And yet she wouldn’t trade her life for any of what they had.
Bolstered by the champagne, she regaled them with stories about growing up in this town, and they laughed and egged her on. Should she feel guilty about enjoying herself? She’d get back to her normal routine once she returned home. Would tend to Katie and Raisin. She thought herself a good mother and wife. Ray paid her so little attention that she now reveled in her minor celebrity at this function. She realized that she had so much to offer the world, and possibly someone could love and appreciate her for her real self. All these women looked gorgeous. Maybe they looked at her the same way.
Gina Case stole her away from the crowd and pulled her aside. Isla had styled her hair just a few days ago, and Gina looked lovelier than ever, dressed in a strapless white summer dress. Her long blond hair framed her chiseled cheeks perfectly, accentuating her sea-green eyes.
“Having fun, Isla?”
“More than I care to admit.”
“How’s your daughter doing?” Gina was the first person at the party to ask about Katie, and it momentarily stunned Isla.
“Better. Thank you for asking.”
“Assuming the body found today is not Willow Briggs, I’d say your daughter has some remembering to do.”
“She’s trying. The doctors said it’s caused by her concussion.”
Gina shifted her stance. “I’ve been watching you, Isla. It’s a bit embarrassing, to tell you the truth.”
“Excuse me?”
“You’re like a novelty to these women. A monkey dancing for spare change. Can’t you see that they’re using you?”
“I appreciate your business, Gina, but I think you’re out of line.”
“Please, Isla. I really like and respect you. I grew up in a scrappy town like this in West Virginia and know what it’s like to struggle. That’s why I left.”
Isla sipped her champagne for lack of anything else to do.
“Better take it easy on the bubbly, girl. If you have to take a cab home, it might be tough in the morning explaining to security that you left your rusty minivan in the parking lot. Besides, they might tow it away before it even comes to that.”
Why was this woman being so mean to her?
Gina went on. “Yeah, I know what you’re thinking. That I’m full of it.”
“You said it, not me.”
“This is all such bullshit, and you know it. Kids are missing—dying, in fact—and schools in this town are going to hell, and here we are drinking champagne and having a grand old time because we want to hold on to our wealth.”
“Your wealth, not mine. I don’t have much wealth to speak of.”
“We all have wealth, Isla, and not all of it is about money.”
Isla looked for an escape route, someone to pull her away from this awkward conversation.
“That’s all I’m saying. You should be standing up for your community,” Gina added.
“I have a business to run, Gina. A family to support. I came to this fund-raiser because Samantha invited me. So if you don’t mind, I don’t need to stand here and listen to you lecture me about what I’m supposed to do.”
“We should be paying more, that’s all I’m saying. My husband makes good money, and we can afford to pay this tax, especially when we spend all that money to send our kids to Chance Academy. We’re privileged.”
“Then why are you here?”
Gina looked embarrassed. “My husband begged me to come to this event with him. Because we’re both members of the club. But we’re both going to vote for someone who supports the tax.”
“Good for you, then. I’m so glad you can afford it and not have to worry about your family’s finances.”
“I’m sorry, Isla. I didn’t mean to offend you.”
“No, I appreciate your brutal honesty. You’ve made yourself perfectly clear.”
“Please don’t say anything to Samantha about our conversation.”
“I would never betray your confidence.”
Thank you.” Gina paused for a few seconds. “You do know that she allows Julian to get away with murder, right?”
“Come again?”
Gina looked to her left and then right. “I have to be very discreet while I’m here.”
“You think Julian murdered those kids?”
“It was a figure of speech.”
Isla couldn’t tell whether she was being sarcastic or not.
“Julian is a spoiled brat who gets whatever he wants. I saw him kissing Willow one afternoon, when we were having dinner over at the McCallisters’.”
“Every male in town under the age of eighteen would love to kiss Willow Briggs. Maybe even those over that age, too.”