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“I can’t fix you. Only you can fix you. I can only try to help.”
“And what are you doing to fix you?” Sunny tilted her head back to look up at Constance. “What have you done to fix things with Rhett? Which, by the way, you didn’t have to say anything about our deal. You could have made up anything.”
“Lie still.” Constance flicked Sunny’s forehead. “Quit staring at me.”
“Ouch.” Sunny settled back on the table. “Do you flick all your clients?”
“Just you. And I did have to tell him.” Constance cradled Sunny’s head in one hand and grasped her right SCM with her thumb and forefinger of the other. Sunny hated this part of the massage, because the muscles were right near the windpipe. Constance decided to spend extra time here. “You wouldn’t understand, but I can’t lie to Rhett. About anything.”
Sunny stiffened as Constance worked the anterior neck muscles. All was silent until the massage was over.
“So are you going to talk to him?” Sunny sat up, holding the sheet over her chest. “Obviously you’re making him Daddy’s magic stew. So, you’re going to talk to him, right?”
“Maybe.” Constance swallowed a tremor in her voice. “I haven’t been to any of his classes this week. I can’t give up the gym at this point. It’s doing too much for me. I think I’d die without it. But I’ve been going to classes where I know Rhett won’t be coaching.”
Sunny tossed back the sheet, stood up and strode to the opposite side of the room, where her clothes were. “You can’t keep that up forever.”
Constance had long ago stopped telling her sister that she was supposed to wait until the room was empty to get dressed. She’d been massaging Sunny for over ten years and Sunny was probably the least modest woman who existed. “I’m going to Rhett’s class tonight, okay?”
Sunny dropped her tank top over her head and slid into her Lululemon leggings. “Good.” By the time she was fully clothed and ready to go coach spin class, she looked like she’d never been touched. Every hair was in place and her makeup was perfect. “Talk to him. You owe him that much.”
“And you—” Constance followed her out the door and upstairs “—watch your ass. If you’ve really shut down Janice’s puppy mill, then you’ve taken this war to the next level. I don’t trust that woman.”
“Animal control shut down Janice’s puppy mill. The courts. Not me.”
“She’s going to blame you.”
Sunny shrugged, but despite her cavalier attitude, Constance saw a glimmer of worry in her sister’s eyes. She was hiding something. “Anything you want to tell me?”
Sunny sighed. Her head hung down, like a scolded child. She looked back up and faced Constance. “Janice came by today. Right after animal control left. She’s livid. Threatened to get me back.”
“Are you serious?”
“I swear to God, Cici, it was like something out ofThe Wizard of Oz.” The skin on Sunny’s arms popped with goose bumps. “I’m going to get you, my pretty!” She raised her voice to a cackle and pointed her finger at Constance’s chest. “And your little dog, too!”
Constance’s jaw dropped. “This is not funny, Sunny.”
Sunny swallowed hard. “I know. It was really kind of freaky, how quiet Janice was. She kept saying, ‘You just wait.’ I don’t even know what to do with that.”
Constance got a tight feeling in her gut, like she’d eaten something bad. “Sunny. I think you should tell Callahan.”
“No.” Sunny waved her hands. “Our relationship isn’t like that. I’m not about to whine to him that Janice Matteri pointed a finger in my face. You know I don’t like looking helpless in front of the men I’m sleeping with. In front of any men.”
Constance had about a million things she wanted to say about stubbornness, pride and bravado, but she knew her words would be wasted on her headstrong little sister, who was already sliding on her coat and heading for the door. “At least tell me you’ll be careful. Lock everything at night. Tell Roger to watch his back.”
Sunny nodded. “Already on it.”
Once she was gone, Constance pulled out Callahan’s business card and considered calling him. Just how pissed would Sunny be, and just how much would Constance care? After some thought, she put the card away. Maybe she’d see the detective at the gym and find a way to bring up Janice and her threats.
Constance pushed the mess from her mind and fixed herself lunch from last night’s leftovers. Nothing was going to taste as good as the beef stew in the oven, but that was going to take hours. Her plan was to take some to the gym tonight and leave it in the fridge, with Rhett’s name written on the top of the disposable container. Maybe that would be a good segue into having a conversation.
She hoped Rhett would accept it.
That evening, she dressed carefully for the workout, which was a first. Typically Constance would throw on one of the few pairs of leggings she owned and top that off with whatever T-shirt wasn’t dirty. She’d scrape her hair back into a ponytail that was getting longer and longer each week, and secure her bangs with whatever clip was handy. Tonight, she actually fished out one of her old tech tees from her running days and was surprised enough at what she saw in the mirror that she sucked in her breath.
“Is that me?” she whispered.
The woman who stared back at her was someone she had never known before. Whatever ideal, whatever goal she’d had in her mind had been shattered by what she now saw. Had she wanted to be “thin” again? Had she wanted to be “in shape”? Had she wanted to be someone that didn’t spend the larger part of her days nursing an elderly, sickly father? Or had she just wanted to be the woman that Josh had fallen in love with?
