Page 76 of The Attic on Queen Street

We watched as Jack nonchalantly strolled up to the car. He gave me a thumbs-up and then gestured for me to leave, smiling as he casually draped an arm around Harvey’s shoulders. Harvey quickly brushed him off.

I cracked my window. “Are you sure?” I shouted to Jack.

He nodded, making a shooing gesture with his hand. “Have a nice lunch. I’ll probably take the twins to the park if it doesn’t rain.”

Both Jayne and I stared at his casual stance and his ability to ignore someone shouting in each ear.

Marc grabbed the paper from Harvey and pointed at Suzy’s article. “Two of my guys quit today. I’d better not find out you’re behind this!”

Jack again gave me the signal to leave, so with a quick wave in his direction, and a brief pause to make sure he wasn’t going to change his mind, I pulled away from the curb, nearly hitting Marc with the car. I’m glad I didn’t, because I liked my car.

“So, how has your day been?” Jayne asked.

“Very funny. You’ve been hanging around Jack too much.” I gestured behind the car at the shouting men. “When did that start?”

“Pretty much as soon as you left this morning. I was busy with the babies, so I didn’t get involved—Jack said he’d handle it.”

I glanced in the rearview mirror to see Jack standing with arms folded while listening to something Marc was shouting at him. I saw him wipe his face before I turned off the street, heading toward East Bay.

“Did he seem worried at all?”

“Nope. Should he be?”

I hesitated a moment before nodding. Jack and I had shared very little about our unorthodox agreement with Marc and Harvey, not wanting friends and family to see us as pathetic as we knew ourselves to be.

“Yes,” I said. “If the filming has to be stopped, the party responsible will be held in breach of contract with pretty severe ramifications.”

“And what else? There’s something you’re not telling me.”

“Why would you say that?”

Jayne sighed heavily, and I imagined she probably rolled her eyes, too. “Because I’m your sister and, just like Mother, I know when something’s up with you. I feel it here.” I glanced over at her in the passenger seat, where she had placed her fingers on a spot on her neck. “You know the spot that burns when you have something too sweet?”

“I don’t think I’ve ever eaten anything too sweet, so no.”

She sighed again. “Yeah, well, something’s up. Does this have anything to do with our meeting with Suzy Dorf in the ladies’ room at the Grocery?”

I focused my attention on avoiding jaywalking pedestrians as I turned left on East Bay. It had rained heavily the night before, leaving deep puddles on the road, but at least the road was passable, which wasn’t always the case. The veritable bouquets of flowers in pots and window boxes and the almost excessive drapes of wisteria vines that dressed the Holy City during springtime almost made up for the frequent flooding.

“I’m dreading the first spring flood, aren’t you? That reminds me—my rain boots have holes in them and I need a new pair.”

“Melanie.” My name came with an implied warning.

“Hmm?” I remained focused on the road in front of me.

“Fine. You don’t have to tell me everything.” She squeezed my hand where it rested on the steering wheel. “Just remember—we’re stronger together.”

I nodded. “I remember.”

“Just stay away from cemeteries, all right? I don’t think I can go through that again.”

I slid her a glance, wondering if she’d been speaking to our mother. I pulled my car into the parking lot in front of the squat pink building that housed Martha Lou’s Kitchen, my mouth already watering. I spotted Thomas’s and Veronica’s cars, which let us know they were already there and hopefully had a table, since a line had begun forming at the door.

“Are you okay?” I asked Jayne, indicating Thomas’s car.

“Sure. Why wouldn’t I be?”

I raised my eyebrows, then stepped to the back of the line. We placed our orders, then joined Veronica and Thomas at a four top. They were already sipping their sweet teas, their white foam plates waiting next to plastic forks and paper napkins.