While My Sister Sleeps (14 page)

“I'm not a PR person.”

“Did I know how to change a diaper before Chloe was born? I learned fast, because it had to be done. And if we're talking about doing things we don't
want
to do, do you think I like cleaning up when she throws up? I don't. But I have to. This is about doing what has to be done even when you're uncomfortable doing it.”

“Erin, I can't be at Snow Hill right now,” he stated. It seemed perfectly obvious why.

“It's a way to help your family. It wouldn't take much time. Molly's already doing a lot, and she's right about moving. Now she has to move herself
and
Robin.”

Chris snorted. “No one's evicting her.”

“That's not the point. Her landlord needs her out, so she's trying to cooperate.” She grasped his arm. “Snow Hill is a family business. If you can't
pinch-hit
for your family in a time of crisis, what good are you?”

But he was in crisis, too. “Do we have to discuss this now?”

“Now's when it counts. You either step up to the plate, or you don't.”

He sighed. “Baseball isn't your thing.”

“But it's yours, and if there's no other way I can get through, I'll give it a shot. What's happening now is big league. We've never gone through anything so stressful.”

Chris wondered what planet
she
had been on. “Planning a wedding wasn't stressful? Or buying a house? Or having a baby?”

“Those things are different. This is something we didn't ask for and don't want, and it's making me nervous about the future. What if something happens to me? Can you take over with the baby? You may not want to, but someone would have to.”

“Nothing's happening to you.”

“Like nothing was happening to Robin? Doesn't this
shake
you, Chris? I mean, we don't even have a will.”

He stared at her. “I am
not
drawing up a will right now.”

“But doesn't what's happening here make you think?” she cried. “And this is exactly what I'm saying. I don't want to be having this conversation. It's messy and uncomfortable, and I'm not good at confrontation, so I'm probably doing it wrong. But you're hanging back when it comes to your family—and yes, when it comes to me, too. You let other people do the dirty work by default.”

“I change diapers,” he argued.

“I'm not
talking
about changing diapers. I'm talking about taking responsibility, not just sitting back and letting everyone else do things so you don't have to. I'm talking about
joining the team
, Chris. You can't hit a home run while you're sitting in the dugout!” Softly she added, “You might have gotten away
with it in your family if this hadn't happened to Robin. But you chose to marry me, and on that day something changed. Life isn't only about you anymore.”

“This is about you?”

“It's about us right now—us as we're part of your family. It's about Chloe, whose aunt and grandparents are in there and can't be at Snow Hill. They need
help.
”

MOLLY
wasn't in the mood any more than Chris was, but she was determined to do her job. She had to finish the ordering she hadn't done yesterday, had to cancel Kathryn's appointments, had to write the article for
Grow How.

She also had to pack. When to do that? She couldn't imagine what would happen if the second EEG was bad—did not want to even
think
that worst-case-scenario word. But she had barely started to work when Joaquin Peña appeared at her door. His normally olive skin was pale.

“Your brother just said Miss Robin is dead.”

Molly was livid. “She is not. She is on life support.”

“But will she be dead soon?”

Chris might be. Molly could have killed him right then. Leaving the desk, she put an arm around Joaquin's shoulder. “It's bad. Not good at all.”

He teared up.
“Por qué?”

“I don't know.”

“How is your mother?”

“Very, very upset.”

“What can I do?”

“What you always do, Joaquin. Take care of things here so
my parents don't have to worry. If there are any problems, call me. Okay?”

He nodded, touched her cheek, and went to the door. Erin was there. She let Joaquin pass, then gave Molly a look. “My husband wasn't very subtle.”

Molly let out a breath. She just didn't have the strength to fight. “Maybe he was right,” she said. “What are we hiding?” Besides, Nick knew Robin was brain dead. His next article might announce it publicly. It struck her that the Snow Hill staff deserved better.

Glancing past Erin, she saw Deirdre Blake. Deirdre was as close as Kathryn came to having a personal assistant. A part-timer, though, she hadn't been in the day before.

She looked frightened. “I saw today's paper, but no one can tell me much. How is Robin?”

