Chapter 10

Zoey was still puzzling over the conversation between Aunt Flory and Dr. Tanner as she crawled into bed that night. Aunt Flory's heart and weight were common concerns in the Starling house, but Dr. Tanner had referred to something new. Was Aunt Flory's life in danger? Guilt flooded her. 'She'd been so sharp with her lately.'

She lay awake worrying until she couldn't stand the silence anymore. "Ruby," she hissed, trying not to wake Celeste, who was snoring softly in her bed.

"Ruby!"

"What..." Ruby mumbled and turned toward Zoey, her face buried in her pillow.

"Are you asleep?"

"What do you think?"

"I can't sleep."

"So what's new?" she mumbled. "Close your eyes and think happy thoughts."

"I tried. It doesn't help. I'm worried."

"About what?"

"I'm not sure."

"Then why look for trouble?" Ruby mumbled into her pillow.

Zoey sighed, waiting.

Bristling, Ruby finally turned over to meet her gaze. "You know I can't sleep if you're staring at me. What do you want?"

"Nothing," Zoey mumbled. "I was just thinking."

"Well, stop it."

"Do you think Aunt Flory is okay?" she finally asked. "I mean, she's not sick or anything?"

Ruby propped herself up on an elbow. "Besides her heart? No, I don't think so. Why?"

"No reason. Except she's not exactly healthy, is she? I mean, her size."

"You better not catch her hear you saying that."

"But it's true. Don't you wish she'd take better care of herself? We want her to be around for a long time."

"You know as well as I do that Aunt Flory would say it's none of our business. And she'd be right." She plopped down into her pillow again. "Now stop staring at me so I can get some sleep."

"Can't you just ignore me?" Zoey asked.

Ruby considered the question for a moment. "No," she said simply and pulled her pillow over her head again. "Good night."

Over the next few days, Zoey tried several times to catch her aunt alone, but it proved impossible. Then, one morning, before Ruby and Celeste came down for breakfast, Zoey pounced on a rare moment of privacy as Aunt Flory popped a pill at the kitchen sink. "What are those pills for?" she asked.

Aunt Flory swallowed and smiled at Zoey. "Nothing for you to worry about," she said kindly. "You know John. He's always going on about this or that. He insists I take them."

"But what are they for?" Zoey insisted. 'She hated to be so pushy, but there was no way around it if she hoped to get to the truth. Aunt Flory might be evasive, but she'd never known her to lie.' She'd often said that while she didn't mind bending the truth for the sake of someone's feelings or encouraging positivity in a desperate situation, she didn't condone outright deception.

Aunt Flory looked nervous. "Oh, you know, for this and some of that," she said, her tone light but her expression guarded.

"So it's medication?" Zoey persisted.

A surprised look scrambled across Aunt Flory's face. The girls usually respected her privacy. "Yes, I suppose technically it is," she admitted. "John assures me that if I take them, I'll be around to nag you girls for a long time," she said, recovering a casual tone. She snapped the lid back on the bottle and returned it to the cupboard. "Now go call your sister before you're both late for school."

The following day, the girls sat on the front porch playing with their orange tabby cat, Montague. Ruby tied a doll's hat on his head while he lay patiently in her arms, though his tail twitched with annoyance. Celeste giggled with delight.

"Good lord, what are you doing to that poor cat?" Verna interrupted them as she came around the corner of the house, balancing a stack of toilet paper in her arms.

"Just playing," Ruby answered, pulling off Montague's hat and releasing him. The cat disappeared under the house. While he was willing to suffer the hat, he had less tolerance for Verna, who was constantly shooing him off the furniture.

Verna made one of her disapproving faces. "Well, don't just stand there. Help me with this toilet paper. It was on sale at the Super Saver, and the way you girls go through it, I thought I'd stock up for Flory."

Zoey wanted to ask what Verna knew about their toilet habits but thought better of it. 'Verna had no qualms about telling Aunt Flory when the girls smart-mouthed her.'

Zoey's arms were too full to reach the angel above the door as she entered the house. Without a word, Ruby reached up and tapped it for her. "Can't hurt, right?" she said to Zoey.

'That was Ruby for you. One minute she was infuriating, and the next minute she was doing something kind. There was no predicting her mood.'

Verna didn't notice. "Flory," she called into the living room. "Where are you hiding?"

The lock on the bathroom next to the kitchen scraped open, and Aunt Flory appeared, surprised to see Verna. Aunt Flory never went into the bathroom without locking the door. Despite her open nature, she was fiercely private. Whether it was self-consciousness or modesty, there had always been sturdy locks on her bedroom and bathroom doors.

Zoey had never seen her undressed or even pared down to her underclothes. She emerged each morning from behind closed doors, fully clothed, with every hair in place, as if it was her natural state. That morning her hair was covered by a scarf because it was time to bleach her roots again.

"What's all the commotion?" Aunt Flory asked. She smiled when she saw the mounds of toilet paper on the table. "That should last us for a while." She laughed, but Zoey knew she was grateful. They were always running out of something in the Starling house.

"It was on sale," Verna announced, clearly pleased with herself.

"How much do I owe you?" Flory asked, reaching for her purse.

"Between my coupons and my loyalty discount, it was almost free," Verna gloated. "You should have seen the look on the store manager's face. A piece of apple pie and a cup of coffee is more than enough to make us even."

"That doesn't seem right," Aunt Flory said, opening her wallet.

"Don't take the fun out of it for me," Verna argued. "What else would I do with all this toilet paper? And making that manager's life miserable is my favorite pastime ever since he refused to refund me for that basket of rotten tomatoes last Christmas. Now you take the toilet paper and hush. That coffee isn't going to serve itself."

"I'll make you a coffee," Zoey suddenly offered, ignoring the surprised look on both Verna and Aunt Flory's faces. 'Say what you want about Verna. No matter how annoying she could be, she always had Aunt Flory's back.'