“I’m sorry. Say what you want about Ronnie, but Ashley’s terrible,” Kenny said, jumping in. “Don’t let the cute French braids fool you. I have nightmares about her mounting my head on a wall. I mean, don’t get me wrong, the dreams are kind of hot, but scary too. No joke.”
“No. No,” Julie said, whacking him on the arm. “She’s just … in the process of finding herself.”
“But what about the kid?” I asked. “How does he fit into all this?”
“You mean Kyle? Rayner’s love child?” Julie asked, making a disgusted sound in the back of her throat. “Good question. In fact, this could really mess things up for Ronnie, for all of us, especially if—” She cut herself off.
“If what?”
“I don’t think I should say.”
I shot her a look.
“No, I’m not being dramatic,” she said putting an I swear to God hand in the air. “It’s just that given everything that’s happened, there might be some legalities involved.”
Huh. I turned back to the steak I was working on. Regardless of whatever Julie was hinting at, I really needed to talk to the kid. See if he was okay. It wasn’t looking like anyone else would.
Yup, I would do that next. Just as soon as I figured out the best way to talk to a teenager. As a general rule, adolescents made me nervous. They had that uncanny ability to make everything and everyone seem uncool. Me in particular. But regardless of that, he had just witnessed his father’s death. That was a lot.
“Look, you don’t have to worry about Kyle,” Julie said as though reading my mind. “I know he’s acting all poor lost lamb right now, but believe me, he’s an a-hole.”
I let the knife fall to a clatter as my jaw dropped. “You can’t call a kid an a-hole!”
“Can. Did. Will probably do it again,” she said with a shrug. “Kenny?”
“He’s an a-hole.”
* * *
Just under an hour later we had all the food on the table—on the far end, away from the body still lying under the afghan on the floor. We were all pretending like it wasn’t weird, but it was definitely weird. Unfortunately, we didn’t really have a better option. My wine had made it out too. Ronnie had stumbled across it on her way to the bathroom apparently. Not quite sure how that had happened, seeing as I’d moved my bag into my room earlier, but whatever. At one point, I did try to suggest that maybe bringing alcohol into the mix wasn’t the greatest idea, given everything that had happened, but I was overruled by a heavy majority.
Watching Ronnie pour herself the first big glass—before any of us had even sat down—was a sad moment. That wine was meant for other people … doing other things … snuggled under a blanket by the fire. But I needed to stop kidding myself. Grady wasn’t coming tonight. The storm was really rocking now. We were lucky we still had power. Nope, now was the time to make the best of it.
Just before I found a spot at the table, I noticed the kid, Kyle, sitting by himself on a couch with his phone in his hands.
“Hey,” I said walking up to him. I think for a moment there I was going to tag on a Champ, but I caught myself. “Whatcha doing?”
He rolled his eyes up to mine. “Farming.”
“Oh, I love that game! I just upgraded my barn and bought a goat and—” The look on his face cut me off. “You’re probably not that interested in my farming progress right now.” I took a breath and tried again, “So, how are you doing?”
“My dad just died.”
“Right,” I said with a slow sympathetic nod. “That’s … not good.”
His eyes moved side to side in a Can you believe this person? motion before settling back down on his phone. Yup, this was going well. I rocked a little on my heels. “You know if you need someone to talk to, I’m a good listener.” I flashed him an awkward smile. “At least I think I am.”
This time he just stared at me. Waiting for me to be relevant, I guess.
“Well,” I said, the force of his gaze pushing me back a step, “I just wanted to make sure you were okay.”
All of the sudden he seemed less defensive and much more sad. “Okay? My long-lost father just died in front of me, and I’m trapped on an island full of people who hate me.”
“I’m sure no one hates y—”
“I do!” Ronnie called out from across the room.
I shot her a warning look as Kyle said, “See?”
I sighed. “Just hang in there, okay? Help is going to be here soon, and … and I know at least one person who doesn’t hate you.” I flashed him yet another awkward smile.
