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I was there so long we ordered Chinese food. While I ate and scoured through each and every receipt and report from the last two months trying to find the difference, I decided I might as well be bold and try and get some answers about what was going on at home. They did live at the Ranch, after all, and had a front row seat to what was going on.
“Why is everyone quitting?”
A look of guilt passed between my sisters. At first they shrugged. I gave them a pointed look. “Come on.”
Macey dropped her chopsticks. “No one likes Josephine. And Ashton . . .”
Marlowe nudged her and shook her head.
“Ashton what?”
Marlowe curled her lips. “It’s just stupid rumors. Ashton’s a good guy.”
“Are you sure about that?”
“Yes,” Marlowe was quick to answer.
“Then where is he?”
“Well, you would want to leave too if people were saying . . . well, saying the stuff you accused him of.”
I set my food to the side and picked up a balance statement sheet. “Yeah, well, I know what it’s like to want to leave home and not come back.”
It was silent for several minutes. I didn’t bother to even look at my sisters. I was here to help them sort their mess out and then I was out of there.
Macey finally broke the silence. “Do you really think Ashton robbed that couple and . . . you know?”
“It’s called sex,” Marlowe said bluntly.
I looked up from the report, still unable to find their discrepancy. “I do.”
“You have no proof,” Marlowe challenged me.
I decided to focus on Macey. “Why are you asking?”
Her face burned red and she started to shake. “It’s just . . . it’s just . . . we met here a few times.” And before I knew it, she ran toward me and curled up on my lap like a child and started bawling.
I wrapped my arms around her. “Macey, what happened?”
Marlowe was now shaking too, but in a furious sort of manner. “What were you two doing here?”
“Stuff,” Macey eked against my chest.
My stomach churned. “Macey, please tell me you weren’t.”
“He said he loved me,” she wailed.
Marlowe jumped up. “That lying, cheating . . .” She grabbed her phone.
“Marlowe, put your phone down,” I demanded. “Were you seeing him too?”
“What?” Macey sat up and rubbed her eyes.
Marlowe lowered her phone, but she wouldn’t answer.
“Marlowe, were you seeing him, and did you bring him here too?”
She threw her phone on the desk. “We met all over.”
That made Macey curl right back up into me and lose it.
“You didn’t answer the question,” I had to yell over Macey’s wailing.
“Yes!” she barked.
“Did he know about the kind of cash you kept here?”
“Maybe.” Macey snuggled more into my chest.
I had a feeling as to why they were off by so much. “We are going to go through every receipt and report and then you are going to call the police and then Dad.”
“The police?” Macey cried.
“If my suspicions are right, you’ve been robbed.” And of more than just money. This entire situation made me feel dirty and like I needed a shower.
“Emma, I’m so sorry,” Macey cried. “I thought he loved me. He was my first. He told me I was special and that’s why I couldn’t tell anyone.”
Let that be a lesson. If a man is keeping you secret, you aren’t his only one.
I wanted to kill him.
Marlowe wasn’t devastated like Macey; she was enraged. She started listing out loud how she was going to make him pay. She started by pulling out their security camera tapes. At least they were smart enough to have those.
While Marlowe searched those for evidence, I went through their paper trail. To my dismay, they both started comparing notes about their rendezvous with Ashton. Marlowe confessed that the weekend she disappeared she had met the sleazeball in Aspen. It was the same weekend of our camping trip. That pig was sneaking off, not for a job interview, but to hook up with my sister. The thought made my skin crawl.
By the time I left that night, we couldn’t account for $4,500. I found the other $1,500 and change in the form of credit card transactions that they hadn’t accounted for. I made them write out a deposit slip for cash they hadn’t deposited and promise me that they would take it to the bank’s night depository.
Marlowe was still searching their tapes for evidence. Apparently, there were plenty of instances where they had both brought him here after closing, so there was a lot to look through. I left them to it. I couldn’t stand the thought of having to watch the conniving man take advantage of my sisters.
Before I left, Marlowe took a break and put her arms around me. She hadn’t done that in forever. “I miss Mom,” her voice cracked.
