Page 52 of One Last Smile

“Mary?” she asks.

“I’m sorry,” I say, “you startled me.”

Her eyes narrow. “What are you doing?”

I feel heat climb my cheeks. God, what can I say? How can I defend myself?

Then I remember that I have a prescription from Dr. Chalmers. That’s my excuse!

“I was looking for Dr. Chalmers’s cell phone number,” I say. “I… this is embarrassing, but the pills he prescribed me for sleep aren’t working, and… well, I’m exhausted.” I chuckle nervously and say, “I was just hoping he could maybe send a different prescription over today. I know it’s presumptuous of me, but I’m going positively daffy without sleep.”

She keeps a wary expression on me and says, “The pharmacy’s closed on Sundays, and I doubt it will reopen just for you. But if you want his cell phone, it should be in the notebook next to the phone under emergency numbers. The phone’s in the drawing room.”

“Right.” I give another nervous laugh. God, I am a horrible liar. “I should have thought to check there.”

She nods, but I can see the tension in her shoulders relax. She’s buying it, thank God. “Well, you do need sleep. I heard you up again last night. It’s not healthy to go without for too long. If you don’t get a hold of him, let me know. I’ll make you some chamomile with valerian root. I think I still have some left over for my own insomnia.”

“Oh, that’s dear of you, Hazel. Thank you.”

She nods again. “Right. Well, off you go. It won’t do to have the missus find out you were in her room. And—not to suggest you would do something like this—but she is aware of exactly where everything is in here, so if anything turns up missing, that wouldn’t bode well for you.”

“Of course,” I say, cheeks burning. “She won’t have to worry about that.”

“Right. Well…”

“Right. Off I go.”

I rush downstairs, heart pounding. My face flames brighter than the late morning sun. Of course, his phone number would be next to the bloody phone! Leave it to me to complicate something absurdly simple.

I reach the phone and, as Hazel promised, the number is on the third page of the notebook under the heading “Emergency Numbers.” I shake my head and have a good laugh at myself. Looking for a phone number everywhere but by the bloody phone.

Well, I have it now. It’s time to put my plan in motion.

I take a deep breath, then pick up the phone.

***

I reach the house just before the family does. I’m dirty and sore and irritable, and I have no idea if any of the pictures I’ve taken have come out at all, but I’ve managed somehow to complete all of my tasks for the day.

Sebastian greets me with a warm smile. “Mary! You look like you’ve had quite a refreshing safari!”

“Dear, please,” Veronica chides, blushing.

“What? Why must that mean something negative? All good naturalists look as though they’ve been in the sun.”

“Sebastian!” Veronica turns to me. “I’m so sorry, Mary. Despite the family’s insistence that I’m the drunk, it seems my husband is more soused than I am.”

“Oh, I am not,” he insists. “I had one of those horrible drinks, and then I couldn’t bear to drink another. What on Earth were they called anyway?”

“Mimosas,” Eliza says. She eyes me curiously. “So you’ve taken your pictures of trees?”

I smile at her. “Oh yes. Trees, flowers, grasses, and a few species that I believe were bamboo but could have been ferns. I’ll trust in your judgment to tell me, Sebastian.”

“Bamboos for sure,” he says. “Anyway, let’s look at them.”

“Of course! Lucas, would you mind if we borrowed your computer? I’m afraid I’m not sure how to download images off of the memory card.”

“Sure,” he says, eyeing me suspiciously.

---