Molly swallowed. “Not good. It's a process.”

“Her heart?”

“For starters.”

“Will she recover?”

Molly exchanged glances with Erin, then said, “Y'know, I think Erin and I need to work on a statement. Maybe you could give us a little while. We'll come up with something, then you can get it out to everyone, okay?”

As soon as she was gone, Molly leaned the door closed and turned expectantly to Erin. “What do we say?”

“Don't you want Chris in here?”

Molly didn't. “Not if you're willing to help.”

“I'm willing, but he might be better.”

Molly made a face giving her opinion of
that
, then pulled up a blank screen on her computer and began to type. It took only five minutes. There wasn't much to say.

Erin worked over her shoulder, suggesting a word here, a thought here. “What you told Joaquin about taking care of things at Snow Hill so that your parents don't have to worry— that was good. I think you should include that.”

Molly did. When they were both satisfied, she e-mailed the finished product to Deirdre.

“What else can I do?” Erin asked. “Chloe's with a sitter. I have time.”

She seemed sincere, and Molly welcomed the help. Gesturing her into Charlie's office, she set her up with his Rolodex and a list of calls. “Start with WMUR. Explain that there's a family illness, so we have to cancel Friday's show. It's probably good that you're the one calling. You can just go with the party line and plead ignorance as to the details.”

Erin lifted the phone, at which point Molly returned to her office to check her e-mail. Friends had definitely seen the paper. Their notes were sympathetic to a fault. On the chance that Terrance Field would be more sympathetic now that he'd had a chance to consider it, she called him.

And yes, he was more understanding than he had been the day before. “I did hear about your sister,” he said. “It's frightening in one so young. I even called my landlord after you and I talked. But the news here isn't good, Molly. He said he was about to call me. He has someone willing to rent my place at the higher rent. He wants me out a month earlier. I do have a lease, so I don't think he can force me out. My attorney is attending to his mother-in-law over in Sarasota, but when he gets back …”

He went on for a minute, but Molly heard little of it. She made a final plea, then let him go and, needing a distraction, focused on an e-mail that had just come in from a supplier asking about the poinsettia order. Yesterday, she hadn't been able
to come up with a figure. Now she quickly did. She shot him the number in a reply, then pulled up an actual order form and filled it out. Same with an order of garden supplies.

Scrolling farther, she stopped abruptly at an order confirmation. It was from the supplier she refused to deal with. She read the body of the e-mail and began a slow burn.

Leaning into the phone, she buzzed Liz Tocci. “It's Molly,” she said politely enough. “Could you come to my office for a minute?”

Liz said she was on the phone with a client. Molly said it couldn't wait. Maybe she was wrong, since Kathryn put a premium on customer relations, but Molly had a lot on her plate. Her time was worth something. And her sister was dying.

Liz was a confident woman just shy of forty, though Molly had had to piece that together. Liz guarded her age, alternately projecting experience and exuding youth. This day she was an even mix. Blond hair swinging as coolly as someone young and naïve, she strode into the room wearing the silk blouse and slacks of someone who was an authority on design. She looked duly concerned. “I am
so
sorry to hear about Robin. How is she?”

“She's the same. But we need to talk about King Proteas.”

Liz seemed puzzled. “Right now? You should be thinking about Robin, not this.”

A tiny light went off, goading Molly. “You ordered from Maskin Brothers. I said we wouldn't do that, and I'm the one who does the ordering.”

“You were at the hospital. I thought this would help.”

“I was also here twice yesterday. And no, this doesn't help. Maskin Brothers is off limits.”

“That doesn't make sense, Molly,” Liz said in a chiding way. “I worked with the Maskins for years before I came here, and I've had no problem at all. They have gorgeous King Proteas.”

“Snow Hill has lost customers because of the Maskins.”

“Maybe the problem is on this end.”

“Me, you mean?”

“Or whoever did the ordering when you had trouble.”

“Me,” Molly said, starting to simmer. “I told you this at the meeting on Monday. Snow Hill doesn't work with the Maskins. They're asking for a deposit on the order. No deposit, no order.”

