Chapter 63
OCEAN
Now there was no choice. Not anymore. Forget about Ocean’s personal feelings, the Murder Collective had to find CJ before the kids lost their home.
After Nicholas shared what he’d heard from the cops outside CJ’s cottage, Ocean tried to believe that she was simply away from home, not missing.
Surely, people sometimes blew off a little too much steam, given the stress of the legal system.
Not that CJ was given to binges, but a missed check-in was no reason to panic.
Except she’d spent her entire adult life organizing calendars and scheduling appointments.
There was no way she’d forgotten her legal obligations in the bottom of a bottle.
Especially because she cared about the Cottages.
She cared about Mrs. B and … and about Ocean, too. She wouldn’t simply vanish.
Ocean almost managed to reassure herself, but for Mrs. B’s faltering voice and trembling lips. She couldn’t lose the Marigold Cottages. They were her life. Frankly, Ocean worried she wouldn’t survive it.
So she settled Mrs. B onto her couch and draped the rainbow crocheted blanket over her lap. She poured her an overly sweet old-fashioned, then went into the kitchen to make buttered noodles with Parmesan—Mrs. B’s comfort food.
After she set the plates on the dining room table, Mrs. B clutched her wrist. “I’m sorry. I should’ve listened to you.”
“Now that is an evergreen lesson,” Ocean said, and kissed the top of her white head.
“How could I be so stupid?”
“You’re not stupid, Golda. Your fatal flaw is that you’re so good you expect everyone else to be the same. You’re the best person I know.”
Mrs. B showed her a sniffling smile. “Well, there’s Miles.”
“True, but he’s still young. He has decades to disappoint me.”
Her smile crumpled. “Just like I have. What if you need to move? Oh, Ocean. What about Hamilton? Nicholas and Sophie just moved in together! I need to make this right.”
“You need to eat your noodles,” Ocean told her. “And let the rest of us handle this.”
“Oma?” Riley called from the front door. “Mrs. B?”
“In here!” Ocean said.
“Karina knows more than she told us.” Mrs. B frowned at her food. “We should sneak into her house and—”
“We’re not breaking into her house, Golda. We’ll figure this out. I promise.”
“Break into whose house?” Riley asked, entering from the foyer. “CJ’s? You don’t need to break in, you have the key. Just unlock the door.”
“Not helping,” Ocean snapped.
“God!” Riley huffed, and stormed out.
“My fatal flaw, on the other hand,” Ocean said, “isn’t that I’m too good.”