“Wait here, sweetie. I need to get the key.”
“Quickly, pleaassse,” he said, nearly bursting.
Liv went back to the counter. “Hello,” she said, forcing a smile. “Could we have the key to the restroom, please? My son is about to have an—”
“Bathroom is for payin’ customers only.”
Liv paused a beat. She looked Danielle in those narrow eyes. With no time for a standoff, Liv jammed her hand into a large plastic container near the register, removed a fistful of hard candy, and dropped the colorful assortment on the counter.
“Five-dollar minimum,” Danielle said.
Liv was about to lose it, but she looked back and saw Tommy doing a pee dance. “How much is the whole container?” Liv asked, gesturing to the plastic jug of candy.
Danielle made a face like she was doing a complicated math problem in her head. “Twenty bucks,” she said.
Liv dug into her handbag and smacked a twenty down. “Can I have the key please?”
Taking her sweet time, the clerk retrieved a key that was connected by a string to a large plastic slab, and slid it across the counter.
Liv snatched it up and rushed to the bathroom. She unlocked the door, and Tommy ran inside, yanking down the front of his pants and squirting indiscriminately until making it to the bowl.
When he was done, he let out an audible sigh of relief.
“Feel better?”
He gave a wide-eyed nod.
Liv considered the urine all over the toilet seat and floor. She should leave it for the witch out front. But that was all she needed, Danielle telling everyone she’d vandalized Parker’s. She cleaned up the mess and dropped the key on the counter on their way out. But before reaching the door, Liv stopped. She marched back to the counter and scooped up the giant container of candy. She could feel Danielle’s glare burning into her as she and Tommy left the store.
“Welcome home,” she whispered to herself.
CHAPTER 21
Liv pulled the rental car into the driveway and frowned at the scene. The house, her childhood home, was in a state of disrepair. The hedges were in desperate need of trimming. Shutters crooked, paint peeling.
Cindy met them at the door. She, too, showed signs of neglect. Her hair had a two-inch band of gray at the part. She wore polyester pants with a threadbare cardigan.
Liv’s older sister had never been one to primp, and when they were kids, many wondered aloud how the two could be related. In high school Liv had been the town beauty, voted Irrigation Queen three times in the sexist pageant held every summer. She’d inherited their late mother’s delicate, faintly aristocratic features. Cindy was their father’s daughter. Big boned. A wide face and nose.
“Is this Tommy? I can’t believe it,” Cindy said in that raspy voice of hers. “You were just a baby the last time I saw you.” This was directed more at Liv than Tommy.
“It’s me,” Tommy said earnestly.
“Well, come on in and give your auntie a hug.”
Tommy hesitated, but sauntered over and gave her a sideways hug.
“I’m sorry we’re late,” Liv said. “Flight delays, then—”
“Visiting hours are over soon,” Cindy cut in, “so we probably should get over there if you want to see him today.”
They took Liv’s rental since Cindy’s vehicle didn’t have a car seat. Her sister glanced at the giant container of candy wedged between the front seats, but didn’t ask. It wasn’t long before they were on another lonely highway headed to the nursing home. On either side of them were vast fields, punctuated with telephone poles, birds balancing on the lines.
“They say we have a week to find him somewhere,” Cindy said, matter-of-fact.
“Or what?” Liv replied. “They’ll throw an elderly man with Alzheimer’s out on the street?”
“No, they’ll just hire an overpriced caregiver, put him in the most expensive room, and charge us an arm and a leg until we relent.”
“Have you looked into other places?”
Cindy nodded. “Most won’t take wanderers, much less disruptive residents. And they’re pricey.”
“How pricey?”
“Four times what we’re paying.”
Liv guffawed. They could barely afford Twilight Meadows. “We can’t swing any more money. With Maggie leaving for college, we’re going to struggle just to cover our mortgage.” It was even worse than that, she believed. But after their last fight, she’d relinquished the monthly bills to Evan. For now she was staying blissfully ignorant. A reckoning was coming, she knew.