“I got a letter from Momma soon after the pageant, and in it… she told me some news.”
Aunt DeeDee tilted her head, waiting for me to continue.
“My father was…” I swallowed hard.
Aunt DeeDee’s hand froze in mid-air.
I decided to go for it, spewing everything at once. “Momma told me that my father was Frederick Finch, which means Savilla Finch is my sister. Also, tomorrow is Mr. Finch’s will reading, and I’ve been asked to attend.”
Aunt DeeDee’s cheeks puckered as if she’d bitten down on a lemon. She reached out a hand to steady herself on the steel counter, and nearly a full minute passed before she spoke.
“Mr. Finch was your father,” she said slowly, trying out the information. “And Savilla is your sister.”
I couldn’t tell if Aunt DeeDee was appalled or pleased.
“What are you thinking?” I asked.
She handed me a bottle of water and placed a pecan bar on a napkin in front of me, almost by rote movement. “Eat something. You look peaked.”
I took a small bite and the nuttiness hit my tongue, reminding me of when she’d made the same treats for me after school when I was a kid.
Aunt DeeDee took a tiny bite as well before pushing the dessert out of her line of sight and straightening her shoulders. “Well, darlin’, that’s big news for a night like this, but I suppose that’s how life comes at you. All at once.” She breathed in deeply. “I can’t say I’m too surprised, though I have no idea why your momma waited till she was in the ground more than a year to inform you of your parentage.”
“You’re not shocked?”
“Not entirely.” Aunt DeeDee considered. “Mr. Finch would ask me about you. Check in, I suppose. I thought it was small talk, but I can see now that perhaps he had a distant sort of fatherly interest. As for your momma, she avoided him like the plague—her standard approach to exes—and she never would talk about her one-night stand.” Aunt DeeDee clicked her tongue and gave a slight chuckle. “The timing makes perfect sense. I don’t know how I didn’t see it all these years.”
“I know how,” I told her. “It’s because it’s crazy. Momma was everything Mr. Finch was not.”
“Maybe, though people are complicated. And layered.” She motioned toward a tall confetti cake, and I understood the metaphor without her having to spell it out. “Your momma and Mr. Finch had a brief connection and it made you. That’s a pretty good outcome, I’d say.”
Aunt DeeDee touched her forehead to mine and placed a dollop of whipped cream on my nose.
I laughed, relieved that she was carrying the weight of this secret that I’d kept for the past few months so easily. It made me kick myself for not telling her earlier.
“As for the will reading, I wouldn’t expect too much,” Aunt DeeDee said, pulling back. “Mr. Finch was sometimes stingy with family, although… maybe that was just with greedy women who wanted to murder him.”
“I have no expectations,” I said, wiping off the whipped cream and touching her hand. “And thank you.”
“For what?”
“For not freaking out.”
“At my age, I’ve seen too much to even consider freaking out over something as small as an illicit father and a secret sister.”
I smiled before my eye caught the kitchen clock and I suddenly remembered that I’d come down here to find out more about Joe.
“I’d love to talk to you about some other topics,” I said. “Plans for my job, mainly, but that can wait. First, can you show me where Joe put his things when he arrived this evening?”
Aunt DeeDee studied me. “Dakota, hon. You should let the sheriff do the investigating.”
I gave her a mock shocked expression and pointed a finger at her. “That’s not what you said last time.”
“Last time I had no choice,” Aunt DeeDee countered. “I don’t want you getting wrapped up in something dangerous. Men like Brett…”
“What about men like Brett?”
Aunt DeeDee shook her head. “I’m not exactly sure. It’s more of a feeling I got after watching him on that silly TV show.”
