Big Little Lies(133)

He must be a bit drunk too, thought Madeline. He wouldn’t normally refer to Bonnie as his “wife” in front of her.
“Luckily it was a pink drink, so it matched my dress,” said Madeline.
“I’ve been celebrating the happy ending to our daughter’s little drama,” said Nathan. “Here’s to Larry Fitzgerald of South Dakota, hey?” He lifted his drink.
“Mmmm,” said Madeline. Her eyes were on Celeste. “I have this funny feeling that ‘Larry Fitzgerald’ might actually live closer than we think.”
“Eh?” said Nathan. “What are you talking about?”
“Are you talking about Abigail’s website?” said Celeste. “Did she close it down?”
Her delivery was absolutely perfect, thought Madeline, and that’s what gave it away. Most of the time Celeste looked evasive, as though she had something to hide. Right now she looked completely composed and poised, and her eyes held Madeline’s. When most people lied, they avoided eye contact; when Celeste lied, she held it.
“You’re Larry Fitzgerald of South Dakota, aren’t you?” said Madeline to Celeste. “I knew it! Well, I didn’t know it for sure, but I had a feeling. It was all too convenient.”
“I have absolutely no idea what you’re talking about,” said Celeste evenly.
Nathan turned to Celeste. “You gave one hundred thousand dollars to Amnesty? To help us? My God.”
“You really shouldn’t have,” said Madeline. “You shouldn’t have done that. How can we ever repay you?”
“Goodness,” said Renata. “What is this all about?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” said Celeste to Madeline. “But don’t forget you saved Max’s life, so that’s a debt that really can’t be repaid.”
There were some raised voices from inside the hall.
“I wonder what’s going on?” said Nathan.
“Oh, I might have started some little fires,” said Renata with a tiny smirk. “My husband isn’t the only one who thinks he’s in love with our nanny. Juliette found much to distract her in Pirriwee. What’s the French word for it? Polyamour. I found out she had an eye for a certain type of man. Or I should say a certain type of bank account.”
“Renata,” said Celeste. “I found out tonight that—”
“Don’t,” said Jane.
“—my son Max was the one who was hurting Amabella,” said Celeste.
“Your son?” said Renata. “But are you sure? Because on orientation day Amabella pointed out Ziggy.”
“I’m quite sure,” said Celeste. “She picked out Ziggy at random because she was frightened of Max.”
“But . . .” Renata couldn’t seem to get her head around it. “You’re sure?”
“I’m quite sure,” said Celeste. “And I’m sorry.”
Renata put a hand to her mouth. “Amabella didn’t want me to invite the twins to her A party,” she said. “She made such a fuss about it, and I just ignored her. I thought she was being silly.”
She looked at Jane. Jane looked steadily back. She really did look wonderful tonight, thought Madeline with satisfaction, and she realized that the constant gum-chewing had stopped sometime over the last few weeks without her noticing.
“I owe you a very big apology,” said Renata.
“You do,” said Jane.
“And Ziggy,” said Renata. “I owe you and your son an apology. I am so sorry. I will . . . Well, I don’t know what I’ll do.”
“I accept,” said Jane. She lifted her glass. “I accept your apology.”
The glass door slid open yet again, and Ed and Perry appeared.
“Things are getting a bit out of hand in there,” said Ed. He grabbed some bar stools that had been lined up near the door and brought them over. “Shall we make ourselves comfortable? Hello, Renata. I’m very sorry about my wife’s lead foot on the accelerator yesterday.”
Perry brought some stools over as well.
“Perry,” said Renata. Madeline noticed she wasn’t quite as obsequious toward Perry now that she knew his son had been bullying her daughter. In fact, there was a definite edge to her voice. “Nice to see you in the country.”
“Thanks, Renata. Nice to see you too.”
Nathan held out his hand. “Perry is it? I don’t think we’ve met. I’m Nathan. I understand we’re very much in your debt.”
“Really?” said Perry. “How is that?”
Oh Jesus, Nathan, thought Madeline. Shut up. He doesn’t know. I bet he doesn’t know.