Pineapple Street(74)
She called Georgiana but it went to voice mail, so she sent her a text: George, please call me. I’m v worried about you. I know you’re having a hard time, but this is a huge mistake.
She then texted Cord: Georgiana went to Bill Wallis to take all her money out of her trust. Did you know about this?
Cord replied: What? No. But Dad was being a nightmare at work yesterday and tried to pump the brakes on the new Vinegar Hill acquisition because “we are going to be poor” so that tracks.
Darley texted, I’m coming over and when Cord wrote back, I’m tied up right now, she didn’t see it—she was already on the way.
* * *
—
The Pineapple Street house was swarming with people when Darley arrived, kids in tow. She sent Poppy and Hatcher into the backyard and found her brother in the parlor talking to a woman wearing big wire-rimmed glasses and holding a tablet.
“Hey, Cord,” she said uncertainly. “What’s going on?”
“Oh, Darley, hi.” Cord looked embarrassed, which was maybe a first for him. “I’m just getting an estimate. We’ll be done in about half an hour.”
“An estimate on what?”
“We’re going to have all the furniture and art and stuff taken out and put into storage. We have to make room for the baby.”
“The baby?” Darley asked in disbelief. “The baby that’s going to be the size of a loaf of bread needs you to move out the mahogany organ clock? The baby needs you to put Geegee’s Napoleon the third hall chair in storage?”
“I’m just going to check in with my team upstairs.” The woman in glasses excused herself awkwardly and scurried out of the room.
“Yeah, Darley,” Cord scowled at her. “Sasha doesn’t need to live in a Stockton family museum.”
“It’s not a museum, Cord. It’s a home.” Darley sat down on the sofa, then remembering the rash, stood up and moved to the velvet chaise.
“I don’t know what else to do,” Cord said and sat down next to her. “Sasha is so unhappy here. She says she feels like we exclude her from the family, like she isn’t comfortable around us. And so I thought that maybe if I took all the stuff out of Pineapple Street she could make it her own.”
“But she pretty much told us all she hates the house. That was really vicious.”
“And you and Georgiana called her a gold digger. That’s not vicious?”
Darley winced. “That was bad. I’m really sorry.”
“You should probably say that to her.” Cord rubbed his eyes, looking tired.
“Aren’t you mad she didn’t tell us about George, though? She kept that whole thing a secret.”
“Yeah, I’m really mad.” Cord washed the nap of the velvet back and forth with a sweep of his hand.
Darley sighed. “Where is Sasha, anyway? Is she working?”
“No, she’s with her parents for a few days. Her dad is in the hospital.”
“Her dad is in the hospital?” Darley asked, shocked.
“Yeah, he had blood clots in his lungs, but he’s going to be okay.”
“Jesus Christ, Cord, you need to tell me these things!” Darley jumped to her feet, as though she could run somewhere to help.
“But you were so angry at each other. I figured—”
“So what? We’re still her family!” Darley interrupted, and she meant it. She had made a mistake and Sasha had made a mistake, but she loved her, and Sasha loved her brother, and it was within her power to make it right. With that, she scooped up her phone and placed an order with a Rhode Island florist that was so extravagant that her credit card company had to call her and make sure it wasn’t fraudulent.
NINETEEN
Sasha
Sasha couldn’t sleep. Her father was home from the hospital, his breathing was improved, he was in good spirits, but still, she tossed and turned in her childhood bed, flipping her pillow over and over, searching for a cool side to calm her scurrying mind. She had been the Georgiana of her family the whole time, throwing elbows at Mullin because he didn’t belong. But there was one crucial difference: Her brothers had let her know she was wrong. Her brothers made it clear that if they had to choose sides, they chose Mullin’s. Had Cord done the same? No. He had somehow managed to play both sides, never calling out his sisters, never truly promising to pick Sasha and put his wife first. It hurt. Sasha knew that when she had fallen in love with Cord she had said she wanted someone who loved her but didn’t need her. But maybe she had been wrong. Maybe, when it came to marriage, she actually needed Cord to need her too.
She fell asleep sometime at dawn, and when she woke, she could hear the neighborhood sounds through the window she’d left cracked open. Birds in the trees, the cars driving to the wharf, the growl of a leaf blower down the street, but she heard voices in the kitchen as well, so she pulled on a pair of sweatpants, raked her hair out of her eyes, and stumbled downstairs, where she stopped and felt her face light up in a smile. Behind the spray of Peruvian lilies and magenta snapdragons Darley had sent, Cord was sitting at the table, drinking coffee with her parents, a spread of bagels and cream cheese on the cutting board before him.
“Morning, sleepyhead.” Cord jumped up and kissed her hello, then bent down to kiss the bump of her belly. “I brought breakfast from Hot Bagel on Montague.”