“Your mother wouldn't approve,” Liz said with a reproach that only riled Molly more.

“I think she would. She runs a tight ship.”

“I've had more experience in this business than you have, Molly,” Liz reminded her. “And let's be honest. Your specialty is plants, not cut flowers. I'm trying to build the interior design side of Snow Hill.”

Molly smiled. Pulling rank wasn't something she wanted to do, but Liz had been a problem for months. When someone was as condescending as she was, there was only one way to deal. In a cool, Kathryn-like voice, she said, “Okay, let's
be
honest. I do the ordering. I decide who our vendors will be, because—bottom line—I own the business.” She looked at her watch. “You have, oh, thirty seconds to come to terms with that. Think you can?”

“You don't own the business. Your mother does.”

Molly said nothing, simply looked at her watch.

“There is nothing wrong with this supplier, Molly. Do you know how many other plant nurseries use them? Joe Francis in Concord doesn't have trouble with them. Nor does Manchester Landscaping. Our butting heads over this is ridiculous. I'm good for Snow Hill. I bring in work.”

And more headaches than that
, Molly thought. She didn't even wait out the last five seconds. “You're fired.”

Liz looked startled. “Your mother won't stand for that.”

“If she has to choose between the two of us, she will.”

Liz stared. “Not a good move on your part. You need my goodwill.”

“Well, we disagree about that, too. Snow Hill's reputation goes a long way in the goodwill department. If you'd like to tell people how bad I am, be my guest. You've only lived in this area for two years. People here have known me all my life. Besides, I might be worried if I were looking for a job, but I'm not. You're the one doing that.”

Liz stood for another minute, then turned to the door. She paused briefly when she saw Erin. “Chris's wife, right? I'm glad you're here. Molly isn't thinking straight. Want to try quieting her down?” She glanced at Molly. “I'll be in my office.”

“Not for long,” Molly informed her and buzzed Deirdre. “Would you ask Joaquin to meet Ms. Tocci at her office and take her to her car?”

Liz made a face. “Well,
that's
overkill.”

But Molly had reached a boil. “My specialty may be plants, but while I was studying horticulture, I also took some business courses. I know how things work.” She walked out of the office and, with Liz following, went down the hall, around a corner and down the stairs. She retrieved the Rolodex from Liz's desk. “Your contract says that everything you use for your work here is the property of Snow Hill. Feel free to take your purse, though.”

Liz might have argued had not Joaquin appeared. Molly waited until they had gone before leaving the office and closing the door. Back at her own desk, she buzzed Deirdre again. “I want the lock on Liz's office changed. Will you ask Joaquin for me, please?”

Straightening, Molly took a deep breath and looked at Erin. “What… a
… bitch.
”

Erin was grinning. “Molly, that was great! Good for you!”

Molly pulled out her hair clasp, regathered her hair, and put the clasp back in. As quickly as that, her bravado crumbled. “What did I just do? I have no authority to fire someone.”

“Of course, you do. You're acting in your mom's place while she's with Robin. This
is
your business.”

“It's Mom's business,” Molly argued because Liz had been right about that. “She hired Liz herself. She'll be furious.”

But Erin was still grinning. “You're Kathryn's proxy. You looked like her. You
sounded
like her. That was amazing.”

“I'm supposed to be helping her.”

“You did. I drop by here enough to see Liz ordering people around. They roll their eyes behind her back.”

“But now we have no designer.”

“There must be others you can hire; and in the meantime, why not use Greg Duncan? You rave about what he does for you in the greenhouse. Listen,” Erin said, “Liz moved up here to build her name in the area. She was using Snow Hill. Greg is loyal in ways she would never be.”

“But he doesn't have the cachet of Liz Tocci. She's right; she did bring in work,” Molly admitted, but the little light that had gone off in her mind earlier started to blink now. “The thing that's so bad about what she did is the timing. She figured I'd be looking the other way because of Robin. She exploited that.”

“Which is exactly why your mom will support you.”

“Mom wouldn't have lost her temper. Neither would Robin. She's a good loser. Okay, so this isn't a race. But I did lose. Liz snuck an order past me.”