Susan McBride Collection by Susan McBride

Author:Susan McBride
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins

Chapter 9

It was the shaking that roused me.

Not the sunlight knifing through the opened drapes or the windows rattling as a plane rumbled through the sky above.

Someone had a hold of my shoulder and relentlessly jiggled, until I peeled open my eyes and grumbled, “All right, I’m up already,” half-expecting to see Malone as I squinted to aid my fuzzy vision. But it was Sandy Beck’s frowning face that hovered above me, and, even without my contacts, I could see she looked grim.

I scooted into a seated position, sheet tenting above my knees, as Sandy took a step back and rubbed her arms, visibly upset.

“What is it? Is the house on fire or something?” I asked and yawned, scratching at my scalp.

“I thought you were supposed to go with Cissy this morning, isn’t that what you told me?” Sandy sounded rattled, something I didn’t hear often, if ever.

“Go with Mother?” I repeated, before I remembered where I was and what she was talking about. “Oh, yeah.”

The meeting at Belle Meade with Annabelle at nine o’clock.

I’d nearly forgotten.

“Your mother’s up to something, Andy. I woke up last night and heard a shuffling above my room, in the storage area.”

“Why would Cissy rummage around in there?” I asked, blinking and trying to wake myself up.

“I had the same question, so I checked this morning to see if anything was gone. It was. She’d removed a suitcase.”

“Did she take the Vuitton?” My voice rose in panic.

“No, honey, just the Tumi Wheel-A-Way.”

Thank God. My hand covered my fluttering heart.

“Then it can’t be too bad,” I said, because if any of her “heading to Europe for a month” set of Louis Vuitton was missing, it could mean that Mother had planned an extended trip. But if just the Wheel-A-Way were unaccounted for, it meant a few days gone, a week max, and that was stretching it. (Seriously, it could barely hold her shoes, her jewelry case, and her toiletry bag at twenty-six inches.)

“That’s not all,” Sandy said, and the drawl that usually soothed me, made me wince.

“What do you mean?”

She fished in her trouser pocket and pulled out a carefully folded piece of Mother’s cream linen stationery. Even the paper gave off her signature scent of Joy.

“You read it,” I told her, not having my “eyes” in.

“It’s addressed to me,” Sandy started and proceeded to prop a pair of glasses on her nose, worn on a chain around her neck. She cleared her throat and recited: “ ’Dearest Sandy, I shall be gone a few days, but will check in occasionally. Please, don’t worry. I’ll be home soon, I promise. Hold down the fort, please, and tell Andy that, if she can’t support her mother in her time of need, she should mind her own bloody business. Most sincerely, Cissy.’”

I pressed a palm against my forehead, more disturbed by the minute. “This is insane,” I said.

Sandy tapped the sheet. “There’s more.” She cleared her throat again. “P.S. I borrowed the Buick, but will bring it back gassed.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.