He huffed a breath that almost sounded like a laugh as he wiped a bit of sweat from his cheeks. He looked sort of clammy. “Great. Thanks.”
“Right.” I clapped hands together. “There’s dinner if you want it. If you don’t, that’s cool too. I’ll just be over here.” I jabbed a thumb back toward the table.
He nodded.
“Good.”
And yup, that was a pretty big chunk of my high school experience in a nutshell.
Most of the group came to the table for dinner.
Chuck, the lawyer, was among those who decided not to partake in the thrown-together feast. He had mumbled something about not being hungry, while once again shuffling through his many documents. I guess there was a lot of paperwork involved with a multi-millionaire’s death. He had moved all of his stuff—files, briefcase, phone—away from the kitchen table to the armchair by the fire. Probably didn’t want to be alone in the other room. I could hardly blame him. What with the storm howling outside and the dead man lying on the floor inside, the atmosphere was a little tense. But the way he kept pulling at the neck of his shirt and rubbing his shoulder, I couldn’t help but wonder if something more was going on with him. Maybe he had lost something? I should probably offer him a glass of wine before Ronnie drank it all. Brody decided not to eat either. Well, decided probably wasn’t exactly the best word to describe it. I wasn’t even sure if he could see the food Ashley had put in front of him. He was too busy watching for the grim reaper. So, you know, that was reassuring. But the rest of us, well, we got down to eating pretty quickly and pretty quietly. Even Kyle managed to find his way over.
The food was gone in about twenty minutes, maybe half an hour. We had all needed the comfort apparently. I was actually feeling kind of proud of myself. It’s not like I was the best cook in the world, but everything had turned out pretty well judging by the empty plates being pushed aside. And, just like Rhonda had ordered, my hosting efforts were keeping everyone calm. Yeah, it was starting to look like I could maybe pull this thing off after all. Hey! Maybe next, I could get out some games. Parcheesi! Actually, that was probably too exciting. Best to stick with Scrabble.
“Everyone,” I began. “What do you say we—”
“Have a toast!” Ronnie shouted, jumping in. She then grabbed the oversized wine bottle off the table. She had been doing a lot of that. I watched as she poured, no, dumped the wine into her glass. I held out a hand for her to stop, but somehow she managed to whip the bottle back up just as the liquid reached the very, very top. She then leaned forward and sucked back a good inch, inch and half, before raising the glass over to the afghan. “To Rayner. Rest in Peace, you old son of a bitch.”
Well, Scrabble had been a nice thought.
Kyle didn’t look up from his phone, but I heard him mutter, “Nice,” under his breath.
“Hey! Hey! Nobody asked for any comments from the children’s table,” Ronnie snapped. “Besides, I’m just being honest. It’s healthy. Ask her,” she said waving a sloppy hand in my direction.
I froze. “Um…”
“You work at this spiritual vagina mono-lodge. You know what I’m talking about.”
I pinched my lips together to stop the first thing I wanted to say from coming out of my mouth. “I don’t work here. This is my mother’s place.”
“Right. Whatever. But some of it must have rubbed off on you. Honesty’s good, right? What would your mother sa
y?”
I tried to come up with something wise and therapeutic-like, but for some reason Denial isn’t just a river in Egypt kept popping into my head—and that didn’t seem right. “You’re only as sick as your secrets?”
“Hey!” Kenny shouted. “My fortune cookie said that last week … then again, the other one I got said my inattention to hygiene would keep me from finding true happiness.” He shrugged, enthusiasm all gone. “So there’s that.”
We all stared at him a moment.
“Fortune tellers are dicks.”
“Right, and there you have it,” Ronnie said, raising her glass to him. “Honesty’s the way to go. Ashley and I don’t have any secrets, and we have the best mother-daughter relationship on TV.”
Kenny choked on his wine just then, causing Julie to slap him on the arm. They exchanged looks, and I saw him shrug and mouth, What? I couldn’t help it.
“Jesus,” Kyle muttered, nose still buried in his phone.
“What?” Ronnie asked, looking over.
“Nothing,” Julie said quickly. “Go on.”
