It took fifteen minutes for them to return to the car and when they did, Ivy insisted that Bleecker’s had to be open by that time. Once again, Zoey drove as close to the shop’s entrance as she could and then kept circling the block while Ivy and Gabi placed their order at the window. On her sixth time around, Zoey spotted them strolling toward her.
Ivy was holding her ice cream in one hand and Gabi’s arm with the other, and Gabi had a cone in each hand. A breeze was blowing the teenager’s hair into her face and when she reached to brush it out of her eyes, she accidentally daubed ice cream on her forehead. Stopping short, she turned and showed Ivy what she’d done. Although Zoey couldn’t hear what they said, she could see laughter overtaking them both as Ivy wiped it off for her.
When they climbed into the car, Zoey joked, “I hope that wasn’t my ice cream you were wearing.”
“Nope. It was mine. Peppermint fudge—my mother’s favorite flavor,” Gabi recollected. “When I was little I used to order it, too, but I could never finish my cone, so Mom would eat the rest of it. My dad tried to convince me to get cherry vanilla, because that’s what he liked and he wanted my leftovers, but I refused. So he’d always complain it wasn’t fair because he was outnumbered by the two of us. Then Mom would say she wouldn’t call that unfair—she’d call it lucky. And Dad would tell her that she was right, he was the luckiest man alive.”
Zoey didn’t remember that about Jessica and Scott, but she was glad their daughter did.
* * *
On Thursday, Zoey allowed Gabi to stay home from school again because she said her stomachache had come back and she had another headache, too. It was a stretch to believe her—she’d seemed fine on Wednesday afternoon when she made her first pie with Ivy.
After they’d finished baking, Gabi had put Moby in her room, and treated them to a private performance on her flute. She’d played magnificently and the mini-recital would have been the perfect ending to the day, but the evening got even better when Scott called. He’d been able to add Kathleen to the call, too, and the trio had talked for almost two hours. Which meant Gabi had stayed up late, so Zoey supposed it was possible that sleep deprivation could have upset her stomach or given her a headache. In any case, she had an ulterior motive for not challenging her niece’s claim: it gave her peace of mind to know Ivy wouldn’t be home alone while she was in Providence at her interview.
It went so well that before she left, the director told her she was their top candidate and they hoped to contact her with an offer by Monday. She was surprised by how anticlimactic their decision felt after so many months of being unemployed, but all Zoey cared about was getting back to Dune Island. She called both Ivy’s landline and Gabi’s phone to let them know she was on her way. But neither of them picked up, which she told herself was understandable: Gabi hated using her temporary phone and rarely carried it with her and Ivy was probably napping.
Home, sweet home,she thought as she crested the hill on Main Street and flicked on the blinker. Her delight at seeing Nick’s truck was parked in the driveway turned to dismay when she noticed Mark’s red convertible parked in front of him.Why ishehere?she wondered. Zoey had barely closed the door to the rental car when Gabi rushed out of the house, her long hair flying behind her.
“What’s wrong?”
In one long, breathless sentence, Gabi explained, “Aunt Ivy left the bathtub faucet running upstairs and it flooded the bathroom so I called Nick to ask him what to do and he said he’d come over right away and in the middle of everything Mark showed up and had a meltdown and Aunt Ivy had to take one of her heart pills and then when I was holding the door open so Nick could bring in the equipment to dry the floor Moby got out and I can’t find him anywhere!”
“We will, honey.” Zoey placed her hands on her niece’s shoulders. “First, take a deep breath. Now let it out… Good. Did the pill help Aunt Ivy or did she need to take a second one?”
“No. It worked right away and she said she felt fine again. Nick and I helped her up the stairs so she could take a nap. I stayed with her until she fell asleep and when I came down, Nick told me Mark was taking a walk. So he’s still out, Aunt Ivy’s in bed and Nick’s in the best room checking to see whether the water from upstairs flowed down into the ceiling or along the wall. But I have no idea where Moby could be.”
“He’s gotten out before but he never goes far. He usually hides beneath the wild rose bushes by the back fence. If he’s not there, try using the electric can opener in front of an open window. The sound usually makes him come running. I need to go check on Aunt Ivy and talk to Nick, but if you don’t find Moby by then, I’ll help you look, okay?”
Zoey hurried inside the house and up the stairs to look in on Ivy, who was sleeping soundly. Since it was a cool, damp day for once, she covered her with a light blanket before going back downstairs and into the best room. She quietly walked over to where Nick was reaching up to skim his fingers across a section of wall near the opposite corner. He swiveled his head, grinning at her.How could he possibly be smiling still?she marveled.
“Hi, Zoey. How did your interview go?”
“A lot better thanyourafternoon went,” she replied apologetically. “Gabi told me you saved the day. I don’t know how to thank you.”
“Just wait until you get my bill,” he joked.
“Whatever you’re charging, it’s not enough.”
“Actually, you’re in luck. I don’t think the flood affected this room. But I want to watch this spot for a few days. With sheetrock, sometimes it takes a while for the water to seep through, so I can’t promise you there’s no damage yet. If a stain shows up, I might have to remove a section of the wall and crown molding so you don’t develop a mold problem.”
“I never liked that wallpaper anyway.” The once pink and red winding roses had faded to brown and maroon, and it was torn and peeling in several places. But in deference to her father’s wishes, Ivy refused to change it, just like almost everything else in the best room. “But what I meant was that I can’t compensate you enough for helping my family during another crisis. Especially for keeping an eye out for my aunt again.”
“She was fine once she took her nitro pill. Well, not fine—she was kind of discombobulated, which is understandable considering all the chaos.” From the disgusted look on Nick’s face, Zoey knew he wasn’t referring to the bathtub overflowing.
“Yeah, my niece said Mark was flipping out. Is that what triggered my aunt’s angina?”
“Hard to say. She was already agitated because she’d left the water on, but I’m sure his tantrum didn’t help her heart any.”
“It couldn’t have been pleasant for you, either,” Zoey empathized.
“It’s okay. I’ve heard worse.”
“Really?” She couldn’t imagine anyone spouting off the way Mark did when he was angry. Especially not in front of Nick, an unlikely audience for that kind of vitriol. “You mean you’ve heard worse from him or from someone else?”
He hooked his thumbs in his pockets and gave her a sheepish look. “From him… the last time you weren’t here when he thought you should have been.”
“Pft!” Zoey sputtered. “Is that what he was mad about this time, too? That I didn’t ask his permission before I left the premises?”
