She made a move for the door but Katherine grabbed her arm. "Hang on. What did you find?"
"Nothing yet. I just got up here when I heard footsteps. Thank God it was you and not Gwen." Nervously, she glanced back at the door. "We need to leave. She could come up here any minute."
"No." Katherine shook her offered. "She offered, but I said no thanks. I think she'll give me time to figure out what's wrong with you before coming up. You know how Gwen hates messy, emotional scenes."
Audrey licked her lips. Torn.
Katherine's eyes took on a determined gleam. "Now where are her bags? I wanna see if there are any clues in there that will tell us if she was the one investigating our finances."
"The bags are in the closet. But I dunno, Katy." Audrey wrung her hands. Her shining moment of daring and bravery was fading fast.
"You go stand at the head of the stairs and act as a lookout." Katherine was already kneeling by the surprisingly roomy closet. "Don't let Gwen back in here."
Audrey nodded quickly. "Okay." She had barely turned around when–
"That bitch!"
"Shh!" The brunette ran to the door and looked out. Fleetingly, she wondered briefly where Nina had gone, but her attention was drawn quickly back to Katherine.
"I don't believe it!" Her voice was tinged with anger and something else.
"What?" Audrey ran back to the closet. "What did you find?"
Socks, a navy-blue bra, and a pair of gabardine trousers now lay haphazardly on the floor. "These." Katherine held up four manila folders of varying thicknesses, each with the name of a member of the Mayflower Club written neatly across the tab. She opened her own and the very first page was a pie chart outlining her banking activity for the last year.
Audrey shook her head and muttered, "What on God's earth are you doing, Gwen?"
"I want these." Katherine tucked the folders under arm.
"No!" Audrey grabbed them and knelt to start stuffing them back into the suitcase.
"What are you doing?" Katherine whispered harshly, reaching for the folders. "She doesn't have a right to those!"
"If we take them, she's going to notice that they're missing."
"I don't give a rat's ass!"
Audrey's eyes sparked. "Well, I do. I want to know exactly what's going on. And I don't want to tip our hand too early. If Gwen panics, she'll make up some lie. I want the truth."
Katherine chewed her lower lip. Audrey was right, though she hated this. "Fine. But if we can't figure out things by the end of the weekend, we're confronting her." She pointed to the plush leather suitcase. "And we're burning those files."
Audrey nodded and gravely said, "Agreed." Then her worried gaze shifted to the door. Now let's go before– Oh, shit! Someone's coming."
Katherine's eyes widened. "Who?"
Audrey gave her an impatient look. "Do I look like I have x-ray vision?"
Two sets of eyes stared at the door as they intently listened to the footsteps growing louder and louder. Finally, Audrey cracked under the pressure. "Hide!"
"No friggin' way."
Audrey pushed Katherine all the way into the closet. "Yes friggin' way!"
"Audrey!"
"Shh!" Mashing herself against Katherine, she pulled the closet door closed just as someone entered the bedroom.
It wasn't particularly dark in the closet, as the bottom of the door was a good inch above the ground. In fact, Audrey got a good look at the murderous glare Katherine was tossing her way. The heavier woman put her finger against her lips to remind Katherine to be quiet.
Footsteps moved around the room and then there was the plinking sound of ice being dropped into a heavy glass and the glugging sound of liquid being poured from a bottle.