Chapter 16
THE SWELLING IN LOUISE’S LEG HAD gone down and her temporary cast was swapped out for a sturdier, all-encasing one, which allowed her to finally shower with the proper precautions.
Even though that brought its own challenges, she’d been happy to abandon washing her hair in the sink and was counting the weeks until her leg would be completely free.
June was on its way out. The temperature was rising into the high eighties and ice cream sales were up. Flags and buntings were starting to appear on houses, proof that the Fourth of July was peeking around the corner. “We need to have a party,” she announced to Zona.
Of course they did. Louise could never let a holiday pass without throwing a party, and she had no intention of letting a little thing like a cast on her leg stop her.
When Zona was growing up, she’d made enough potato salad and three-bean salad to feed an army and had put Zona’s dad to work on the grill, serving up hamburgers and hot dogs.
There was always a water balloon toss or three-legged race for the kids and enough ice cream to clog every artery in Glendora.
The first year after her husband died, Louise hadn’t been able to bring herself to entertain, but by the next year she had decided enough was enough and had thrown a big open house bash for the entire neighborhood. She had toned things down since then, but not much.
This party would be work and Louise wouldn’t be able to do much of it, but Zona didn’t mind picking up the slack. It was the least she could do for her mother. She, herself, wasn’t in a party mood, but maybe that was when you most needed to gather with friends.
“Don’t worry, we won’t make a big thing of it,” Louise promised.
“Gilda can take me shopping and we’ll pick up a couple of rotisserie chickens, some salads in a bag, and garlic French bread and call it good.
And maybe some ice cream bars,” she added.
“And makings for a fruit salad. Watermelon. Pop. Chips. Candy for the kids.” Yep, Louise was on a roll.
“What kids?” asked Zona.
“You’re going to invite Gracie and her family, aren’t you?”
“I guess I am,” said Zona. “Although they might have plans.”
“Oh, I’m sure they’ll be going to watch fireworks somewhere,” Louise said.
“But that all happens later. We can do this in the afternoon. I do wish we’d put in a pool when we first bought this house.
It would have been so much fun to have a pool party.
” She frowned. “The Livingstons always used to let us use their pool.”
The Livingstons had been good neighbors.
As a child, Zona had spent a lot of time next door, playing in that pool with Lotus Livingston and her sister, Ginger.
And tolerating their pesky little brother.
The Livingston kids had grown up and scattered across the country, and the last Zona had seen of Lotus was when she’d come back to help her mother get the house ready to sell before moving Mrs. Livingston to live with her in Texas.
“I hope your mom will become good friends with whoever buys the place,” she’d said to Zona. “It’s always been a happy house.”
It hadn’t been a happy house since the Livingstons moved, and it still wasn’t.
Zona pulled her mind back to the topic of party prep. “What makes you think Gilda’s going to want to go shopping with you?”
“She’s getting invited to the party. Of course she’ll want to help,” Louise reasoned. “Maybe we’ll get Martin to go with us. He can carry the heavier items.” Martin the pack mule.
And so, by the third of July Gilda, Martin, and Louise had stocked up on party food and decorations, and Zona came home from work to find both women seated at the kitchen table, cutting up fruit and dropping it into one of Louise’s giant Tupperware bowls.
“That’s a lot of fruit,” Zona said, and kissed her mother’s cheek.
“It’s a lot of hungry stomachs. Gracie’s two boys could probably single-handedly down this entire bowl.”
Two teenage boys were the equivalent of locusts for sure, but Zona was willing to bet they’d spend more time working their way through the meat, the chips, and the vat of potato salad Louise had purchased.
They proved her right the following day, inhaling almost everything.
Not as much of the fruit salad, but leftovers would work great in smoothies.
Bree had called dibs on the bag of Cheetos and was existing on that.
Darling was enjoying the party, scrounging tidbits of chicken wherever and whenever possible.
Louise’s friend Carol was the biggest soft touch, and he only left her side when the boys began to play on the old Slip ’N Slide Zona and Bree had brought out.
“This is the life,” said Martin as he enjoyed a second bottle of beer.
“We should have put in a pool,” said Louise, watching as Bree joined the boys.
“I don’t hear anyone complaining,” said Zona as her daughter made a running leap for the wet strip of plastic.
“I’m surprised nobody’s in the pool next door,” said Louise’s other friend Susan.
