“God, being here brings back memories,” said Nick as he, Caroline, and Meg ate at one of the round tables. Nick stirred his drink with the pitchfork swizzle stick. “Belinda is famous for giving theme parties.”
Caroline held out the red silk scarf each female guest had been given upon arrival and admired it. Even if it hadn’t had the designer’s initials featured in the flame pattern, she would have been able to tell it was expensive just by the feel of it. She draped the scarf over her shoulders.
“Tell us about the last party of Belinda’s you went to,” she said to Nick, changing the subject.
“She was in Treasure Trove that summer, playing a woman who won the lottery, so Belinda had organized a treasure hunt. All the guests were given maps and flashlights and sent out to find the treasure.”
“What was the treasure, Dad?” asked Meg.
“A little chest filled with lottery tickets. But it was a lot of fun following that map. Your mother was so gung ho about it, Meg. You should have seen her scurrying through the woods, trying to be the one to finish first. She was in such a rush she didn’t pay enough attention to the spots that were marked on the map to show where there were holes in the ground. She tripped over one and sprained her ankle. A group of us had to carry her out of the woods.”
“They printed that treasure map in the Vanity Fair article I read,” said Caroline as a waiter wearing horns and a devil’s tail took her plate away.
“There are lots of holes out there,” Nick said. “And apparently some of them lead to underground caves. But Maggie claimed the one that snagged her wasn’t even on the map.”