“But Ash said he knew about it,” I say, lowering my voice further.
Wendy rolls her pale blue eyes. “He knew about it, sure, but that doesn’t mean helikedit. We see this in my business, too. A spouse suddenly changing the will to leave some of the artwork to the kids.”
“Is that such a bad thing?”
“Not the gesture itself, but sometimes the motives behind it are. The person who makes the change is often worried that when he or she dies, the spouse will marry someone who has designs on the money and then whenhedies, he’ll leave everything to the new squeeze and the kids won’t get a bloody dime.”
“But it’s hard to believe—” An image of Jillian and Ash’s embrace pops in my mind. “Wait, do you think Claire had reason to be concerned about something like that?”
Wendy shrugs. “I don’t know. But it seems like she was trying to make a point—and take Ash down a notch. Look, if you don’t mind, I should find Blake. I want to fill him in on the cramping now that things don’t look so dire.”
“Of course,” I say, still a bit stunned by her comments. “I’ll catch up with you later.”
Once I’m in the powder room, I lower the toilet seat and settle on it, my eyes closed and my hands over my face. Like Wendy said, the events of the past few days now seem overwhelming. That Claire is dead. That a million dollars has weirdly been dropped into our laps. That Ash might have been cheating on Claire. That Gabe and I have had a real breakdown in communication. That Claire was likely poisoned by Hannah. And that if I don’t figure out a way to expose her, she could get away with it.
Hannah. She’s on the patio mingling with all the others when I emerge from the house. Right away, I sense her attempting to catch my gaze, but I’m not going to give her the satisfaction. Instead, I glue myself to Henry’s side, telling him we’re thinking of watching a movie later and he’ll have a ton of choices to pick from.
The dinner’s already been laid on the sideboard, some leftovers Bonnie’s doctored from the luncheon along with a fresh green salad, and the various Keatons begin to load up their plates. I linger by the sideboard, waiting for Hannah to take her seat, and once she does, I choose one at the opposite end of the table and urge Henry to park himself next to me. Before any of us can take a bite, Ash rises from his seat and clears his throat.
“It’s hard to believe we’re sitting at this table without our dearest Claire here,” he says. “She was so proud of you boys, and I only wish she could have heard your terrific tributes to her today. We’ll go on, because wemust, because what would make her happiest is knowing we’ll embrace our lives as fully as she did her own. What was it you said, Summer? Relish being the flower. And Henry, a special thank you for being here. Gee loved you with all her heart.”
Ash is a polished speaker, in the way supremely confident men are even if it’s not part of their day-to-day jobs, and he could probably offer a loving and seemingly authentic tribute to the yard crew if he had to. So is his grief genuine? Or is he eager to rush into another woman’s arms?
“Beautifully put, Dad,” Blake says, and the rest of us murmur in assent, except for Marcus who stares ahead, looking particularly glum. As I study him, a thought stirs in me, but before I can grab hold of it, it flutters away.
Nearly in unison, we all tuck into our food, and people make a decent attempt at conversation. Next to me Henry indifferently stabs at a piece of lettuce with his fork.
“I know today’s been hard,” I say quietly to him. “But see how good it’s made Grandpa feel to have you here?”
“Where’s Geenow? Is anyone watching her?”
“For the time being, she’s in what’s called a funeral home. After she’s buried near the woods, we can pay our respects to her whenever we’re walking there.”
“But it gets so dark down there at night.”
I have to fight the urge to wince, my heart aching over his concern. I, too, hate to think of her being in those dark, dark woods. “Don’t worry, honey. When you die, you don’t feel pain or fear anymore, so Gee won’t be scared.”
A listless nod. Henry’s floundering, and what we need is to burrow into the den tonight and watch something outrageously funny. I’m relieved when Jake finally passes around slices from the remains of the carrot cake, and I reach across Henry to touch Gabe’s arm. “Movie now?” I ask.
After making our excuses and grabbing fresh drinks for ourselves, Gabe, Henry, and I head down the back corridor to the small, comfy den, with Ginger and Bella choosing to join us. For the first time all day, the dogs seem to perk up and they leap onto the couch, perhaps in anticipation of Claire, who used to snuggle in here with them after dinner. Henry and Gabe drop to the floor and begin fishing through the rows of DVDs lining the lower shelves on each side of the fireplace. I’m hoping the next couple of hours will not only help boost Henry’s spirits, but also ease the tension between Gabe and me.
“Hey, you know what we could use?” I announce. “Popcorn. Why don’t I nuke some while you guys decide on a movie?”
“With butter, pretty please,” Henry calls out as I leave.
I follow the hallway toward the kitchen, where I can hearthe sounds of chatter and splashing water from Bonnie and Jake, but most of the house is still. The rest of the family must have retired for the night.
Bonnie looks fairly bushed, but happily helps me locate popcorn. Once I’ve made it, I thank her and Jake again for their efforts today, wish them good night, and, bowl in hand, retrace my steps to the den. Someone, maybe Ash, has flicked off the corridor light since I was here a few minutes ago, but I can see well enough. As I’m about to open the door, I sense someone behind me, and spin around to see who it is.
I nearly jump back in shock. Hannah is standing three feet away from me.
“What’s up?” I say, trying to keep my tone casual over the drumbeat of my heart.
“I wanted to speak to you for a minute.”
“What about?”
Even in the dimness of the corridor, I see her lips turn up in a tiny smile. “I think I owe you an apology.”
