“What’s your bid, Reid?” Hadley asks.
“One,” Reid says, “and there’s something to be said for not getting hit with a tax bill for thirty grand every year.”
My mother rearranges the cards in her hand. “Don’t start, Reid. It’s my tax bill. My thirty grand, too.”
Every year, families around the lake sell properties because of the taxes, but this is the first I’ve heard mention of that happening to Idlewood. “Would you sell?” I ask my mother.
“Not in a million years,” she says.
“Take a guess at what a place like this one costs to maintain, Charlie,” Reid says.
My mother shoots Reid a glare. “Your grandfather entrusted me with Idlewood, and I’ll make sure it’s protected.”
Reid slouches in his chair, as I get the distinct impression this isn’t the first time he and my mother have had this conversation. Again, I’m left wondering what they might have discussed without me. “How old were you when Grandpa bought Idlewood?” I ask.
“You call himGrandpabut call meJane?” my mother says. “You never met Tony Reid.”
“Tony, then,” I say. “When did Tony buy Idlewood?”
“It was the early eighties,” Hadley says. “I was twelve. Jane was sixteen. Our father liked that we lived on an island, especially after our mother died. He thought the island would keep us contained.”
“He thought it would keepyoucontained,” my mother says. “Hadley was wild. I was responsible.”
“And it paid off in the end,” Hadley says, studying her cards. “Nice house, here.”
“Seems like an even trade,” my mother says.
This time, there’s no mystery to the barbs. My grandfather died from a heart attack right before his sixtieth birthday. He and Hadley had been estranged, and he left Idlewood to my mother and cut Hadley out of the estate. Most of the time Hadley seems to take what happened in stride, though once in a while she lets her guard down. “He didn’thave much success containing us,” Hadley says. “We met Paul right away. I mean, he lived next door.”
“Not that the Burkes invited us for cocktails,” my mother says. “They’d been coming to the lake for generations, and Burkehaven was for the docksider crowd. Paul’s parents had their unwritten rules: who knows who, Princeton eating clubs, stock market tips, visits to Nantucket. If you didn’t know how to play, they didn’t ask you back.”
“My parents weren’t that bad,” Paul says.
My mother slaps his arm playfully. “Your parents were snobs and so are you.”
Hadley chimes in. “Our father opted for the dog races at Suffolk Downs, not the polo grounds in Newport. But we managed to find Paul and become friends. We met the others then, too.”
My mother catches Hadley’s eye, a signal not to go further, an interaction I’m so used to happening whenever we get remotely close to mentioning my father that the exchange nearly passes me by. Instead, I grab on and press further. “The others,” I say. “You mean Dad.”
“Let’s not talk about that,” my mother says.
These are the moments I need to lean into if I want to learn more about what happened. “Why not?” I ask. “Dad’s part of who we are. I mean, look at tonight. The Bolognese, the Lantern Festival, the yellow Volvo. It’s like we’re reliving that night.”
“You weren’t there,” Reid says.
“Iwasthere.”
“Not really,” Reid says. “You were an infant.”
Beside me, Hadley rearranges her cards. “I’ll bid two,” she says, steering the conversation away from my father. “That’s five tricks so far, Charlie. You have to bid at least one.”
I glance at my hand. Hearts are trump and I have a two of clubs, a four and six of diamonds, and an eight of spades. I won’t take a single trick unless I get lucky. “One,” I say, letting the topic of my father drop for now.
“Screw the dealer,” Hadley says as she lays down the ace of hearts.
Hadley wins the game, and I come in last. She folds the score sheet in half. “I may frame this one,” she says, but an unsettled quiet has descended over the evening since I mentioned my father.
My mother shuffles the cards and deals a hand of solitaire. Paul and Hadley bring dishes and glasses to the kitchen, while Reid stares over the darkened lake. “I’ll be at the firepit,” he says. “Don’t bother finding me.”
