Dead to Her(60)

It wasn’t only the Englishwoman who was getting her pissed. Jason was notably absent today too. She’d called and texted him and the only answer she’d had was a solitary “busy at the office, speak when home,” but if she was honest she’d half-expected that. Jason had always been self-absorbed. Keisha wasn’t. Keisha had never shown this much control when it came to Marcie. Was she not answering to punish Marcie? That was a downside of getting involved with a woman—there was no hiding from the games they were capable of playing. But she just wanted to know Keisha was okay. Was that too much to ask?

Her day had drifted away in irritation and quiet internal rants at one or another of the people in her life, so when the doorbell rang again at a quarter after three she was so sure that it was Keisha that she was very nearly spitting out an expletive while yanking the door open before she realized it wasn’t her.

William. This time it was William and he looked pissed. Oh God, had Keisha told him? For a moment it seemed as if the vast house around her turned to ash in a breeze.

“Jason’s not here,” she mumbled, trying to catch her breath. “He’s at the office, I think.”

“No, he’s not. No idea where he’s been today either, but that’s not my immediate concern.”

“Either?” She held the door open to let him inside. Where the hell was Jason if he wasn’t at work? With Jacquie? An eel slithered in her stomach. Lies and more lies. William came into the hallway but no farther. His shirt was slick against him, stained with patches of sweat, which was odd given that he’d have gone from an air-conditioned house to an air-conditioned car and then just a few steps to the door. Stress? Anger? Could those things seep through his skin? The way he was huffing and puffing, she figured so. If he wasn’t careful he’d have a heart attack right where he stood. “What’s the matter?” she asked.

“Have you seen my wife?” My wife.

“Keisha?” She has a name, she wanted to add, but frowned instead, delicately puzzled. “No, I haven’t. I mean, she popped by this morning saying she was off to sort out the final catering or something for the party and asked if I wanted to go with her.” She was going to have to send Keisha another text when William was gone to make sure their stories matched. Lies begat lies. “But I had an awful heat headache so she went on her own.” She smiled and shrugged. “She probably lost track of time. You know how she is.” She didn’t ask him if he’d tried calling her. He was gripping his cell tightly in one fat hand. It wasn’t only Marcie’s calls Keisha hadn’t been answering.

“I know how she is,” he growled, red cheeks flushing purple.

“Should we call the police?” Marcie asked. “If you’re worried?” William wasn’t worried. He was annoyed. He was out of sorts. He was a man filled with feelings he didn’t understand about a woman he couldn’t control.

“No,” he said. “Not yet. What kind of man would I seem calling the police because my wife’s been out all day? I know what they’d think. She’s running around on him already.”

“Oh no,” Marcie said. “No one would think that. It’s great that you’re concerned about her. All women want to feel protected.” It was such bullshit. He wasn’t protecting Keisha. He was safe-guarding his own reputation. “Do you want a drink? I’ve just made a gin and tonic.” She was suddenly aware that it was only midafternoon and she was drinking alone at home.

William shook his head. “No. I shouldn’t have bothered you. I know how I must sound, worrying over nothing, but she’s been a little under the weather lately and I don’t know what to do about it. I don’t know how to manage it for the best.”

Marcie said nothing as his frustration and anger seeped into a quiet despair. It was quite a thing seeing the great William Radford IV in this state and opening up to her, Marcie Maddox, the slightly trashy second wife.

“Everything changed when I went to Europe, didn’t it?” He sounded exhausted.

“Life’s all about change.”

“That’s easy to say at your age. I want things back to normal. I’m too old for all this.” His eyes narrowed. “You heard from Jason today?”

She shrugged. “I tend not to bother him when he’s working.” It was a blatant lie. Right from day one she’d often disturb him at work to go for lunch or to just say hi, especially back then when they wanted to inhale each other 24/7. How times had changed.

“Working.” William grunted. “I’ll take your word for it.”

“He’ll be in a meeting somewhere for sure,” she said. “Do you want me to get him to call you?”

He shook his head. “No. And if Keisha shows up here, don’t tell her I was looking for her. I’m sure it’s like you said, she’s just got caught up somewhere.”

“I won’t say a word, but remember it’s a big party to plan for her and it’s the Fourth tomorrow and no one’s really going back to work before this weekend, so she knows everything needs to be ready today.” Marcie smiled. “I know she’s been nervous about it, so she’s probably with Julian and Pierre. I think the masks she chose were coming today or tomorrow?”

For a moment a flash of something close to guilt passed across William’s face as if he had realized that perhaps he’d been hard on his new, young, foreign wife. It didn’t last long though. Nothing was ever William Radford IV’s fault.