What I meant to say is, why didn’t Aiden send you?”
“Aiden has his hands full—”
“Aiden always has his hands full,” Harriet yelled. “He can’t ever seem to pick up the phone and tell me himself that he won’t be coming. He could even text me. Or he could have called James.”
Carla stared blankly at her.
“James owns this place. The point is, I’m important enough for Aiden to send a limo to bring me here, just not quite important enough for him to call when he decides to call it all off. Or maybe it was the plan all along. If he wanted to make it clear we’re not going to make it as a couple, this did it.”
“It’s not like that,” Carla said, her face turning red. “He wanted to be here.”
“Now you’re going to defend him?”
“No, I’m not defending him, but you don’t understand.” Carla hit the button on her key fob, and the doors to her car unlocked. Harriet went around to the passenger side and got in. Carla joined her and started the car.
“He couldn’t come,” she said. She left the car in park. “He was getting ready for your dinner. He’d laid a tuxedo out on his bed and was polishing his shoes when Michelle called—”
“Of course it would be Michelle. She’s been the problem all along.”
“She’s in the hospital.”
“What?” Harriet sank back into her seat, her fury deflated. “What happened?”
“I’m not sure anyone knows for sure, but Aiden was getting ready and his cell phone rang and Michelle said she was at the end of his driveway and she said goodbye and he ran out and went to her car and she was unconscious. He called nine-one-one and they came and got her. He said there was an empty prescription bottle on the floor of the car. He’s at the hospital.”
“That’s all?” Harriet asked. “No explanation as to why she did this?”
“Wendy and I went out to wait with him for the ambulance, and she was moaning and talking, but she didn’t make any sense. When they were gone, I went back in the house and gave Wendy her dinner, and when I took her upstairs to get her pajamas, I saw his tuxedo and realized you were waiting for him. I called your house, and when you didn’t answer, I was going to call your aunt, but I didn’t think you’d want me to.”
“Thank you for that,” Harriet told her.
Carla turned her face away and continued.
“I went into his office and looked at his scratch paper. He has this big tablet on his desk, and he writes notes about everything he does. There were three different restaurants listed; I got lucky on the second call.”
“Exactly what did you say to the restaurant?”
“I told them the truth,” she said. “I said I was trying to find my friend, who was waiting for her date, and that he had been called away on a family emergency.”
“I’m sorry. I don’t mean to take this out on you. I really do appreciate you coming and getting me. And I’m sorry Michelle is in the hospital. I don’t like the woman, but she’s obviously disturbed if she staged a suicide attempt in her brother’s driveway.”
“She really did take the pills,” Carla protested.
“I know. I’m sure she did. It’s just that she did it in such a way there was no chance she wouldn’t be found before it was too late. She made sure Aiden was home and nearby before she took the pills, didn’t she?”
“I guess so,” Carla said. “That’s really sick, isn’t it.”
“Indeed, it is,” Harriet agreed.
Carla drove her home in silence.
“You want to come in for a cup of tea?” she asked when Carla had parked.
Carla hesitated and then agreed.
“I guess Connie won’t mind a few more minutes.”
“I’m sure whatever time you arrive, you’re going to have to pry Wendy out of Rod and Connie’s clutches.”
“I’ll start the water,” Carla said and headed for the kitchen.
“I’ll get the cups and tea,” Harriet said and followed her.
Chapter 6
Harriet sighed for the third time, and Carla looked at her through the curtain of dark bangs that skimmed her eyebrows. Neither woman wanted to reopen the wound that if not yet healing was at least not bleeding as profusely, so they sat in Harriet’s yellow kitchen, hands wrapped around mugs of tea, steeling themselves for what was to come; whatever that turned out to be.
A soft knock sounded on the quilt studio’s exterior door, followed by the noise of the