Return to Sullivans Island by Dorothea Benton Frank

but no vanilla. “How’s this?”
    “Works for me,” Cecily said. “Don’t you want to be out there with all of them? Hey, what’s wrong?”
    “Believe me. I’ll spend enough time with them.”
    By the time Sophie came back into the house they had plated dessert for everyone, Beth’s face was still grim, and Cecily was certain something had happened.
    “Want a hand with that?” Sophie said. “My sister is a nut job sometimes, but she means well.”
    “Whatever. It’s okay,” Beth said, thinking, No, she doesn’t mean well, she’s as mean as a snake. “Who’s Geoffrey?”
    “Allison’s boyfriend. Believe it or not, she has one.”
    Beth wanted to say, Yes, that was extremely unbelievable, but for the sake of the evening, she said nothing more. They carried out the pie and ice cream and when everyone was served, Sophie settled herself in a rocking chair next to Timmy, who flipped off the cap of his bottle of beer with his bare hands.
    That’s impressive, Beth thought, seeing there was no place for her to sit. And no one seemed to notice that she was just standing there. She went back to the kitchen, with the intention to help Cecily straighten up the kitchen. Before she got there Cecily stopped her in the hall.
    “Okay, I can feel you seething. You gonna tell me what happened or do I have to squeeze it out of you?”
    “Oh, shoot. It’s nothing. My Aunt Allison is only the most insensitive woman on the planet, that’s all.”
    “And why?”
    “She referred to my father, who just died a few years ago, as a filthy rotten son of a bitch.”
    “Oh no. Not nice.”
    “Not nice at all. In front of everyone. I mean, even if he was one, it’s not for her to say. And he wasn’t.”
    “Come on. There’s a story here, right? I’m like the Sphinx. You can tell me anything and it stays right here.”
    “Thanks, I’m okay,” she said, and then choked up. “Look, my father was everything to me…” And Beth’s tears began to flow.
    “Oh, honey, I’m so sorry,” Cecily said.
    “And no one understands.”
    “Well, I do. Come on now, let’s get you a tissue and we can talk about it.”
    “I don’t want to talk about it. They’ll know we talked and then it will be a big discussion and everyone will have something to say. I just…I just want to get through tonight. She’s gone. I’m okay.”
    “We can talk when they’re all gone.”
    “Thanks but I’m all right. Really.”
    They pushed open the swinging door to the kitchen and in front of them was the second shock of the evening. The kitchen was immaculate. Every hair on Beth’s body stood up and a chill ran through her from the top of her head down to her toes.
    “This is impossible,” Beth said. “Wait! You did this!”
    “Humph.” Cecily examined the sink. “Ain’t been done by my hand. No ma’am.” Her eyes were wide in honest astonishment.
    Beth opened the refrigerator and there were all the waiting leftovers wrapped neatly in waxed paper, something she hadn’t used in her entire life. For some reason, the room smelled like lemons.
    “Oh my God! What do you think about this?” Beth said. “Livvie? For real this time?”
    “For real. Guess she didn’t want to miss the party, ’eah? But looky here! We still have glasses and the dessert dishes to wash,” Cecily said in a shaking voice. She opened the garbage can, which was full. “She never did like to take out the trash.”
    “I’ll do it,” Beth said, and pulled the bag out after tying the top corners tightly together. “Holy crap.” She still had the shivers.
    “Holy crap is right. I’ll go get the rest of the dishes,” she said. “And see if anyone wants coffee.”
    “Okay,” she said.
    Brave as Beth considered herself to be, she was spooked and she wasn’t too sure she wanted to stay in the kitchen by herself for longer than two seconds. So she scooped up the heavy bag and raced down the back steps as quickly as she could to the larger garbage can,