August 23, Sunday
LILY AND Josh appeared, crowded onto the couch with Elaine wedged between them. Her presence apparently improved everyone's disposition, at least marginally.
"We can't talk long," Lily announced almost immediately. "Aunt Elaine's taking us to get food."
"Say hi and bye to Mom," Elaine said, nudging them both. "So we can talk."
"About us?" Lily asked.
"Maybe," Elaine said.
"Hi bye," Josh said, already halfway off the couch, and within seconds the two of them had cleared the frame entirely, leaving Elaine alone in front of the camera, one eyebrow already climbing toward her hairline.
"So," I said. "How are things, actually? Be honest with me."
"The house looks like a small zone. But nothing's on fire, nobody's bleeding, so I'd say relax. It's manageable chaos." She leaned closer to the screen, studying me with an intensity she usually reserved for spreadsheets. "How are you, though?"
"Fine."
"You look more than fine." She tilted her head. "You look rested."
I hadn't considered it until she said it, but she wasn't wrong. "I haven't slept like this in years."
Elaine's eyebrows climbed further. "Tell me about these accommodations, because I'm suddenly reconsidering my life choices."
"I can't tell you where I'm staying, but there's housekeeping every day. Someone makes the meals. My laundry gets done and folded and it just appears like magic."
"Isabel." She pressed a hand to her chest. "Now you know how Warren's felt his whole married life."
I laughed before I could stop myself, a real laugh, surprising in how easily it came. "That's not fair."
"It is too!" She waved it off. "What do you even do with yourself on the weekends? Besides being waited on hand and foot."
"I read. I knit. There's a small approved gym in the hotel, so I've started going. Movies some nights."
Elaine let out a whoop loud enough that Deputy Wells, stationed by the door, glanced over briefly before returning his attention to the middle distance. "Who knew federal jury duty could be this good for a person? I wanna be sequestered."
"Elaine. It's a serious responsibility."
"Can't it be both?" She grinned, unrepentant, then leaned in. "What's the situation with the man who made your ears go red back in July, the one who liked the green dress?"
My gaze shot, before I could stop it, straight to Deputy Wells, who gave no visible sign of having heard a word—eyes fixed on the ceiling tiles with practiced neutrality.
"Elaine, I have to go."
"That's not a no."
"I really have to go."
"Oh, my, God, you're blushing again!"
"Enough! I need your help. Can you find out how much time Lily's spending with Scott? I want an honest read, not whatever she tells you."
"I'll snoop like the professional I am." Elaine's expression softened. "Stop worrying about all of it so much, Iz. You've spent seventeen years running yourself into the ground for everyone else. This is basically a very strange, very involuntary spa retreat with a side of civic duty."
"That's a generous framing."
She blew a kiss at the camera. "Go recharge your batteries, Sis. We've got it covered."
I waved and ended the call, then sat there a moment in the quiet. My hairline felt moist. Had Deputy Wells heard our exchange? If so, he had to know we were talking about him… right?
But if he had, he never let on as he escorted me back to my room. My face flamed and I was sure he could hear my heart thudding with embarrassment.
When he left, his nod was as formal as usual. So either he hadn't heard… or he hadn't cared.