Pippa looked like she wanted to heave.“That happens?” she asked, slapping her hand over her mouth.
“Apparently.” Flick tucked her legs up under her and rested her head against the back of the chair. Actually, it felt good to focus on Gina and her problems. It was a nice distraction from thinking about Kai and the hole he’d left in her life.
“What do you think prompted this, Flick? I mean, she never had this problem when we were kids.”
Flick ran her finger up the curve of her wine glass, thinking about her response. She thought about batting away Pippa’s question but decided that she was never going to lie to Pippa again. “Well, she always liked shopping, and she liked spending money."
“But some of her purchases were totally random. She bought entire estates that were being liquidated. Everything at one time, from linens to guns. That really doesn’t make sense.”
“This won’t be easy to hear, Pip,” Flick warned her.
“It can’t be any harder than hearing what I said about your mom.” Pip bit her lip. “I’m so sorry I said that, Flick. I really am. I didn’t mean to.”
Flick blew out her breath. “It was the truth. Mom didn’t love me enough to get help, to want to get better. “
Pippa tucked a cushion behind her head. “Tell me, Flick.”
“Your dad, according to your mom, was pretty controlling. And, according to Gina, not very supportive.”
“Living with Gina wasn’t exactly a walk in the park. She was a perfectionist herself.”
“Hear me out before you react, Pips.”
Pippa started to protest but stopped before forming the words. She gripped the arm of the chair. “Okay, go.”
Flick explained Gina’s quest to prove to Roger, and herself, that she could find another treasure, and after she’d finished explaining, Pippa looked at her with a what-the-hell expression. “That is such a crappy excuse! Who nearly bankrupts themselves to prove a point to their dead husband?”
“I think she was trying to prove a point to herself, but then the collecting became an obsession,” Flick said quietly. “Eventually it stopped being about the big score, about needing to prove a point, and became more about the pleasure spending money gives her. She gets a kick out of it and she’s very reluctant to sell anything. When I suggested that she sell that rifle, she nearly cried.”
Pippa frowned, confused. “She cried over a gun?”
“A very expensive, very rare gun, and one we need to sell to cover her medical bills.” Pippa now looked calmer and more in control so Flick thought she’d hit her with Bad News: Part Two. “She’s all but broke, Pips.”
Pippa tipped her head back to look at the ceiling. “Fuck.”
Flick allowed some time for that news to sink in. This was nice, she thought, sitting on the porch talking to her best friend, and sharing a bottle of wine. The autumn air was cool, the wine was good, and her dog was between them.
Nice. If she discounted her cracked and battered heart, and the fact that her beloved aunt was a hoarder and penniless, and possibly, nuts.
Pippa drained her wine glass and filled it up again. “Tell me about the gun. You said it’s rare and valuable. How rare and how valuable?”
Flick filled her in and Pippa’s accountant brain crunched numbers in her head. “Well, that needs to be sold, and quickly.”
Flick bit her bottom lip and stared at Rufus’s shaggy coat. “Kai will buy it, no questions asked, and at the price you want. You can call him. He knows about Gina and your situation.”
“He knows?”
Flick wriggled in her chair. “Yeah...he... I told him. I needed to talk to someone and I trusted him to keep it quiet. He and Tally are the only people who know, and they both would rather squeeze water out of a rock than talk.”
Pippa looked past Flick’s shoulder to the road behind her. “Canwe keep this quiet? Is that even possible?”
“She’s managed it this far. Having a house on the outskirts of town helped,” Flick answered.“She’s angry that I made her tell you but she’s relieved as well. She was worried that you’d think less of her and that you’d be angry with her.”
Pippa took a moment to answer her. “Iamangry with her. I can’t deny that, and frankly, I’m not sure what I think. It’s all just very...weird. “
“We have to talk to her about selling her stuff. I’ve brought it up before but she’s very resistant to the idea.”
Pippa’s chest rose as she pulled in air. “I guess. You said we—are you prepared to help me?”