“I’ll keep that in mind. If I ever want to look like a food again, I’ll repeat all eight of our processing steps on my hair.” Grace slipped a brown derby on her head.
“I like that one,” said Claire. “The straw hat is my second favorite.”
“Reserve your judgment—I’ve got eight more,” said Grace as she dug through the packages. She spoke quietly to Olivia. “By the way, I’m hoping you haven’t said anything to Brad about Leanne.”
“Not yet, but I’m going to tell him if you don’t.”
“Tell who what?” said Hannah.
“Nothing,” said Grace.
“No fair keeping secrets,” said Claire, sitting up to ignore the incessant voice pleading for positional compliance in soothing tones.
“I’ll tell you,” said Olivia.
“Olivia, you took the Vow of Secrecy.”
“But that was before the Right of Coercion allowed me to invoke the Right of Protection.”
“Oooo, we’ve got a new law,” said Claire. “I love it. What is it?”
Grace folded her arms. “I’m invoking Presidential Power.”
“Aw fudge!” said Hannah.
Olivia groaned. “If you invoke that too often, you’re going to have a coup on your hands.”
“I haven’t used it since I made you girls zip your lips about Spencer’s lack of kissing experience. All I’m asking is for you to wait until after Sunday night dinner. I’m hoping to get a chance to talk to Brad in person. Then you can tell them.”
“Fine,” said Olivia, while her sisters moaned their protests. “But I thought you were bringing your new boyfriend to dinner.”
“You have a new boyfriend?” asked Claire. “You’ve already dropped Horatio?”
“Horatio was too pushy,” said Grace. “And I’m not bringing anyone to dinner. I had promised to bring Horatio so Emily could meet him. But since we’ve already broken up, I decided not to bring anyone.”
When Grace gave a meaningful look to Olivia, she smiled her approval. “Finally, you’re making good decisions again. Why don’t you call Emily right now, and tell her about the breakup?”
“Good idea,” said Grace. She burrowed through her purse in search of her cell phone. “Where’s my cell? I can’t find it anywhere. Did I drop it when I came in?” She and her sisters searched the floor and all the shopping bags to no avail.
Grace sat on the couch with her face buried in her hands. “I can’t believe I lost it. I must have left it on the subway.”
“Isn’t that the second one you’ve lost this year?” asked Hannah.
“No, the other one was in December.” Grace jutted out her chin.
“It was New Year’s Eve, and I think you technically lost it after midnight,” said Olivia. “So Hannah’s correct.”
“Do you want to borrow my phone to call Emily?” asked Claire.
“It’s not really that important,” said Grace. “I’ll just explain it when I see her tomorrow.” She gathered up all of her hats and trudged up the stairs.
Olivia called after her. “Hang in there, Grace. I’ll see Josh tonight at the hospital, and I’ll make sure Brad is coming to dinner tomorrow night. I know you two can work things out if you just sit down and talk.”
Grace didn’t respond, but her heart pounded at the prospect.
*****
Brad tried Grace’s number for the fifth time, and for the fifth time it rang for a while before going to voicemail. He wasn’t about to leave her a voicemail—he needed to speak directly to her. They needed to talk. For the fifth time, he sent a text message asking her to call him. Maybe she was tied up or maybe she’d forgotten her cell phone at home. She was always losing it or forgetting it. But he began to worry. Maybe she was afraid to call him because he’d been angry when they’d last talked. This time he texted, “No matter how late it is when you get this message, please call me. I want to talk to you. I need to apologize.”