It was certainly hot enough. Even under the shade of the pergola it was toasty, and everyone was consuming the various beverages like camels stocking up for a long journey.
“Nobody’s doing anything over there now,” said Louise. “Somebody has gone missing,” she added, and Zona made a face at her.
Carol leaned forward. “Yeah?”
“The woman moved out,” Zona said. “That’s all.”
“She left all her things behind, including a designer purse,” Louise said. “I saw him ditching them in the middle of the night. No woman leaves behind a designer purse.”
“You know what that means. Rear Window,” said Gilda, and Carol’s big baby blues got bigger.
Alec James’s truck was parked in his driveway. Who knew if he was out on his back patio, drinking a beer or getting ready for a swim? Thank God the boys and Darling were all noisily enjoying themselves. Their laughter and barking masked the conversation taking place in the land of the nosy.
“Anyone want ice cream?” Zona asked, hoping to distract them. “I made no-churn cherry chocolate chip last night.”
The topic of food turned the conversation, and the Hitchcock obsession with life gone wrong was abandoned.
Soon even the food was abandoned and then the Slip ’N Slide, and Darling vanished around the corner of the house to flop in the shade.
The younger generation started playing Cards Against Humanity and the adults chatted idly.
Afternoon edged toward evening. Finally early evening began to bleed into the day, slowly stealing its light.
Gracie’s husband suggested they get moving and get a spot for the fireworks show in nearby Monrovia and they were sent on their way with a bag of chips.
Bree had another party to attend, and she was next to leave, and that left Zona and the sixty-pluses to sit around and wait to watch the fireworks on TV.
“You should be out partying,” Carol said to her.
“I am partying,” Zona said.
“I mean with your own kind. Not us oldies,” Carol said.
Louise frowned at her. “Watch who you’re calling old. You’re only as old as you act.”
“Which puts us at fifty,” Susan said with a grin.
“I was in bed with a book by ten when I was fifty,” said Carol.
“Old soul,” joked Susan.
“There’s nothing wrong with going to bed with a good book,” Zona argued. Every forty-two-year-old woman went to bed with a book on personal finance, right?
“At your age, you should be in bed with something more than a book,” Susan scolded her. “And doing more than reading.”
Was it Zona’s imagination or was Martin blushing?
“What do you think, Martin?” asked Carol.
Yes, he was definitely blushing.
“I think Zona has plenty of time to figure out the rest of her life,” he said. “Did you say there’s more of that special ice cream you made left, Zona?”
“There is.”
“Stay where you are. I’ll get it,” he said, and made his escape.
“You embarrassed him,” Louise said to her friend.
“He was probably embarrassed because of what he was thinking, and I don’t think it was about Zona in bed with someone,” Susan said to Louise. “That man is crazy about you. When are you going to come to your senses and appreciate him?”
“I’ll be happy to appreciate him,” said Carol.
“He’s your own personal knight in shining armor,” Susan continued.
“Martin is a dear, but I’m afraid he’d hardly qualify as a knight,” Louise said, lowering her voice.
“I think he qualifies just fine,” said Carol. “It stinks that the only woman he can see is you.”
“I’m very seeable,” Louise joked.
Martin came back out with his second bowl of ice cream just as a whiz and a pop sounded from somewhere in the neighborhood. “Sounds like things are about to get lively.”
“Afraid so,” said Carol. “How people manage to get their hands on illegal fireworks and set them off where they shouldn’t is a mystery to me.”
“The police can’t be everywhere,” said Susan.
“I just hope nobody sets the foothills on fire,” Carol said. She stood. “I should get home. Poor Socks is probably cowering under my bed already.”
Susan stood, too. “This holiday is hard on animals.” She stacked some plates. “I’ll load these for you, Louise.”
“Just leave them. I’ll get to them later,” said Louise.
“Many hands make light work,” said Carol, and she took the bowl with the fruit salad.
“I’ll help with cleanup, then I’m going home,” said Gilda, and grabbed some disposable cups.
Ten minutes later the kitchen had been cleaned and everyone but Martin had left.
“I’d better bring Darling in,” said Zona.
“Good idea,” said Louise as she and Martin went to the living room to pick out a movie to watch to pass the time.
A little tickle of unease accompanied Zona back outside. Darling hadn’t been underfoot trotting in and out as people brought in the leftovers.
Playing with the boys had probably worn him out. That was it. She’d find him sacked next to the house.
“Darling,” she called.