She frowned at them best she could. Again, Botox. “As I was saying, I’m not going to pretend that I’m all crazy-devastated by Rayner’s passing. We all know that he too could be a dick.” She nodded at Kenny. He shot her a thumbs up in return. “And now, without his interference, I can finally launch Ashley’s career properly.” She turned to her daughter. “Next week, I already have you doing a Diana Virgin Huntress photo shoot. We’ll—”
Kenny barked out another laugh. Julie whacked him even harder this time, muttering, “Not the plan.”
“I’m sorry,” he said, still snickering through the hand over his mouth.
Ronnie’s eyes swiveled to her daughter. “Ashley? Why is the cameraman laughing?”
Her shoulders jumped up and down. “I don’t know.” But the fear in her eyes told a different story.
Just then Brody began mumbling something. Too low to hear clearly, but definitely something. He was also rocking back and forth in his seat a little more violently. Ashley’s eyes darted over to him.
What was going on here?
“Why is he doing that?” Ronnie asked, pointing a jeweled finger at Brody. “And why are you looking at him like that?”
“Like what?” Ashley asked, straightening her vest. “I’m not looking at him like anything.”
“Wait … and why did you get that plate of food for him? Since when do you care if—”
Suddenly Brody’s fists hit the table, making all the dishes rattle. “Leave her alone!”
Whoa.
Everyone froze.
Julie then leaned toward Kenny and whispered, “Get the camera.”
He jumped to his feet.
“Brody, don’t…” Ashley said.
“You’re always telling her what to do!”
“I knew it!” Kenny hissed, hiking the camera up to his shoulder. “They are doing it! It’s just like this movie I saw the other week, Step-Sibling Love—”
My face dropped into my hands. Oh God, not another movie.
“And by movie, I mean porn on my laptop.”
Oh, well, okay then.
“What did you just say about my daughter?” Ronnie said, rotating her head back to Kenny in an Exorcist kind of motion.
He threw his hands up. “Nothing. Nothing.”
Ronnie’s demented eyes turned back on her daughter. “Ashley?”
“Mom, I was going to tell y—”
“Ash?” Brody suddenly mumbled in a frightened voice.
She almost reached for his hand, but one look from her mother stopped her.
Nope, I did not like the direction this was taking at all. Forget games. We needed something else … like more food! They were quiet when they were eating. “How about some dessert, everyone?” I jerked a thumb back to the kitchen. “I think I might have some vegan carob brownies?”
Kenny shuddered all over. “Vegan carob brownies? Way to sell it.”
Ronnie ignored me completely and said to her daughter, “What are they talking about? Tell me … tell me, you are not sleeping with the poop boy.”
A whole bunch of emotion warred over Ashley’s face. For the first time, I actually felt kind of sorry for her. She looked so young all of the sudden, and it wasn’t because of the French braids or the pink lip gloss. Nope, it was all the fear and vulnerability in her eyes—kind of like a hunted animal. A hunted animal who just might be in—
“We’re in love!”
“What?” Ronnie shrieked. Wow, she looked like an angry, angry fish now. It was like her lips were growing in size. Soon she’d swallow us whole.
Ashley straightened up in her chair, trying to look defiant, but the way her face was quivering, she wasn’t quite able pull it off.
“I don’t believe this,” Ronnie said.
“I know, right?” Kenny whispered at her. “I always pictured your daughter going for like some muscled dude that smacked bears in the head with a two-by-four while off-roading.”
“I don’t expect any of you to understand. Especially you, mom,” Ashley said, tilting her chin in the air. “You’ve never been in love.”
“Hey! Watch it!” Ronnie snapped, little veins popping out of the tissue-thin skin around her eyes. “You don’t know what I felt for Rayner.”
“You just called him a son of a bitch!”
