Diary of a Mad Fat Girl (21 page)

“
Good for Reece and Rye,” I say and
Chloe gives me a funny look. “Later,” I whisper.

“
As you might guess, very few are
privy to this information and it won’t be made public until a
designated time and, of course, the legal issues already in play
will still have to be dealt with, but rest assured,” she smiles,
“things have been set right pertaining to the matter of Catherine
Hilliard.”

“
Just like you said,” I say and Lilly
nods in agreement.

“
Just like I said,” she smiles and
pours herself a drink.

News of the beat down spreads fast and
Mason, Ethan, and Logan Hatter arrive shortly after we get settled
into our comfy seats. They all make a fuss over Chloe to the point
she gets annoyed and politely asks them to stop treating her like a
burn victim. She tells us that Richard gave her a cocktail of pills
every night and she didn’t know what they were and didn’t care; she
just took them because they made her numb.

“
I picked this up before I left,” she
says and pulls a really expensive laptop out of her bag. “It’s
Richard’s.”

“
That will be most useful, I’m sure,”
Gloria Peacock says, “but let’s save that for later. The Sheriff
just arrived and you need to get that dealt with.”

The Sheriff comes and looks uncomfortable at
first, but when he sees the whole gang sitting around, he appears
to relax a little. Deputy Dax comes in behind him and doesn’t so
much as cast a glance at Lilly. The questioning goes quickly and is
mostly a formality. He gives Chloe a long hug and tells her that he
will take care of everything and she needn’t worry her pretty
little head about a thing. Upon his exit, Gloria Peacock turns to
Mason.

“
Sweetheart, how long will it take you
to draw up some divorce papers?”

“
Not long, but we need a
notary.”

“
Well,” she opens a drawer and pulls
out some kind of silver thing that looked like it might cut really
thin cookies, “I just happen to be one.”

“
Wow,” Mason says, “is there anything
you can’t do Mrs. Peacock?”

“
Cook corn bread,” she says. “I tried
for years and got so frustrated I swore I’d never do it again and
I’ve been hiring people to cook it for me ever since. So that’s one
thing. Now, how about those papers?”

“
I can do a standard no-fault in about
an hour, but I don’t think no-fault is the way to go.”

“
No, she really needs to nail him.”
She hands a list to Mason and he looks over it then gives it to
Chloe, who nods in approval and hands it back to him.

“
Get to work, sonny boy,” Gloria
Peacock tells Mason. “Now girls, I recommend that as soon as
Richard Stacks regains consciousness, we get those papers
signed.”

“
How would we do that?” Lilly
asks.

“
Easy,” Gloria Peacock says, smiling,
“just go in there and offer him a little motivation.”

“
I can do that,” Chloe says and Gloria
Peacock smiles.

“
Ethan, keep your ears open at the bar
tonight and let me know what the word around town is.”

“
Will do, Mrs. Peacock.”

“
Coach Hatter, could you do the same
at school tomorrow?”

“
Too easy, Mrs. Peacock.”

“
And you two wild women,” she says,
looking at Lilly and me. “No more stalking. Anything after today
can and will be an issue of the court.”

“
Yes ma’am,” I say and Lilly just nods
and looks at the floor like someone just slapped her hand for being
bad.

“
Why don’t the three of you just stay
here this afternoon?” Gloria Peacock asks and my eyes light up. “We
can relax in my private spa.” She looks at Chloe, then Lilly, then
me. “I think you girls could use a little rest and
relaxation.”

“
Sounds good to me,” I
chirp.

“
Speaking of court,” Mason says, “I
got a call from the school attorney and they have scheduled Lilly’s
court hearing for Monday,” he pauses, “and I asked about yours,
Ace, and she put me on hold, then came back and said that your
paperwork had disappeared and she’d have to call me
back.”

“
Well, I wonder why,” I say
sarcastically.

