Page 47 of Red Mountain Burning
“Oh, we can tell.” The woman glanced at her reserved husband, who was fishing a credit card out of his wallet.
“And you enjoyed the wines?” Margot asked.
“Maybe a little too much,” the woman confessed. “I think we joined…what was it, Don? Four wine clubs?”
He handed Margot his card. “Not to mention the several cases sitting in our car right now.”
Margot smiled and pushed the card into the slot of her machine. “I really do hope you’ll come back and see us. And if it’s not too much trouble, would you mind leaving a review or two online?” She’d gotten used to asking this very important request.
“Would be happy to,” the man replied.
* * *
As Margot bidfarewell to her guests in the driveway, she looked at her house and saw Carly take a seat on the porch and fire up a cigarette. Her soon-to-be stepdaughter wore the same black hoodie she’d been wearing for days, and the hood was pulled over her head. Margot dreamed of making that hoodie disappear. Between the tattoos, the piercings, the chains, and the hoodie, Carly looked not only dark, but dangerous—almost criminal.
Still, Margot the perfect stepmom wouldn’t be deterred. As she walked that way, an idea came to her, and a wry smile lifted the corners of her lips. What she’d failed to do so far was to connect with Carly in any meaningful way. She’d tried several different avenues, but since Carly apparently didn’t have a care in the world for food or cooking, or even animals, Margot had come up dry.
But she’d learned this idea from her devious mother during her Virginia childhood, and it was bound to be a step in the right direction.
Margot walked over and put on her biggest smile of the day. “Good morning, honey.”
“Morning,” Carly said, her frown the yin to Margot’s yang.
Though Carly hadn’t decided to be nice to Margot, she wasn’t quite as mean as she’d been during their first talk near the farm sanctuary, almost as though being mean took too much effort.
“Think I could bum one of those?” Margot asked as casually as possible, like she was one of the cool kids at the party. She sat on the steps facing the inn and reached out her hand. Though she’d played her role well, she felt tremendously nervous.
Just as casually, Carly opened up the pack of Marlboro Reds. “Yeah, sure.”
Pulling one out, Margot set it between her lips as if she’d been smoking all her life—when, in fact, she hadn’t. She’d dabbled some in high school, but that was about it. No matter. She was an actor and could pull this off.No problemo.
Carly reached over with a lighter. Tapping into her inner Rita Hayworth, Margot leaned the cigarette into the flame. Whatever she did, she was not going to cough. She puffed lightly at first, testing the power, but the tip wouldn’t catch. She drew in harder, and as the smoke filled her lungs, the burn was too much. She burst into a coughing fit that forced her to fold over and grab her chest.
“Wow, those are strong.” Margot’s eyes dripped tears.
“I guess you don’t smoke,” Carly said, calling Margot’s bluff.
Margotactuallyheard, “You’re about as cool as a fanny pack.” She sat up, wiped her eyes, and cleared her throat. “How could you tell?”
Carly shook her head and turned away, obviously hiding something.
“Oh, wait,” Margot said. “What was that? A smile? I didn’t know you did smiles.”
“I don’t.” Carly kept looking the other way, taking another toke.
“I’ll smoke the whole pack if that’s what it takes to get you to smile.”
Carly blew out a cloud of smoke.
Margot said, “Fine, I’ll take down this whole thing. You’ll have to pry me off the ground.”
Having successfully returned her lips to a horizontal position, Carly finally turned to her. “It’s probably not the best habit to start later in life.”
“Later in life? For the record, I’m not even fifty yet. No, I’m not exactly a spring chicken, but I’ve got a few years left before I’m considered old.” Without thinking, Margot took a puff and broke into another bout of coughing.
As she folded over again, she could hear Carly laughing. Coming back up, Margot said, “I’ve been trying to crack you for a week and turns out all I need to do is burn my lungs.” She shook her head. “You’re too easy.”
Still laughing, Carly pulled her hood off her head.
