Beautiful Day(92)

“Not to my knowledge.”

“Did you see any of the staff up here?” She really felt like Nancy Drew now, but it didn’t bring the high she had been hoping for. She did not want to go downstairs to Roger and tell him that he had to start questioning the people slaving over this wedding reception because a diamond wedding band had gone missing. And yet a diamond wedding band had gone missing, it was worth a lot of money, five figures for sure, and they needed to find it. The only people who had been on the second floor were the family and members of the wedding party.

Family. And members of the wedding party.

Margot sat on Beanie’s unmade bed. Kevin’s bed, naturally, had been made with military precision.

Margot thought, Finn? Because she was angry and hurting?

She thought, Autumn? Because she needed the cash?

She thought, Pauline? Pauline had taken the Notebook and not returned it.

Margot tried to imagine herself approaching any one of those people about the missing ring. She could never do it. And to be honest, none of those answers felt right. Margot closed her eyes. Abigail Pease was waiting.

Family. Members of the wedding party.

And then she knew.

She hopped off the bed. “I’ll be right back,” she said.

In her room, she rummaged through Ellie’s suitcase—nothing. She looked in the dresser drawers and the single drawer of the nightstand—nothing. She hunted in the tight, dark corners of the closet—nothing. Then she marched downstairs. Abigail Pease was perched on the arm of the sofa with her camera in her lap. She perked up when she saw Margot. “You ready?” she said, checking her watch as if to remind Margot, as if Margot didn’t already know, that they were working with a tight schedule here.

“In one minute!” Margot sang out with false cheer.

Ellie and the boys had changed into their wedding clothes and had been placed outside on a blanket with a deck of cards, a tray of poker chips, and a bucket of spare change. Margot half expected the boys to be flinging poker chips at one another like tiddlywinks, but as she approached, she could see all five boys studying their cards.

Drum Jr. was dealing. He said, “Brian, are you gonna see him for a quarter or fold?”

Her son’s knowledge of the game was frightening. Both he and Carson had spent way too many hours watching the World Series of Poker on ESPN. Oh, the guilt.

Ellie didn’t have any cards. She was sitting on the edge of the blanket, stacking dimes in one pile, nickels in another.

“Eleanor?” Margot said. “Would you come here, please?”

Ellie looked up. Did she seem guilty? She appeared wary, but that wasn’t quite the same thing. “I’m not getting dirty,” she said.

This was true, Margot thought. The dress was still pristinely white. Until ten minutes ago, Margot’s biggest concern was that Ellie would trash the dress before photographs and the walk down the aisle. All the Carmichael women were trashing their dresses this weekend.

Margot smiled tightly. “Can you come here, please, sweetie?”

Reluctantly, Ellie stood up and shuffled over to her mother.

“What?” she said.

Margot said, “I’m looking for Auntie Jenna’s wedding band. It’s silver and has diamonds. Do you know where it is?”

Ellie stared at the ground and shook her head.

Margot took a second to congratulate herself on her perfect instincts. “Honey, we need that ring or Auntie Jenna can’t get married.”

Ellie locked her hands in front of her. She shook her head so hard that her whole body trembled, like she was having a seizure.

“Ellie, where is it?”

Ellie raised her head. Her eyes were pure blazing defiance. “I don’t know,” she said.

Margot was left temporarily breathless. If her daughter could stare her right in the face and lie to her at age six, what would happen when she was sixteen?

“Eleanor,” Margot said. “I need you to tell me where you put that ring right now.”

“No,” Ellie said.

No: It was progress. She wasn’t denying knowing where the ring was; she was just refusing to tell.

Margot said, “Honey, we need it. Auntie Jenna needs it to get married. You must help me find the ring.”

“No,” Ellie said.

Margot grabbed Ellie’s arm and squeezed. She didn’t have time for this! She leaned over and treated Ellie to her scary Mom whisper. “Tell me where the ring is right this instant.”

“No,” Ellie said.

Margot straightened. She stared up past the top of the wedding tent into Alfie’s upper branches and willed herself not to cry and not to curse out her child.

Roger stuck his head out the back screen door. “Margot?” he said. “Phone for you.”