BooksBarbecue
Back The House Party
Chapters (57)
  1. Cover
  2. Dedication
  3. April 2008
  4. 1
  5. 2
  6. 3
  7. 4
  8. 5
  9. 6
  10. 7
  11. 8
  12. 9
  13. 10
  14. 11
  15. 12
  16. 13
  17. 14
  18. 15
  19. 16
  20. 17
  21. 18
  22. 19
  23. 20
  24. 21
  25. 22
  26. 23
  27. 24
  28. 25
  29. 26
  30. 27
  31. 28
  32. 29
  33. 30
  34. 31
  35. 32
  36. 33
  37. 34
  38. 35
  39. 36
  40. 37
  41. 38
  42. 39
  43. 40
  44. 41
  45. 42
  46. 43
  47. 44
  48. 45
  49. 46
  50. 47
  51. 48
  52. 49
  53. 50
  54. Author’s Note
  55. Acknowledgments
  56. About the Author
  57. About the Publisher

“Oh!” The contractor. “John. I’m sorry. I thought it was Ted.” She definitely didn’t want her contractor ravishing her, although it sometimes felt like she spent more time talking to John than to her husband.

“Look, Maja, has anyone called you or Ted? About the house?”

“Um, no, I don’t think so. What’s up?”

“There’s a problem. There’s been some damage.”

Up until this moment, Maja had only been half listening to John. But now he had her full attention.

“Damage? But I thought we were almost finished. There shouldn’t have been anything that major to do. There wasn’t a flood, was there?” The house, situated on the river, was in a hundred-year flood plain. But everyone had assured them that there hadn’t been a flood that high recently, and that the insurance would cover it if there were. “It didn’t even rain this weekend, did it?”

“No, not a flood. At least . . . Look, Maja, I hate to be the person to tell you this, but it looks like some people—probably local kids—got into the house and threw a party.”

“A party? That’s . . . wow. How did they get in? Can we hire a cleaning crew?” She’d handled the aftermath of some pretty rowdy parties at the gallery, but usually an industrial cleaning crew could deal with any red wine stains or cigarette burns. The thought of people doing that to her house—her dream house—was hard to imagine. But at least it wasn’t a flood. They’d clean it up and move on.

“I’m afraid it’s a bit more involved than that,” John said. “The police weren’t too keen on me poking around this morning, but from what I saw there was damage to the walls and the floors, maybe from overflowed plumbing. Major glass elements were broken. We lost most of the fixtures. You’re going to have to come down.”

What John was saying made no sense to her. “The police? I’m sorry—it was a party?”

“Look,” John said. “I gave the police your number, so I’m sure they’re going to call. They can probably give you more details. For the moment, I’m going to call my guys off for a few days, until you decide what you want to do.”

“What I want to do?” Maja repeated, unable to process what she was hearing. “Okay, thanks John. I-I’ll call you back.” She hung up, stunned.

For months she’d been monitoring herself for any signs that might indicate early morning sickness. And now, ironically, she finally felt the bile rising in her throat. A wave of nausea caused cold sweat to break out all over her body, then sent her hurtling down the hall to the toilet.

5