She sat up slowly and stretched, working out the kinks in her neck as she walked into the bathroom. After a quick, cold shower—another one of Maya’s ideas for improving her health, which was perfectly good already, thank you very much—she put on a cream-colored linen jumpsuit that her former stylist had sent her for her birthday in May. Ruthanna had fudged her age for so many years she barely knew what number she’d turned, and she certainly didn’t care to think too hard on it.
She pulled her hair into a loose ponytail and then headed downstairs through the big, silent house. It hadn’t always been so quiet in these rooms, but a lot had changed over the years. Some things for the better, she thought, and quite a few for the worse.
“But time marches on,” Ruthanna said out loud, a truism for sure and the name of a Tracy Lawrence song, too. She hummed the melody as she fixed herself a pot of coffee, making a lot of noise as she did so to let that nervy girl upstairs know that she was awake and it was okay to come down.
Then Ruthanna got the wild idea to make pancakes. AnnieLee needed to put some meat on her bones, and Ruthanna figured she could live vicariously by watching AnnieLee put away a stack of flapjacks. Meanwhile, she could sip her coffee and wait for whatever nasty spirulina smoothie Maya would show up with and then badger her into drinking.
Ruthanna kept humming as she worked, remembering how much she liked having someone to care for. She didn’t want the girl moving in permanently, of course, but it would be nice to keep her around for a little while at least. Maybe they could do a bit of gardening together. The roses were just beginning to bloom, and the lilies would be coming up soon. She had thousands of them, from every corner of the world.
When she’d finished making the pancakes, she stuck them in the oven to keep them warm, and then she sat down to read the paper. Her assistant would be arriving any minute, and she looked forward to introducing the two women. AnnieLee certainly wouldn’t challenge Maya to a fight, would she? That would be something to see, Ruthanna thought.
It was nearing 9 a.m. when she finally decided to go upstairs and wake her guest. She knocked lightly, and when there was no answer, she slowly pushed the door open.
The bed was made, and the room was empty. A scrawled note lay on top of one of the throw pillows.
Dear Ms. Ryder,
Thank you so much for everything. I want you to know that I took a pair of sweatpants and two shirts from that closet. And…well, I also borrowed the guitar that was in there. The case was real dusty. I know you didn’t offer me that, but something told me you wouldn’t have refused me if I’d asked. I promise to take good care of it, and I’ll return it just as soon as I can.
All my gratitude and admiration, and then some,
Firecracker
“Well, I’ll be damned,” Ruthanna whispered. She felt a rush of so many feelings at once that she couldn’t have put words to any of them. Then she crumpled the note in her hand.
Chapter
20
Ruthanna was standing in the rose garden when Maya got out of her Lexus bearing two bright-green smoothies.
“You’re looking thoughtful this morning,” Maya said, handing her one of the cups.
“I guess I am,” Ruthanna said. “Thanks for—whatever this is.”
“Spinach-celery-kale-pear. You’ll like it.”
Ruthanna gave the drink a dubious sniff. “I let that girl Ethan discovered stay here last night, but she vanished sometime before six a.m. Why do you suppose she did that?”
“I don’t know,” Maya said. “Did anything else vanish with her?”
“She took a guitar. But she left a note about it.”
Maya clucked her tongue. “This is very unlike you.”
Ruthanna acknowledged that it was. But something about that girl had touched a nerve.
“Should I go count the silver?” Maya asked, half joking.
“That won’t be necessary,” Ruthanna said. “AnnieLee wouldn’t do something like that. But if she did, would I really even care? I mean, when was the last time we used that stuff?”
“Oh, I remember,” Maya said. “It was—” But then she snapped her mouth shut and turned quickly on her heel, walking up the steps to the house.
Ruthanna felt a jolt of pain as she remembered, too. A gorgeous June Sunday, a celebratory brunch for her daughter—
But she wasn’t going to think about that now.
She turned and followed Maya into the kitchen and watched as her assistant brewed another pot of coffee.
“You gonna have some?” Maya asked. “I’m making this so strong it’ll lift weights.”