take you down to the infirmary?" I asked in concern. "I bet the doctor could prescribe a low-dose tranquilizer that might calm you down."
"A pill?" She scrunched her face up like an apple doll. "I don't want no pill. I was thinkin' more like a good stiff Shirley Temple. With extra cherries."
I rolled my eyes.
"Them extra cherries give it a real kick."
"AAAGHHCKK! AAAAAAAGHHCKK!"
I winced at the bathroom wall. "Poor Tilly. Is there anything I can do?"
"Well, if you want me to check out that fella's name on the internet, you could stay here until I get back. I don't wanna go off and leave Til by herself."
"Deal." I gave her a high five. "Basil Broomhead. See what you can dig up."
She bustled around the cabin, changing into her sneakers and grabbing hold of her pocketbook. "What have I forgotten?" she asked rhetorically as she stood in the middle of the room.
I reached into my shoulder bag, pulled out my wallet, and handed Nana a twenty-dollar bill. "Buy yourself a couple of Shirley Temples while you're at it."
"You don't need to do that, dear. I'm filthy rich."
I smiled affectionately. "Don't stunt my generosity. Drinks on me. Okay?"
She flashed me a smile as she removed the bill from my hand. "I don't know if the bars handle cash, but I'll try. You're a good girl, Emily. I'm glad your nice young police inspector has woke up enough to realize that. And to do somethin' about it."
"But he hasn't done anything about it!" I tossed my head back and dug my fingers into my scalp. "He...he's left me in limbo!" Which was not a preferred destination for any Catholic these days, since its existence had been struck from the books.
Nana speared me with a quizzical look. "Wasn't it him what got you upgraded to that nice Royal Family Suite with balcony?"
"I'm not sure now! It could be him. It could be Duncan. And no one has said anything about the roses."
"What roses?"
"Don't ask. It's too frustrating to even talk about. Etienne hasn't returned my phone call. Duncan's seasick. I don't know what to do! How can I choose between them? I'm so confused."
"Maraschino cherries," Nana said with quiet authority.
"Excuse me?"
With a little spring in her step, she came to sit beside me. "Back when I was a girl, my pa hired a couple a young men to help out on the farm during the summer. Real nice fellas. Good-lookin'. Hardworkin'. Polite. And not to toot my own horn or nothin', but they was both a little sweet on me."
I inhaled a patient breath. "Is this a parable?"
She fluttered her hand to quiet me. "Anyway, my ma used to make the best homemade ice cream, so for dessert at our noon meal, she'd serve us all ice-cream sundaes with nuts, chocolate sauce, and one maraschino cherry to top it off. Them cherries was a real delicacy back in them days. And we all liked 'em so much, we'd save 'em to eat last. Yup, them cherries made it reeeeal easy to know which one a them fellas deserved a second look."
I bowed my head with trepidation. "Please don't tell me that one of them choked on a pit and died...which narrowed the field to one."
"Maraschino cherries don't got pits."
Right. I knew that. "Okay, so how did you know which guy deserved the second look?"
"It was real simple, dear. The one what sat to my right used to steal the cherry from my bowl and pop it in his mouth before I could get to it. The one what sat to my left used to make up for it by givin' me his."
Aw, that was so sweet. "So what happened to the guy who sat on your left?"
"I married 'im."
The floor dipped beneath us, causing my stomach to float up to my throat. "Whoaaa. That was a good one."
"AAAGHHCKK!" echoed from the bathroom.
Nana patted my knee. "I'm outta here. I got work to do." She gave the room a final once-over. "I keep thinkin' I'm forgettin' somethin'."
"Come back if you figure out what." I walked her to the door, my mind still focused on a detail of her story that still bothered me. "Nana, if the guy on your right used to steal the cherry from the bottom of your ice-cream dish every day, how come you didn't just eat the cherry first?"
She stared at me oddly, her eyes glazing over. "You're right, dear. Hunh. I never thought a that."
I returned to the interior of