“
That’s not all,” he continues,
smiling. “No more than five minutes after I hung up, Catherine
Hilliard called me and requested a meeting with the two of you. She
said that all charges will be dropped against Lilly and you can
both have your jobs back if we could, and I quote, ‘find a way
handle all of this privately and quickly’.”

“
My ass,” I grunt “she’s just trying
to cover her own.”

“
I’ll tell you what she wants, she
wants to sweep the whole deal under the rug,” Chloe says, “just
like everyone does everything around here. Just make it go
away.”

“
Well, I’m not a fan of sweeping
wrongs under the rug,” Gloria Peacock says. “Never have been, never
will be.”

“
Me either,” I say. “Let’s make this
so public that Anderson Cooper shows up to cover it.”

“
I don’t know about all that,” Lilly
mumbles.

“
I don’t want a big scene,” Chloe
says, “but I know that’s what I’m in for after today.”

“
You do not worry,” Gloria Peacock
says, putting an arm around her shoulder, “we will take care of
you.” She looks at Lilly, “With Catherine’s forced resignation, the
school district does not have a legal leg to stand on and, even if
they did, they would not be interested in pursuing the dismissal of
a teacher who works as hard as you do, Lilly.”

“
Thank you, Mrs. Peacock,” Lilly says,
beaming.

“
And, Lilly, your Uncle Rye wishes to
speak with you and I would consider it a personal favor if you
would give him a call.”

“
Yes ma’am,” she said flatly and
starts staring at her feet again.

“
Alright, ladies,” Gloria Peacock
says, getting to her feet, “Let’s to the spa room.”

“
Let’s,” I say and I’m genuinely
excited.

We follow Gloria Peacock through the
majestic hallway, down a marble staircase, and into the most
luxurious locker room I’ve ever seen in my life.

“
There are some robes in there,” she
says, pointing, “and towels, swimsuits, sandals, lots of other
stuff. Please help yourself to whatever you need and I’ll meet you
all out by the hot tub in thirty minutes. It’s out that door and
around to the left.”

I grab a swimsuit that looks like it might
fit me, then head to the robe closet and grab a big fuzzy one. I
slide on a pair of fluffy slippers and prepare myself to be
pampered.

40

Lilly, Chloe, and I slip into the hot tub
and wait for Gloria Peacock to reappear. When she does, she is
wearing a blue one-piece swimsuit and her body looks like that of a
25-year-old yoga instructor. She tells us that two women have just
arrived to do pedicures, manicures, and facials and the masseuse
and his partner will be arriving shortly.

The servant lady appears and informs Mrs.
Peacock that the nail technicians are set up and she asks Chloe to
join her in the cushy white pedicure chairs about a hundred feet
from the hot tub.

“
Can you believe this place?” I ask
Lilly, once they’re out of ear shot.

“
No, I can’t” she says, laying her
head back. “Can you believe our luck that we are sitting
here?”

“
No, I can’t.”

“
So what about that Chloe?” she asks,
raising her head back up.

“
Man,” I say, shaking my head, “what a
day.”

“
What a day, indeed,” she says. “This
is just what I need right now.”

“
So, uh, what’s up with you and
Dax?”

She takes a deep breath and sighs heavily
before answering, “Old girlfriend just got a divorce and she’s been
staying with him for the past week.”

“
Aw, Lil, I’m sorry to hear that,” I
say, “at least he told you.”

“
He didn’t,” she says, leaning her
head back and closing her eyes. “She answered his phone when I
called last week and told me, in so many words, not to ever call
him again.”

“
Jeez, no wonder he wouldn’t even look
at you today. That’s got to be embarrassing,” I say. “How juvenile
can you get?”

“
Well, he’s only 23, Ace, so she’s
probably around the same age.” she gets a pained look on her face,
“or younger.”

“
That’s a pretty shitty deal, Lilly,”
I say. “I hate it didn’t work out.”

“
Doesn’t matter,” she says but I can
tell by the look on her face that it does.

I decide to stop asking questions and soak
in the peaceful calm of our surroundings and allow my poor jilted
friend to do the same.

