Page 28 of Say Yes to the Hot Mess

I grab my stack of flyers from the passenger seat and then head on in, smoothing my tie down as the breeze tugs it askance. The sun is warm on my face, and I soak it up.

I haven’t taken an extensive tour of the building yet, but I do know where the all-purpose room is, and it takes only a minute to get there. Warm tones aside, this whole place is a tad bland, and the all-purpose room is no exception. As I expected, there are a decent number of people here—one corner seems to be hosting some kind of bingo game, and on the other side of the room a few tables have been pushed together to form a buffet for…what is that, a bridal shower? A baby shower, maybe? I’m not in charge of scheduling, so I’m not sure.

My eyes scan the place a second longer before they land on a single round table occupied by none other than a few of Josephine’s friends from the other day, and my mouth hitches into a little smile before I make my way in their direction. They spot me when I’m halfway there, watching as I approach and then stop next to the gray-haired woman who’s once again dressed in borderline outrageous clothing—a shocking pink muumuu and pants patterned in purple and green.

“Hello, there, sweet pea,” she says, her face lighting up.

“Geraldine,” I say, nodding at her. She made a big enough impression that I haven’t forgotten her name. The man and woman next to her, though…Clarence, I think, and…Abby? Astrid? Was it Astrid?

“Can I sit?” I say, gesturing at one of the empty seats.

“Sure, sure,” Clarence says. He holds out his hand to me, and once I’ve settled myself in one of the hard chairs, I shake it.

“How’s it going, Clarence?” I ask.

“Oh, just fine,” he says, waving one age-spotted hand. “Can’t complain. And you ‘member Agnes?”

Agnes.That’s right. Not Astrid—Agnes.

“Agnes,” I say, nodding and holding out my hand to shake hers.

“So what brings you to us, pretty boy?” Geraldine says, smiling flirtatiously at me, and for the life of me I can’t tell exactly how serious she is.

“I brought some flyers to pass out,” I say, tapping the stack of papers in front of me. “And would love to talk to you about something, actually. You all are aware of the incident involving Bowie Buford?” It’s a stab in the dark guess, but considering I heard about it from Josephine, and considering Josephine seems like the gossiping type, it seems reasonable that her friends would know about it too.

“Oh, yes,” Agnes says. “Poor Bowie.”

“‘Poor Bowie’ my tush,” Geraldine scoffs. “That man was stupider than my granddaughter’s boyfriend. He oughta have known not to take anything that would interfere with his medicines.”

“So you have heard,” I say, nodding. “Good. Can you tell me any more about it? Do you know where he got the—” I pause, feeling suddenly awkward. “The pills?”

There’s silence at the table for a second, and then Clarence leans over and pats me on the shoulder with one heavy hand. “Now look, son. I can see your face is all red, but there’s no need to be embarrassed. Sometimes our bodies just don’t work quite like they used to—”

“No,” I say quickly, my face heating further. “I’m not—good grief. I don’t want tobuyany.”

The three of them share a knowing look that has my eyes rolling.

“I don’t,” I insist. “I mean, for the record, there’s no shame in taking medication if you need…help,” I finish awkwardly. “But that’s not why—I didn’t—” I break off, pinching the bridge of my nose. “He almost diedin a Sunset Horizons propertybecause he took a pill someone gave himhere. That could cause all kinds of legal trouble for this place. So if you know who’s selling this medication, I really need to know.”

“Sorry,” Clarence says, shrugging. “No idea.” He looks over at Agnes and wiggles his eyebrows. “I’ve got no problems performing.”

My eyes widen in horror as my gaze swings to Agnes.Please don’t respond, I beg her silently.Please don’t respond—

“No, you certainly don’t,” Agnes chuckles, and I throw up in my mouth a little bit. That is so much more than I ever wanted to know.

“Thank you,” I say, my gaze swinging to Geraldine, who’s watching Clarence and Agnes with both amusement and disgust. “Geraldine?”

“You two are too much,” she says, ignoring me. She tuts and shakes her head, finally looking back to me. “Sorry, sweetie pie.” She gives me a little wink and says slyly, “It’s true I prefer to play the field, so to speak, rather than settle with just one man—”

Oh, comeon.

“But none of my man friends have ever said anything.” She shrugs, her eyes sparkling. “And they’re allverycompetent lovers—”

“That’s enough,” I say, cutting her off with one hand up. This conversation has been much more explicit than I ever wanted, and I could do without it. “Tell you all what—why don’t I—” But I break off when my phone begins to ring, the sound warbling and odd. I frown as I look down.

Oh, no. My mother is video calling me—something she’s never done before. Nancy doesn’t like to be on camera unless she’s prepped herself extensively, including video chats, so I’m not sure what could be going on here.

“Dexter?” she says when I accept the call, her picture popping up pixelated and frozen.

---