“Yeah, but he wasn’t always like that,” Ronnie snapped. “Not at first. He was fun then. He was always taking me to Vegas and … and he could spend money like a boss.” She looked almost comically sad for a moment as her eyes drifted over to the afghan on the floor. “Plus, he always made me feel like I was…” She shook her head. “Really hot.” Then something in her snapped. Her eyes jerked back around and landed on Kyle. “But that was all before he came along.” Kyle looked up at her, but didn’t say a thing. After a moment, she straightened her bodysuit and turned back to her daughter. “And let me tell you, Little Miss, there are more important things in this life than the love you’re feeling right now.”
Ashley threw her hands in the air. “Like what?”
“Survival!”
Whoa. This was really getting out of hand. Ronnie had shouted the word with so much force, I kind of wanted to duck for cover—and I didn’t even do anything!
Suddenly I could hear Rhonda’s words in my mind.
Keep everyone calm, Doom.
Right.
“Um, everyone?” I said, pushing my chair back. “Maybe we should take a breath here. Who feels like playing a game of Scr—”
“I will not let you screw up all that we’ve worked towards!” Ronnie said, knocking a chair over. “That’s not happening!”
Well, at least I could tell Rhonda I had tried.
Ronnie flung her hand in Brody’s direction. “Especially not for that thing!”
Suddenly Ashley’s eyes lit up with a little fire of her own. “When are you going to get it? It’s my life! It’s not up to you!”
I could see Ronnie struggling to get ahold of her emotions. She was making it worse, and she knew it. Brody was becoming more attractive to Ashley by the second, and that was an impressive feat. Ronnie took a long breath before saying, “Ashley, I just want a better life for you than I had.” She reached for her daughter’s hand, but Ashley folded her arms over her chest. “You have limitless potential. The Internet loves you. Well, portions of it anyway. And the hunting mixed with religion? Baby, you could be president.”
Ashley stayed mum.
“But none of it will happen with him by your side. He’s a national joke! The stink will never leave him.”
I frowned. Interesting choice of words.
“What about what I want?” Ashley couldn’t stop herself from looking over at Brody. “Maybe I don’t want to go around killing hyenas for the rest of my life. I mean, I do. Because it’s awesome. But maybe I want to do it with somebody.”
Ronnie brought her hands to the sides of her head. I guess to stop all
the violent shaking it was doing. “You don’t know what you’re saying.”
Ashley shifted in her chair. “And maybe I want to live a quiet life, you know, get married, have kids with somebody I care about.” She shot Brody another look, but he didn’t catch it. In fact, just then he bounced up out of his chair and hurried over to one of the front windows. As he rushed by, I thought I heard him mutter, “Something’s out there.”
“Really?” Ronnie said, throwing her hand after her step-grandson. “That’s what you want for your future?”
My eyes snapped back to Ashley. I felt a little like I was watching a tennis match that I suddenly was deeply, deeply invested in. This was honest to goodness Romeo and Juliet stuff. I mean, if Juliet was a little bit of a psychopath and Romeo had both visual and auditory hallucinations. I was starting to see why people got addicted to these shows. They were even more engrossing when you watched them in real life.
“Exactly! You just said it!” Ashley shouted, putting her hand to her chest. “What I want. Let’s talk about what I want for a change.”
Ronnie slapped the table. “What you want? What you want! You are such a child. You have no idea what you really want.” She jumped up and paced the floor in front of the fireplace in her spike-heeled boots. “Do you have any idea what it’s like to live life like a so-called normal person? If you’re not careful, you … you could end up like her!” she shouted, tossing a hand in my direction.
“Hey!” I looked around to the rest of the group, expecting to see my outrage mirrored in their faces. But only Julie met my gaze, and she just shrugged.
“Is that really what you want?” Ronnie asked.
“Well, I know what I don’t want,” Ashley snapped, re-folding her arms across her chest.
“Oh, well, don’t leave us in suspense. Tell us. What don’t you want, Princess Ashley?”
“To end up like you.”
Chapter Fifteen
“Oh no she didn’t,” Kenny whispered.
“Julie?” I said in a low voice while keeping my eye on Ronnie. Man, she looked like she had been slapped. No, worse than slapped. She looked like her entire world had been blown up. “Julie?”
Snowed In with Murder Page 9