After the single most relaxing afternoon of
my life, Lilly and I leave The Waverly Estate with specific
instructions from Gloria Peacock to lay low. Chloe graciously
accepts Gloria’s offer to be a guest of honor at The Waverly Estate
and the golf cart chauffer is loading her bags onto the six-seater
as we drive out the gate.

“
That sure was nice of Mrs. Peacock to
invite Chloe to stay,” Lilly says as we drive away.

“
No doubt,” I agree. “There is no
better place on Earth for her to be right now.”

“
Gloria Peacock certainly has taken a
keen interest in us,” Lilly says. “I wonder why, I mean, we could
be a bunch of idiots for all she knows and she has taken us in like
we’re her own.”

“
I’ve been wondering the same thing,”
I reply. “You know Mason’s grandmother is one her close personal
friends, so maybe that’s it.”

“
Maybe,” Lilly says, “but it still
seems kind of random, doesn’t it?”

“
It does,” I say, “maybe she’s just
lonely and bored.”

I drop her off at her pink doll house and
head home. When I get there, Mason McKenzie’s Escalade is sitting
in my driveway. I walk through the gate and find him asleep in one
of my loungers with Buster Loo tucked under his arm. I smile
despite myself and my heart starts to flip and flutter and I wish I
could make it stop, but I can’t. Buster Loo opens one eye, sees me,
and goes ape-shit crazy.

“
Hey,” Mason says, rubbing his
eyes.

“
Hey,” I say, smiling so hard my face
hurts.

“
Y’all have a good afternoon at The
Waverly Resort and Spa?”

“
Oh, absolutely,” I say, “massage,
manicure, pedicure, cucumber facial, the whole nine
yards.”

“
I’ll give you a facial,” he says with
a devilish grin and starts laughing.

“
You wish,” I say and open the door.
“You could’ve gone inside, you know.”

“
Well, I didn’t want to piss you off,
so I thought I’d hang around out here like a stranger.”

“
Or a stalker,” I offer.

“
Or that,” he says, getting up and I
see he has a boner the size of Nebraska. I can’t help myself. I
just stare.

“
Oops,” he says, grinning and
adjusting himself. “My bad.”

“
Why don’t you come on in the house?”
I say.

“
Are we gonna have sex?”

“
Let me think a minute,” I say. “Uh,
no.”

“
Good because I wasn’t going to come
in if you said yes.”

He wants to go to Ethan Allen’s but I tell
him that we were instructed to lay low and I don’t think showing my
face at the bar the same day Chloe Stacks nearly beat her husband
to death is a good way to do that. So we order Chinese take-out and
pick up some movies.

“
So you and Lilly really had it out
over the Panama City trip, huh?”

“
Yeah, I was pretty pissed,” I say,
“especially when I thought she was doing it to ol’ Drake
Driskall.”

“
Is that Dean Driskall’s kid?” he
asks.

“
Yep,” I reply. “Heck of a football
player.”

“
Just like his daddy and his
granddaddy,” Mason says. “Football runs deep in that family. Has he
signed anywhere yet?”

“
He’s going to the University of
Alabama,” I say. “It’s a tragedy.”

“
Oh God,” Mason wails. “You’re kidding
me, right?”

“
Wish I was.”

“
So, would you have sex with
him?”

“
What kind of question is that? Hell
no! I’m not into pedophilia.”

“
No, I mean if you were in high
school, would you?”

“
I’d be on his ass like white on
rice,” I say in an overly serious tone.

“
Damn girl,” Mason says and looks at
me in a way that makes my blood run hot.

After dinner, Mason goes into the living
room and sprawls out on the sofa.

“
What do you want to watch first?” he
calls.

“
I don’t care,” I say, “whatever you
want.”

“
Come in here and sit down and tell
me,” he whines.

On the table, his phone starts buzzing.

“
Hand that to me, would
you?”

“
Sure,” I say and tell myself not to
look at the caller ID. But I just can’t help myself, I look at the
caller ID.