Part 31 (1/2)

The conversation went on for another hour, and every plausible explanation for where Maritza might be found led to a dead end.

”Jack? At daylight send a couple of our guys ash.o.r.e with pictures of Maritza to ask around if anyone saw a woman who looks like her getting off a boat between ten-thirty and midnight. Let's try to keep this quiet, okay?”

”Sure thing,” Jack said.

”This is a little bit unbelievable,” Buddy said. ”I mean, I keep asking myself if wrecking a cake and a catfight with an ex-wife is enough to make somebody commit suicide, and I just don't think it is.”

”Yeah, but we're men, and if we knocked over a cake we'd say we were sorry and that would be the end of it. I mean, ruining someone's wedding cake is pretty awful, but it's not the end of the world,” Sam said. ”Maybe she slipped?”

”That's not exactly what happened,” Olivia said. ”I was standing right there.”

”So,” Bob said, ”walk us through it.”

”Okay. So, Colette walked up to Maritza and Kitty and me and made the announcement that I was going to totally renovate an historic home in Charleston that she just bought.”

”I didn't even know she had one,” Bob said.

”That doesn't surprise me,” Sam said. ”Why would you know?”

”Yeah, you've got a few things going on in your life,” Buddy said.

”Anyway, I think that upset Maritza.”

”Why would that upset her?” Bob said. ”Why should she care?”

”To be honest?” Olivia said. ”Maritza is a very sensitive woman, and perhaps she thought I was betraying her in some way.”

”Why would she think that?” Bob said. ”You're the Vasile interior designer for all my wives! Always were and always will be. The bills all come to me anyway!”

”That may be true, but Colette was pretty aggressive. She tried to engage her in an argument by stating that she and Kitty were the only Mrs. Vasiles who mattered.”

”Aw, come on! That's some high school horses.h.i.+t,” Bob said. ”And Maritza got her feelings hurt?”

”It was very rude, Bob.” Olivia said. ”You have to give her that.”

”Okay, but she knows how Colette feels about her.” Bob said.

”Bob, just because she knows doesn't mean it's okay for Colette to tell her she was worthless and that you regretted the day you met her,” Olivia said. ”I mean, I'm sorry to say all this, but you want the truth, so here it is.”

”G.o.d, she's awful. Colette, I mean. How did her dress get torn?” Bob said.

”Colette stepped on the hem. I saw that much,” Nick said.

”She's a crazy b.i.t.c.h. She always was,” Bob said.

”No comment,” Sam said.

”Nothing from me either,” Buddy said.

Olivia added, ”And then you and Daniel stepped in and actually, Bob, it was you who lost your balance, throwing her off balance. You were able to recover, but Maritza was wearing very high heels, and then she got tangled up in her gown, so down she went.”

”That's not how I remember the moment, but you might be right,” Bob said.

”There have been more than a few studies done on the difference in how things are perceived and how they are remembered,” Nick said. ”If ten people had witnessed what happened between Maritza and Colette, you might get ten different responses.”

”I know that's true, Nick, but Colette really is the meanest woman I ever married. Everyone would agree to that,” Bob said with a straight face. ”Lucky I got out of that one.”

”Well, I don't want to bite the hand that feeds me,” Olivia said. ”And maybe you weren't aware of this either, but Maritza and I achieved a level of friends.h.i.+p that I never enjoyed with your other wives, which is why I think she was probably upset that Colette could be so rude to her and then I'd go to work for Colette.”

”Maybe, but that's so silly, Olivia,” Bob said. ”You shouldn't feel any guilt. You've got bills to pay like everyone else in the world.”

”True story,” Olivia said. ”I sure do.”

Bob gave Olivia a glance, reminding himself that she lost a chance to renovate and redesign a twenty-six-million-dollar house on Nantucket. How many jobs had she pa.s.sed on to make herself available for Bob? He would be extra generous with Colette, even though she was insufferably evil, and tell her to give Olivia a free hand to buy whatever she thought would dignify the house.

”So the question still remains, Where is Maritza?” Nick said. ”What happened and where did she go? And why? Maybe she just couldn't take it anymore.”

Bob dismissed that idea, looked at his watch, and said, ”Well, I don't know. But I do know we're not going to solve this tonight. We need some answers. Maybe someone saw her. Maybe she's just over on Ibiza in some hotel, cooling off. I certainly do not believe she attempted to commit suicide. I mean, I can understand why she might not want to deal with Colette anymore. She's so vile she even gives me the w.i.l.l.i.e.s. Anyway, my prediction is Maritza will turn up. Let's try to get some sleep. There's nothing more to be done for now.”

With that Bob got up and left the room.

When Olivia and Nick turned out the light in bed, Nick rolled over to Olivia and said, ”Well, I have a theory.”

”Let's hear.”

”Like you, I think Maritza has just plain had it with this entire cast of characters, including her obnoxious daughter,” Nick said.

”Well, you see that's the thing that's troubling me. Even though Gladdie is very overly indulged, Maritza really loves her. I don't see her abandoning her only child. Can you?”

”No, on second thought, I think you're definitely right about that.”

She rolled over toward Nick to see his face and he was already asleep, blowing little puffs of air through his lips.

How do men do that? she thought. They just lie down and go to sleep. Amazing.

They slept until eight o'clock and Olivia woke up, remembering what had happened the night before. She and Nick hurried to dress for breakfast and wanted nothing more than to go to the table to see that Maritza was there, safe and sound.

It was not to be.

Bob was there reading the news on his iPad. Ellen was seated to his right and Gladdie was in between them, eating pancakes with her fingers. Colette was on his left, smiling and pretending to be the hostess, chatting up Dorothy and Mich.e.l.le. Knowing that Colette was at the root of all the hullabaloo, which he deemed to be totally juvenile and unnecessary, Bob turned his chair away from her to better ignore her.

By the clench of Ellen's jaw, Olivia surmised that Ellen was not happy with Colette's presumption to the throne.

The bride and groom had already left for Saint-Tropez. Bob had been there to see them off, but he did not think it was a good idea to throw a shadow on their honeymoon with the story about Maritza. It wasn't necessary.

Everyone else was in various stages of arriving and leaving the breakfast table and perhaps they were somewhat subdued, but the mood was almost like it was business as usual.

”Good morning, Bob,” Olivia said. ”Any news?”

”Cappuccino?” a crew member asked her.