It felt very important to Elise that Fern meet Cynthia’s father tonight, at the party. It would be a seamless, informal way to move this whole process forward. Whatever Fern was waiting for, whatever change of heart had created the dramatic shift in strategy and timeline, Elise was hitting the reset button.
The problem was that she couldn’t find Fern anywhere. She walked inside, checked the crowd lingering around the buffet table, and then back to the sandy stretch near the bar. It was hard to maneuver the stroller in the crowded spaces.
Lidia Barros peeked under the hood. “What a face on that child,” Lidia said. “Like an angel. And all that dark hair. Jaci was the same way.”
“I should just park her upstairs for a while to sleep but I won’t hear her if she wakes up,” Elise said.
“I’ll help you keep an eye on her,” Lidia said.
Elise was distracted by the abrupt cessation of the jazz music that had played throughout the evening. She turned to the sound of loud clanging. “Oh, what is my crazy sister-in-law up to now?” Lidia muttered.
Bianca Barros stood on the picnic table, a dark vision in a black waistcoat dress, a top hat, and her face painted with a black, red, and white sugar skull. She was more Day of the Dead than Mardi Gras, but that probably surprised no one. She banged a metal utensil against a glass.
“Attention, everyone—I’d like to make a toast,” she said. “This is my fortieth Carnival, and some of you have been here since that first auspicious celebration, a Day in Rio. There have been many inspiring themes over the years. I think a lot of us remember Broadway Musicals, Heroes and Villains—”
“Peace, Love, and Go-Go Boots!” someone shouted.
Bianca nodded. “But I think this year tops them all—Mardi Gras by the Sea. Mardi Gras, as I learned in researching costumes, is also known as Shrove Tuesday, and shrove means ‘confess.’ Confess! What a fitting notion for the end of the summer—especially this summer.”
Was Elise imagining things or was Bianca directing her kohl-rimmed, spooky-eyed gaze straight at her?
“In the spirit of unmasking, I’d like to invite confessions right here, right now, tonight. Any volunteers?” The crowd broke into a murmur. A few people clapped. Encouraged, Bianca walked to the edge of the picnic table. She pointed her finger, and now Elise knew she was not imagining it. Bianca was pointing at her.
“Elise Douglas, why don’t you come up here and tell us where your mystery baby came from. Please—share the news! You’re so open with your house; surely you can be open with the truth about the new addition to our community.”
This could not be happening. Elise’s first impulse was to run, to get the hell out of there. But she was boxed in by the crowd that had moved together more densely to hear Bianca’s toast. There was no way she could flee with the stroller. She looked around for Fern, panic rising in her chest.
Amelia made her way to the table, looked up at Bianca, and shouted, “That’s enough!”
“I’m just asking a simple question,” Bianca said from her elevated perch. “Who’s the mother?”
Elise knew Amelia would put a stop to this if she could. But at her advanced age, she couldn’t climb up on the table. Someone needed to drag Bianca down from there.
“This is outrageous.” Lidia Barros appeared beside Elise and put her arm around her. “I’m so sorry.”
Elise couldn’t speak. Where was Fern? She craned her neck and saw Jaci breaking through the crowd, heading for the table. Fern was just a few feet behind her, but she turned and moved toward Elise. “See—Jaci is going to put a stop to this,” Lidia said, then she cupped her hands around her mouth and yelled, “Get her down from there, Jaci!”
Jaci climbed up on the table, almost tripping over her costume. Marco and Manny were not far behind, and they each took one of Bianca’s arms to usher her off the table.
“This can’t be happening,” Elise said to Fern.
“I need to talk to you,” Fern said. “Let’s go inside.”
Bianca had been removed but Jaci remained on the tabletop. The music resumed, but she yelled for Amelia to turn it off. She removed her wig and her mask and tossed them aside while every guest stood still and hushed, aware that the show was not yet over.
“My aunt Bianca is right,” Jaci said. “It is time to confess, and since everyone is here, I can do this once instead of a dozen times over. You can hear it from me: I’m the mother of the baby.”
Lidia let out a shriek. Fern reached for Elise.
Elise felt the earth disappear from under her.