Chapter Nineteen
WITH THE BABYon her hip, Hayley bolted into the kitchen the next morning. Her hair was bunched in a short tail at the back of her head, her eyes were huge, and she'd misbuttoned her pajama top.
"I just talked to Lily's sitter," she announced to the room at large, "and her aunt belongs to the country club. She says Roz was in a fight last night. "
"I certainly was not. " Life could be heartwarmingly predictable, Roz thought and continued to spread jam thinly on a triangle of toast.
"What kinda fight?" Gavin wanted to know. "A punching fight?"
"I was not in a punching fight. " Roz handed him the toast. "People exaggerate things, little man. It's the way of the world. "
"Did you kick somebody in the face?"
Roz raised her eyebrows at Luke. "Of course not. You might say, metaphorically, I kicked somebody in the ass. "
"What's met . . . "
"A metaphor's a fancy way of saying something's like something else. I could say I'm a cat full of canary this morning. " She winked at Luke. "And that would mean I'm feeling very satisfied and smug. But I never laid a hand on him. "
"Who?" Stella demanded.
"Bryce Clerk. " The answer came from David as he poured more coffee. "My intelligence network is far-flung and faster than the speed of light. I heard about it last night, before eleven o'clock, Central Standard Time. "
"And didn't tell anybody?" Hayley glowered at him as she strapped Lily in her high chair.
"Actually, I was waiting for all to be present and accounted for before I brought it up. Ah, here comes Harper now. I told him his presence was required at breakfast this morning. "
"Really, David, it's no big deal, and I need to get ready for work. "
"On the contrary. " Shaking his head over his coffee, Mitch looked around the table. "It was extraordinary. The woman," he said with a long look at Roz, "is extraordinary. "
Under the table she took his hand, gave it a warm squeeze. A silent thanks for letting this play out without any of last night's horror marring the mood.
"What's up?" Harper demanded. "We're having omelettes? How come we're having omelettes?"
"Because your mama likes them, and she needs to recharge her energies after hauling out her can of Whoop Ass last night. "
"Don't be ridiculous," Roz replied, even as a chuckle tickled the back of her throat.
"What about last night? What Whoop Ass?"
"See what you miss when you don't go to the club?" David told Harper.
"If somebody doesn't fill in the blanks soon, I'm going to go crazy. " Hayley gave Lily a sip-cup of juice and plopped down. "Spill, every deet. "
"There's not that much to tell," Roz began.
"I'll tell it. " Mitch returned Roz's bland look equably. "She'll leave stuff out. Now, some of this I pried out of her, because I wasn't there at the time, and some of the other I got from my son. But I'll tell it all in one piece - more impact. "
He started with the brief stop by the Forresters' table, then moved to the bathroom scene, then dramatized the altercation between Roz and Bryce outside the lounge area.
"Oh, my God, they walked out while you were talking to that . . . " Hayley cleared her throat, amended her first thought as she remembered the children. "Man. "
"His back was to them," Mitch filled in. "It was perfectly staged. "
Hayley fed Lily bits of egg and gaped at Roz. "It's so cool. Like, I don't know, a sting. "
"The timing was exquisite," Mitch agreed. "You should've seen your mother, Harper, cool and slick as an iceberg, and just as dangerous. "