‘So, how will you pay for this gap year?’ Fergus boomed. ‘Are you planning on working?’
The twins looked at Mimi, and Mimi looked at him, brows raised in question.
‘I’m just wondering,’ he soldiered on, ‘now that things have changed?—’
Aunt Clem gave him a kick under the table.
‘Ow! God, blimey, woman!’ He scowled at her. ‘Well, what’s wrong with that? I’m not wrong, am I?’
Mimi blinked at him. ‘What do you mean?’
‘Fergus, now isnotthe time,’ hissed Jeannie.
Mimi turned to Jeannie slowly. ‘What is he talking about?’
Jeannie darted a withering look towards Fergus, her lips curling in disdain.
‘I said, not now,’ she ground out. ‘Can we all just get through one dinner with a modicum of decency?’
The wind howled against the windows, rattling them in their panes. The dunes of snow undulated against the house, barely lit by the outdoor lights against the darkness of the winter’s night.
‘I’ve been telling you and George for years.’ Toots’s creaking voice joined in with battering of the wind. ‘If you will raise dependants, this is what you get.’ Her saucer eyes fixed on Jeannie at the far end of the table.
The tension in the room was unbearable. Mimi’s eyes darted between Jeannie and Fergus, her confusion slowly morphing into anger.
‘What are you all talking about? Just spit it out, will you?’ she demanded, her voice rising. ‘What’s changed?’
Jeannie shot Fergus another scathing look before turning to Mimi with a forced smile. ‘Nothing’s changed, dear. Fergus has had too much to drink, as usual. Let’s just enjoy our meal.’
But Mimi wasn’t having it. She slammed her fork down, causing everyone to jump. ‘No. I want to know what’s going on.’
The twins exchanged worried glances, boredom now replaced with genuine concern.
Miles cleared his throat. ‘Perhaps we should discuss this later, when everyone’s had a chance to?—’
Toots pointed her knife straight at Jeannie. ‘Don’t blame me when it all comes crashing upon your head,’ she warned.
Callum mumbled something underneath his breath, the first thing either of my children had uttered all evening.
‘What was that, boy?’ asked Fergus.
‘I said, are we not bored of this yet?’
Jeannie tittered. ‘Bored of what?’
Callum sighed. ‘Playing stupid games and winning stupid prizes.’
Martha and I gaped at him.
‘Callum…’ said Miles in a low tone.
‘I’m going upstairs,’ Callum said, red-faced. ‘If this is going where I think it’s going– more money talk and bullshit– I’d rather eat my dinner upstairs and playBaldur’s Gate.’ He snatched his plate up as we looked on agog, then listened to his retreating footsteps and the whistling wind as we tried not to meet each other’s eyes.
‘Well, let me tell you something…’ Toots leaned forward and pressed her bony hands into the table. ‘Just know that… I’m on to you.’ Her huge eyes roved around the table, stopping on each and every one of us. ‘Iknowthat my Eugene’s death wasn’t natural. I justknowit.’
‘Grandmama,’ Beebee piped up, ‘are you saying that Great-Grandpa Weiss was murdered?’
I shot a look at Beebee, but held back my protest as I noticed she had her phone in her hand, half obscured under the table. I was pretty sure the camera lens was pointed directly at Toots.
