I tipped my head at him in acknowledgement.
But the rest of my brothers were suspiciously silent. And I couldn’t look at Indy; I didn’t want to see the disappointment in her eyes. Now she knew what a fuck-up I truly was.
“That took some guts, son.” Wendy’s partner Brian spoke up, patting me on the shoulder. “And I hope you know I’m here if you ever want to talk.”
“Thanks, Brian.”
After a few beats when no one else spoke up, the scraping of utensils filled the room as everyone resumed eating.
“Hey Austin!” Ryan hollered, breaking the sudden tension. “What’s your murder plan?”
“Dump the body in the ocean, why?” Austin answered matter-of-factly.
“Seriously?” His fiancé, Rachel, stared at him in amazement. “You’ve really thought about this?”
“You haven’t?” He stared back at her with the same expression. “You’ve never thought what you’d do to—” He cut himself off, but we all knew what he was thinking. Wyatt’s sperm donor.
“No!” Rachel shook her head. “Because I’m not insane.”
“Mine is a bag of lime and an abandoned mineshaft,” Ryan said as he cut into his chicken. “But that’s just how to get rid of the body. Gotta kill the guy first.”
“You don’t have to worry about the body if it looks accidental,” Nathan retorted.
“Or if you use a good poison,” Aunt Wendy tossed in.
I’d been about to take a bite of my chicken, and I froze with my fork suspended in midair. My eyes darted between my food and the totally placid expression on my aunt’s face.
All sound ceased. Everyone turned to give Aunt Wendy incredulous looks.
Well, most everyone. Ryan hooted. “Damn, that’s cold.”
“The best kind of revenge usually is.” Aunt Wendy lifted her wineglass.
Ryan toasted her from across the table with his beer.
After a beat, everyone else returned to their meal with huffs of laughter.
Meanwhile, I continued to stare at my food. I knew—I knew—she hadn’t done anything to my food, and yet I was the one person at the table she had every right to feel annoyed with, at the very least.
I was the family fuck-up, after all.
“What you really have to be concerned with is getting caught on camera,” Indy said softly, her gaze fixed on her plate. “They’re everywhere these days—doorbell cameras, security cameras, traffic cameras, cell phone cameras. Hard to dispose of a body if you’re literally on video carrying a suspiciously lumpy rug.”
“Facts.” Austin nodded in agreement and gave her an approving look.
Indy shrugged. “That’s why I’d go with Nathan and his accidental death. Just push them down the stairs or something.”
Nathan raised his glass to her. “After you check for cameras, of course.”
“Of course.” Indy lifted her glass in a toast to Nathan.
“I like her,” Austin announced to the table. “She doesn’t seem crazy like that last receptionist.”
“She just literally laid out her murder plan.” I gestured with my still full fork that I hadn’t been able to convince myself to eat just yet.
“And it’s a good one,” Austin retorted in a well duh tone.
“I like her too,” Nathan agreed. “Total little sister vibes.”
