Sweet Little Lies

I knew he was being funny and trying to get me to smile, but I couldn’t manage one.

“Come on. Marty is grilling steaks. I’m about to make some of my famous broccoli salad and Shay promised she would bring a peanut butter pie from Hannah’s Sweets down the street. We need help eating all that.”

This was Mack. I hadn’t been sure until he talked about his brother just now. How did anyone tell these two apart?

“I don’t have anything to bring. I can’t come empty-handed.”

He chuckled. “Yeah, you can. Shay is only picking up the pie because I said she needed to bring something since she eats here all the damn time. And I wanted some of that pie. Hannah’s is on her way home.”

I glanced back at the building and thought of going up to Stone’s empty apartment. Right now, he and Geraldine were all I had apart from Heidi. It wouldn’t hurt me to make new friends.

“Okay, thank you. That sounds nice.”

I had eaten with Geraldine, but here I was eating a second dinner. I was going to gain weight doing this. One thing was for sure though, I would not be drinking wine tonight.

I rolled my window back up and opened my car door. Mack stepped back to let me out, waiting for me. I picked up my purse and locked the car door. He walked beside me toward the front entrance.

“It’s quieter around here with Presley gone. Thanks for that,” he said breaking the silence.

“Yes, it is. But I didn’t really do anything. She decided to leave.” Why they were all so sure it was me that sent her running I didn’t understand.

“You’re living under his roof. That was all she needed to go insane. Well, she was already insane. You only pushed her over the cliff. Figuratively speaking. However, if you do push her off a real cliff give me a call. I’ll help you hide the body.”

I paused and stared up at him in horror.

He started laughing and patted me on the back. “Ease up there, beautiful. It was a joke.”

I relaxed and started walking again.

“How did you meet Stone? Rumor is you’re his friend, uh, what the guy’s name?”

“Jasper,” I said wishing he wasn’t asking me about this but he’d been so nice I couldn’t be rude.

“Yeah, Jasper. Met him once. He doesn’t come here much. Anyway, the chatter among the girls was you’re his ex. Seems unlikely though since those two are so tight. I can’t see why he’d be giving his buddy’s ex a place to live.”

He opened the door for me to enter and I went inside. I was regretting agreeing to dinner now. There was no way I could explain this and still be vague.

“If I’m being nosy, tell me to stop asking questions,” he said sounding as if he felt bad about asking.

“It’s not that . . . it’s just a very long and confusing story. One I don’t want to share. I’d rather forget.”

He gave me a nod of understanding. Then stepped in front of me to open the door to his apartment. I heard country music playing and the smell of bacon drifted to me as we walked inside.

“Brought company! You got on clothes?” Mack called out loudly.

The idea of Marty with no clothes on made me blush as I couldn’t help but imagine what that might look like.

Marty stepped out of an open doorway into the entry room. He was wearing a pair of jeans and a navy-blue T-shirt that said US Marines on it. A large spoon was in his hand and his face broke into a grin. “Beulah! Damn that’s a relief. Sometimes he shows up with women that annoy the hell out of me all night.”

“Whatever. You fucking loved Layla,” Mack said dropping the gym bag he’d been carrying on the floor beside the door.

Marty shrugged. “Yeah, well, it was easier to ignore the annoying shit when her profession was dancing on a pole.”

Mack chuckled and Marty winked at me like I was in on this joke. I didn’t have much to add to this conversation but I didn’t want to appear as if I were a prude either. I could be one of the guys. I went with the first thing that came to my mind.

“Our neighbor growing up was an adult dancer. She was a single mom putting herself through college. After she got her nursing degree, she stopped dancing. She also started eating a lot of bread. She was always bringing us a loaf.”

I was rambling about a lady I hadn’t thought of in a very long time. Her daughter Melanie was three years younger than me and ended up getting pregnant at fifteen and running away. I wondered what had happened to both of them.

“Got to love a stripper with a goal. Bet that bread packed some weight on her,” Mack said walking toward Marty and what I assumed was the kitchen.

It had. She’d gained about thirty pounds the first year she was a nurse. I didn’t mention that.

“Enough about the beauty of naked women dancing. Come try the bacon wrapped mushrooms I just took off the grill. They’re fucking delicious,” Marty said waving me toward him.

I followed them both into the kitchen and saw what could only be described as cooking destruction. There were open cabinets, spilled ingredients and even some splatters of what looked like sauce all over the place. I paused mid-step and looked around the room in horror. What in the world had happened?

Mack glanced back at me holding a toothpick stuck in a bacon wrapped mushroom. “Try it. He’s right. It’s fantastic.”

I continued to stare at the mess he’d made.

“Marty isn’t a clean cook. You’ll get used to it. He can’t seem to create anything without a disaster around him.”

I managed a nod like that made sense, but honestly, I had never seen such havoc created from simply cooking. “Is that . . . a slice of onion on the fridge door?” I asked still trying to take in the wrecked kitchen.

Marty glanced back and laughed. “Yeah. Guess it is. Not sure how I managed that.”

“He cooks and cleans this shit up. If I had to clean up, I’d eat out every night,” Mack said as he popped another mushroom into his mouth.

“A masterpiece can’t be produced in structure. Chaos. It takes Chaos,” Marty said.

Mack rolled his eyes and asked me, “You want a beer?”

“No, thank you,” I replied.

“She’s not a beer drinker. Look at her. She’s got the wine look. A rosé wine. Am I right?” Marty asked.

I enjoyed rosé or wine in general, but I wasn’t touching any wine. Not again. “Water would be good.”

Marty opened the fridge, took a bottle out and handed it to me. “Water it is. But those steaks would be good with a glass of red.”

The door slammed, and seconds later Shay came strolling in with three bakery boxes in her hands.

“Those don’t say Hannah’s on them,” Mack said sounding annoyed.

Shay sighed. “That’s because they aren’t from Hannah’s. The Elswoods had a dinner party last night and so much shit was left over. I have a variety of delicious sweets. You will eat them and be happy.”

“Dammit, Shay. I wanted that pie.”

“This was free. Suck it up, eat the expensive free sweets I brought and be happy. Some celebrity chef made this stuff.”

Mack stalked to the fridge and jerked it open, then took a beer out and opened it. “I don’t know why we put up with you. You can’t even bring me the damn pie I want.”

Shay sat the boxes down. “Because I’m lovable and you can’t live without my witty jokes.”