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“There’s also a big TV, and a fridge with champagne, and a microwave,” I said.
“You can have all of that at Vince’s Big Chef.”
“That’s actually devoid of champagne. And loveseats. And a big bathtub. And the bed has a wall on either side.”
“Tell him you want champagne, and he’ll bring home a magnum and pour it over you in bed.”
I looked at Peri. “Ignore that last part.”
“Didn’t make sense anyway,” Peri said. “The bed would just get wet.”
“You are very wise,” I told her.
“You’re evolving,” Anemone said to me.
“Why does that make me think of that drawing of a line of men, the first one dragging a club and the last one walking upright?”
“You’re the one who brought up Virginia Woolf. You need a room of your own. You can stay at the Shady Rest as long as you want.”
I started to say no, I was going back to the Big Chef, but Anemone overrode me.
“Take Peri to her swimming lesson,” she said, pushing her plate away and standing up. “We’ll talk when you get back. You do not leave until we have talked.” She walked out.
I looked at Peri, who’d been living with Anemone for two months. “Am I in trouble?”
“Yep,” Peri said. “Just do what she says and nobody gets hurt.”
I was going to say,Usually the person saying that has a gun, but I’d borrowed Anemone’s little pink gun to shoot Mickey Pitts, and I wasn’t sure if the police, aka George, had given it back to her yet.
So, I just took Peri to swimming lessons.
* * *
The country clubwhere Peri swam was making an effort for the first time in years, spurred probably by the news that the new development was going to have a country club of the highest glam. Despite the new paint and gleaming floors, it was still Burney’s country club, basically a bar and grill with a pool and a banquet room, so they had a ways to go.
As we went in, I noticed Cash talking to someone in a suit in the foyer. He spotted us and waved, but I ignored him and we went down the corridor to the pool.
Peri hit the water, her favorite place to be, and I caught up with Crystal Lake, Peri’s swim teacher who was also a probie at the fire department working for Mac Blake. Crys was dating Mac’s much younger brother, Chris, and she was telling me that people were going crazy because they couldn’t Brangelina their names, something Molly had already tipped me to a couple of days before.
Come to Burney and try to have a private life. I dare you.
“People are just moving too fast,” Crys said as she kept an eagle eye on the pool. “We’re not ready for a couple name. Chris and I are just having a good time. It’s nothing serious.”
“Really?” I said.
“No,” Crys said. “I’m totally going to marry him. But not for a couple of years. At least not until I’ve finished my training and I’m old enough to drink legally.”
“You are still an infant,” I said, watching Peri dive in to swim the length of the pool underwater, her big accomplishment for the summer. “That kid is part fish.”
“That kid works hard,” Crys said. “Give her credit. So anyway, I have time before we have to come up with a couple name. Which is good because it won’t be easy like yours.”
“Wait,” I said, looking at her now. “Mine?”
Crys looked at me, surprised. “Yeah. Yours and Vince’s.”
I closed my eyes. “Oh, God. Hit me.”
“Vinz.”
