Never Have I Ever(65)

“I can’t believe you went to Mobile at four in the morning,” she said. “Amy Whey, girl detective. Jesus. And you’ve staked your husband out for me like a yummy little goat, told me to go ahead, eat him up, try to wreck your marriage. That’s bold, Amy. Bold and smart.”

“I’m not asking you for a report card. Do we have a deal?” I said, impatient, so overloud that Oliver paused and looked up at me.

“Almost,” Roux said.

I didn’t understand that. “We almost have a deal? What, you want thirty?”

She laughed and shook out her hair, then crossed her legs and spread her arms out across the back of the sofa, the poster girl for relaxed.

“I mean, you almost had me. It was a ballsy try. God, maybe it’s narcissism, but I like you so much right now. I don’t know if I could have played that any better.”

I heard my front door opening. We both did.

“Amy?” Char called.

I turned away from Roux, washed in confusion. I went to collect Oliver, who was sitting flat on his butt, still watching me. I picked him up, and Rattle Bear with him.

“I’m in the keeping room,” I called back, and I sounded shaky even to my own ears. “Sorry! I’m running late. Just wait there.”

I jerked my head toward the sliding glass door, expecting Roux to slip out, the way she had before. But she wasn’t moving. She sat on the sofa like she’d been planted there.

“We’ll finish this later,” I said, not much more than a whisper.

“Oh, no,” she said, in her normal voice, propping her feet up on my coffee table. “I’m not leaving you alone again. Not until I get paid. You are a person who gets ideas. You do things.”

“What?” Char called.

I had no answer, and then Char came through the swinging door, pushing Ruby in the stroller, saying something about buying me a watch. The words died in her mouth when she saw Roux. She looked more than surprised. Almost betrayed.

“Roux dropped by.” I really did feel as if I’d been caught cheating on Charlotte, a four-edged irony that was not lost on me.

“Hi-ho,” Ruby said, oblivious to the tension in the room.

“How are things, Roux?” Char said, her voice guarded, looking back and forth between us.

“Roux dropped by, very unexpected,” I repeated, my voice weak.

Char was the last human being I wanted in the room right now. The very last. Better Davis. Or Maddy. Better God himself.

“Hullo, Kanga!” Roux said, grinning a sly little grin. She was still so relaxed, or she looked it anyway. Sprawled, almost.

“I don’t really care for that nickname,” Char said in a quelling tone.

But to my surprise, instead of goading her, Roux cocked her head and said, “Really? I’m sorry. I think it’s cute, how it goes with mine. Kanga. Roux. But if you don’t like it, of course I won’t call you that.”

“Oh. Well. Thank you,” Char said, taken aback.

Roux leaned forward, still unleashing a charm offensive. “I was actually heading to your house next, after I finished here.”

“You were?” Char said, shooting me a bewildered look. I couldn’t hold her gaze. I felt powerless. I had no idea what Roux would say, no way to stop her or control her. I bounced Oliver to keep him happy.

Roux got up and walked over closer to her.

“I was here apologizing. I’ve been thinking about book club, the way I came in and took over. I can be like that, especially when I’m in a new place. I show out when I’m nervous. I assumed it was Amy’s club because it was at her house, but she told me it’s really yours. She just lets you use her space and helps with newsletters or whatever else you need. She gave me an earful about ruining the House of Mirth discussion, believe me. She’s a good friend.”

Ruby pulled at the straps that bound her in the stroller. “Out, peas!”

“The best,” Char said, tilting her chin up. Roux had fixed Char’s hurt at finding us together, but I felt no relief. It was not kindness, because she wasn’t kind. Char, oblivious, so generous at heart, smiled at Roux and added, “I’m shy, too. I show it in a different way, though. I get bossy when I’m nervous.”

“Amy had an early-morning dive today,” Roux said. “She’s still in her swimsuit, and she needs to run and change. We can have a get-to-know-you chat while we wait, just you and I.” Roux gave me an oblique look, and it was only then, at the very base of me, lower than words, that I began to truly understand. How much she saw. How much she knew.

“I don’t need to change,” I said.

“We’ve all had such busy mornings. Amy’s been up to all kinds of things. But so have I,” Roux said, and I believed her. I’d snuck off to Mobile, feeling so clever, while Roux had been equally busy here.

Char shot me a confused look. “Okay,” she said.

“Out, peas,” Ruby insisted. “I wanna pay wiss Obbiber.”

“Let them play,” Roux said. “Amy, you’ll be more comfy if you get out of that damp suit.”

I set him down by the coffee table. I had to anyway. My arms had gone so weak. Char unclicked Ruby, handed her over the gate.

“Hi-ho, Obbiber!” she said.

“Obbiber!” Roux laughed. “That’s adorable.” I’d been right when I’d guessed at her spirit animal. She was a cat, and she was playing with me. She’d been playing with me for this entire conversation, like I was small, gray, frightened food. “I did that, too, when I was little.”