Page 6 of The Party Plot

“Shit.” Laurel rubbed the back of his neck, his hand coming away sweaty. Melody had real problems, and here he was waxing melodramatic over some guy he’d met in a casino bar. “Melody, I’m sorry. I’m not at my best right now.”

“It’s alright.” She slumped, resting her chin on her folded arms, hair falling around her like a tent. “I know you’re tired of listening to it. The shit with Howie.”

“I’m sorry,” Laurel said, with a sad kind of inertia. “I just don’t know what can be done.” He didn’t understand why Melody didn’t justleave.

But then, Bonard was a hard place to escape. Laurel himself was evidence of that.

“What? You were the one who told me to come to the party and confront him.”

He looked at her blankly, searching his mind for any recollection of what she was talking about.

“You said it would be my big chance,” Melody explained. “To drag everything out in the open? Get back in everyone’s good graces? You really don’t remember any of this?”

Laurel chewed his lip. Maybe he hadn’t been as with it last night as he’d thought. That was the thing about coke: it made you feelso smart, until you were confronted later with the evidence of your own buffoonery. “I’m not so sure anything I said last night was a great idea, in retrospect.”

“He deserves to see some kind of consequences.” Melody looked at him, her face stubborn.

“He does, but—” but Howie Bonard was teflon. Their disastrous, on-again-off-again relationship had been truly over for six years, but Melody was still living the fallout, while Howie got to just go about his business. Suing him for emotional damages hadn’t done anything. Even a charge for possession a while back hadn’t made a difference; Bonard had gotten off with a fine and a slap on the wrist. Laurel sighed. There was a nasty taste in his mouth. “Melody. Don’t you ever think about making a change? Moving away? Maybe focusing on your health a little bit?” Laurel’s stomach felt soft, his words hollow. He really wasn’t built for this sort of thing: confrontation, vendettas, the pursuit of justice.

She scoffed. “Where would I go? I didn’t finish college. I’ve never had a real job, and I’m too old now to model.”

Laurel pinched the bridge of his nose, feeling like an asshole. He forgot, sometimes, how different their situations were. Melody came from one of the area’s oldest families, but they were broke, her parents refusing to move out of the decaying old mansion that they couldn’t afford to repair. Anything she had, she’d earned years ago. And she refused to borrow any money from him, despite the many times he’d offered.

“Besides, I’m totally fine. I know you don’t believe it, but I’m not as messy as you think. I pay my taxes on time. I just got a new IUD, before congress can fricking outlaw them. And I take good care of Luna. I brush her and clean her ears every morning.” (Luna, Laurel remembered, was the cat.) “I volunteer at the library and the humane society. My shit istogether, Laurel.”

And yet you’re showing up wasted at garden parties, trying to get back at your ex.It wasn’t a nice thought, and Laurel didn’t like himself for having it. Besides, he had apparently goaded her into it. He took a deep breath, saying nothing. A mosquito buzzed in his ear, and he waved it away. They were going to get eaten alive out here if they didn’t go in soon.

“I shouldn’t have to leave. This is my home.”

“Melody, his family owns the damn town.”

“I’m not giving up.” She took another hit off the vape, her hand trembling slightly. Strawberry-scented vapor threaded up into the sky. “I deserve to be here too.”

Laurel put an arm around her, looking out over the marsh, the razor-sharp blades of grass glowing gold in the dying light. Melody leaned into him, her face against his shoulder. “I just need a chance,” she muttered into his shirt. “If people would just accept me again, maybe I could tell my side of the story. Show everyone how far I’ve come, how good I’m doing now.”

“I know, sweetheart.” Eventually, forcing lightness into his voice, he added, “And at least you have your shit together. I don’t.”

“Nobody expects you to,” Melody grumbled.

“Damn. Ouch.”

“I know, I’m a bitch.”

“Nah.” He pressed a kiss to her scalp, the ramrod-straight line of her center part. Melody was always on top of the latest trends. “Just more honest than anyone else around here.” Laurel sighed, breathing in the smell of her shampoo. “And I want your honest opinion, because I did something pretty stupid.”

Melody chuckled. Laurel’s heart felt a little less heavy, hearing it. “Oh God, what now?”

“A few months ago, when I was flying out of Vegas, I met this guy. Had what I would categorize as a particularly epic one-night stand. Um.” Laurel cleared his throat.

“I know. You told me about that—”

“Last night?” Laurel rubbed his temples, shaking his head. Never again, he vowed. His constitution was too weak to partake in illicit substances with Melody anymore. “God, I’m an embarrassment. A menace.”

“It’s fine,” Melody said, patting his arm. “You can tell me again. I don’t remember much, either.”

“Well, I thought I’d never see him again, but…”

“Uh-oh.” He could hear the smile in Melody’s voice. “Was he in Belgium?”

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