14. Norah

From the back seat of Jessica's Audi, Norah reached between her sisters and grabbed the vanilla-scented cardboard air-freshener tab that hung from the rearview mirror.

"Hey!" Jessica cried.

"These are full of chemicals," Norah said, tossing it out the window of the moving car. "I read somewhere they can give you cancer."

Norah had read no such thing, but the smell of those things was like sandpaper against her brain, and she would never last the distance to Port Agatha with it in the car.

"I wouldn't need it if you didn't always insist on bringing your dogs in my car!" Jessica muttered. "Where am I dropping them anyway?"

Norah had been slightly duplicitous when she's loaded them into the car, telling Jessica she just needed to "drop them somewhere" and immediately changing the subject. She'd hoped Jessica would forget they were there, but they weren't being their best selves. Thong had already drooled all over the leather seats, and Couch had shed hair everywhere except for the blankets Norah had brought for him to sit on. Converse, who was resting his head on the center console, had been relatively quiet, but that was only because he'd discovered the bag of bougie dog treats in Jessica's bag and devoured the lot, meaning he would soon have terrible gas.

"Doggy day care?" Alicia suggested, when Norah didn't respond.

"As if," Norah said. "Those things cost an arm and a leg!"

"Jessica will pay," Alicia said, and Jessica nodded enthusiastically. Jessica loved paying for things. "It's only money," she'd say with a wistful, floating expression, as if she were a meditation teacher. "You can't take it with you when you die."

As for Norah, she was more than happy to take Jessica's money. In fact, lately, whenever Norah wanted new clothes, she simply emailed links to Jessica and a few days later the desired garments showed up in boxes on her doorstep. It was like Uber Clothes, except they didn't charge her card.

Alicia, however, refused to take Jessica's money. Recently, when Norah was giving her a hard time about it, Alicia told her it was because she was too proud.

"Proud of what?" Norah had cried. "Being poor?"

Sometimes Norah didn't understand her at all.

"Norah," Jessica said tightly. "Tell me where I'm taking these dogs, or I swear I'm leaving them on the side of the road."

"Jess," Alicia said in a conciliatory tone, "surely we can let them—"

"No. They can't come all the way to Port Agatha. Not in my new car."

"They're on blankets," Norah said. "And they've already drooled on the seats."

Jessica looked like her head might explode. Luckily her phone chose that moment to ring. "Fine!" she said. "But never again. I mean it, Norah."

Alicia gave her the thumbs-up, and Norah settled back into her seat happily, ready to enjoy the drive as they left the city behind.

"Jessica Lovat, Love Your Home," Jessica said.

"Hey, Jess, it's me." Norah recognized the voice that boomed over the speaker. It was Sonja, the manager of Jessica's business. "Sorry to bother you on a weekend."

Norah snorted. As if Jessica didn't work all day every day. As did Sonja, apparently, since it was Saturday morning. Trust Jessica to find such a high achieving employee.

"Hi, Son. What's up?"

"Just a quick one; I had a phone call from a client… Debbie Montgomery-Squires? You did her bathroom overhaul yesterday?"

Jessica's face darkened. "Is this about some missing pills? I reorganized her cabinets. Things were moved around."

Norah caught sight of Jessica's face in the rearview mirror. There was something off about her, Norah thought.

"I know," Sonja said, "I explained that. I just wanted to touch base because I'm a bit worried about her. She's the litigious type. The type to go to A Current Affair."

Jessica's jaw flickered. "I'm headed out of town, bit of a family emergency, but I'll give her a call now, okay? I'll offer her a free wardrobe cleanse?"

"Can I suggest consulting with legal first?" Sonja countered. "In case that could be seen as an admission of guilt?"

"Good idea," Jessica said. "Thank goodness for you." She ended the call. "Never work with rich people or animals," she told her sisters.

"That's a bit rude," Norah said, "to animals."

"What was that about?" Alicia asked.

Jessica shrugged. "Nothing I haven't dealt with before." Her cheeks were pink.

"Pills, eh?" Norah said. "I remember when people used to steal jewelry."

"I didn't steal anything!"

"I know, I know," Norah said. "I'm just saying, if you did want to steal, go for cash. The safes are always behind paintings in those big houses. At least, that's where they are in the movies."

Norah trailed off when her phone beeped. Looking at the screen, she saw it was Kevin.

Loved that photo

Norah rolled her eyes. Of course he loved it. Who wouldn't? Meanwhile, she had a list of odd jobs still to be done. He sent another message.

How bout another one?

The audacity, Norah thought. For a broken nose? He should count himself lucky he didn't end up with two broken legs.

"Who's texting you?" Jessica asked.

"The man I went on a date with yesterday."

"Ooh," Jessica said. "Must have gone well if he's texting?"

Alicia spun around. "Let's see a picture."

Norah pulled up his profile pic and handed Alicia her phone.

"Is this him?" She sounded appalled. "He looks like a chipmunk."

"A weasel," Norah corrected. "And that photo is flattering."

Alicia shuddered. "Gross."

"I didn't expect you to fancy him," Norah said defensively, taking her phone back, "what with being a lesbian and all."

"She's bisexual," Jessica corrected, perking up. Jessica loved talking about the fact that Alicia was bisexual. She found it exciting. Norah also found it exciting, truth be told. She'd looked forward to the arrival of a sister-in-law, perhaps one with a dog, but so far Alicia had been a very disappointing lesbian-or-bisexual. She'd never even had a girlfriend.

"She's a nonsexual," Norah said.

"For God's sake," Alicia muttered.

"You are," Norah said. "When was the last time you had sex?"

"Alicia has an avoidant attachment style," Jessica said. "She pushes people away before they get too close."

"Okay, Brené Brown," Alicia said. "We were talking about Norah's date."

"Classic avoidant," Jessica said, throwing a small smile over her shoulder.

"Are you sexting him?" Alicia said, looking over her shoulder.

"I had to," Norah explained. "I broke his nose, so I needed to do something to stop him from pressing charges."

The sharp intake of breath that followed made Norah wonder if Jessica was having a medical episode.

"Relax," Norah said. "I sent him a photo of my boobs. He'll never do anything now. My boobs are magnificent."

"That's true," Alicia said.

Jessica was still gulping air. "Norah, you cannot assault anyone else, do you understand? You could go to jail!"

Norah rolled her eyes.

"I'm serious." Jessica glanced at her in the mirror. "I'm worried about you. I think you should try meditation again. That class you took in Sandringham really helped for a while."

Norah had never taken that class in Sandringham. She'd told Jessica she had to stop her from talking about it—a tactic that backfired, as Jessica now referred to the class regularly, asking for meditation tips or suggesting they go back together. Frankly, Norah thought her sister needed the class more than she did. "Maybe."

"Good. Because the next person you assault might not be happy to drop the matter for a photo of your boobs."

Jessica grossly underestimated the power of her boobs, Norah thought. But she let it slide.

For a few seconds they sank into glorious silence. Then Jessica stiffened. She turned slightly toward Alicia, her nostril twitching. Alicia's movements mimicked Jessica's.

"What?" Norah asked, as they both began to gag, jabbing wildly at buttons, trying to open the windows. "What is it?"

And then the smell hit her.

Wow, Norah thought. Those bougie dog treats were potent.