She smiled, shrugged. “News doesn’t travel in Poole’s Bay. It sprints.”
“Do you have a problem with Trey and me?”
“Oh God, no.” In a pushback gesture, Anna lifted her hands. “The opposite. Polar opposite. I love my brother, even when I want to kick him in the balls. He’s so damn reasonable. You can’t win a fight against his unwavering reasonable. It’s frustrating. But I love him anyway.”
“Reasonable,” Sonya agreed. “And the calm. The absolute calm. It’s both annoying and admirable. It’s annoyingly admirable.”
“There, see? You get him.”
On the table, Sonya’s phone sang out: “Whatta Man.”
Easing back, Anna crossed her arms over her baby bump. “Do you ever get used to that?”
“Somehow, you do.”
“Not sure I would, and it makes me really miss wine. But in any case, I’m happy Trey’s with someone who gets him. I caught the carefully contained sparkage between you when we all had dinner, but I’m surprised he moved on that before Christmas.”
“I might have nudged the timetable up a bit.”
“And again, there.” Reaching over, she squeezed Sonya’s hand. “It’s not as if either of you need my approval, but you’ve got it anyway. And I have to go. I didn’t intend to stay so long.
“This was really nice,” she added as she rose. “My best friend moved to Montana last summer. I miss her even more than wine, margaritas, and a second cup of coffee.”
“Is she looking for a cowboy?” Cleo wondered as they walked to the door.
“In Lena’s case that would be a cowgirl. Since she’s working on a ranch—childhood dream—I bet she finds one.”
“Come back,” Sonya told her. “You don’t need a reason.”
“I will.” Carole King’s “You’ve Got a Friend” played from the tablet in the library. “Despite that. Welcome to Poole’s Bay and Lost Bride Manor, Cleo.”
After Anna walked to her car, Sonya shut the door. “And here we are.”
With a “Woo!” Cleo threw her arms around her friend. “I’m officially living in a haunted house. Talk about living the dream.”
“I say it’s not official until you’re unpacked.”
“Then let’s get to it.”
Sonya took the weekender and one of the boxes while Cleo dragged the second big suitcase.
“Considering your wardrobe, I realized the closet in your room—You still want the same room?”
“It’s my room. The box goes up to the studio. Just set it down there.”
“Not enough closet space in your room, so I thought you could use the one in the room across the hall for spillover. Maybe separate by occasion or season.”
“You have the best ideas. I’ll start with the occasion system. It’s not like I’m going to wear a lot of date night and cocktail wear, at least for a while.
“And here’s my room! My wonderful room.”
“Actually, Trey has a friend, a drummer with a band. He used to play with Trey and Owen’s band.”
“What? Wait. Trey had a band?”
“Did I forget to tell you?” Together they muscled the first suitcase onto the luggage rack Sonya found in a closet. “I’m so glad you’re here so I won’t forget to tell you everything. High school, garage band, but Manny kept up with it.”
“Are you fixing me up with a drummer in a rock band before I’ve even unpacked? You are the goddess of friends.”
“I want that title, but no. Manny and Trey’s ex—I told you about her.”
“The chef.”
“Right. They’ve started a thing. So Rock Hard’s playing in Ogunquit next week.”
“Rock Hard’s the band name? I’m even sorrier I won’t have a shot at Manny.”
“Bree—the chef—is going next Monday, and wanted us to go. Could be fun.”
“Should be fun,” Cleo agreed as she opened her suitcase. “But I’m not fifth-wheeling it with you and Trey.”
“Trey said Owen would probably go, and we’d make it a group thing. And Yoda would have a chance to hang out with Mookie at Trey’s parents’.”
Cleo looked down at Yoda as she started sorting clothes. “Now you’re using that sweet dog. Okay, if everyone’s in, I’m in.”
“Excellent. You know, I’m not sure two closets are going to work.”
“I’ll make it work.”
They gave the first round of unpacking an hour before going down to feed the dog and toss a frozen pizza in the oven.
“Tomorrow, I start cooking dinner. And anytime Trey wants to join, just let me know. Same with anytime the two of you want to go out to eat.”
When they let Yoda in after his post-dinner outing, Cleo looked around the kitchen, nodded. “This is all good. I have a plan. Let’s give the Great Unpacking another half hour—that’ll be official enough if we don’t get it completely done. Then we could haul the stuff up to my studio. I’ll set that up in the morning.”
“I like your plan.”
They carried the last of the studio boxes to the second floor and, setting them down, turned toward the bedrooms.
“A major step up from the apartment we rented our senior year.”
“With the tiniest shower in the history of showers,” Sonya remembered, with the fondness of distance. “And the tub drain that actually went glug-glug-glug.”
“Good times.”
They walked into Cleo’s bedroom. No clothes lay on the neatly turned-down bed. No suitcases sat on the floor.
“Okay, wow. Yeah, some getting used to.” Cleo opened the closet. “There’s not only more hanging in here, it’s organized by type and color.”
“She does that with mine, too. It has to be a she.”
Nodding, Cleo walked to her dresser, checked drawers. Nodded again and moved into the bathroom.
“Shampoo, conditioner, shower gel, my poof, all there. Skin care in the top left vanity drawer,” she noted. “High octane skin care below. Makeup on the right, organized by category, and hair stuff in the middle cabinet. Efficient.”
She stepped back. “I appreciate this, very much.” Then turned to Sonya. “I’m going to check the other closet.”
In the second bedroom closet, the suitcases were stacked on the floor under the clothes.
“I think she likes being useful,” Sonya said. “And yeah, has to be a she.”
“I wish we knew her name.”
“So do I. I think she must have been a servant. I started to make one up for her, but that seems wrong.”
Her phone jumped out with Little Richard’s classic “Good Golly Miss Molly.”
“Molly!” they said together.
“You know what else that means?” Cleo said.
“They know each other. Clover either knew Molly when they were alive or…”
“They got acquainted after. Thank you, Molly, for saving me so much time. I don’t see my spring and fall jackets in here.”
“I bet we find them in the coat closet downstairs. Efficient. She—Molly—does like to play with things. Perfume, pretty things.”
“She can play with mine all she wants. Are you up for carrying the rest to the studio?”
“That’s the plan, and Molly saved us half an hour.”
They carted the first load up. The minute she stepped into the studio, Cleo set her box on the desk, did a turn.
“Oh God! I love this space. It’s absolutely perfect. Look, the moon’s up, over the water.”
From the Gold Room came the pounding.