Tom had left the door ajar, and after a brief knock, it opened.
“Graham? There you are,” Ginny said. Her gaze sharpened. “Are you unwell?”
I pulled a random book from a shelf and turned back to my desk. I swallowed hard and tried to sound nonchalant.“Thinking over business matters with Mr. Richards. What do you need?”
She blew a piece of hair from her sight. “Ah, yes. Well. I’m half embarrassed to say, but my stays are growing tight.”
Another expense. I nodded. “Very tight?”
“I’m a woman, Graham. When I eat, I gain weight in my—”
“Very well. Very well.” I waved a hand to stop her.
“We’ve been eating so well with Anna here.” She laughed. “It isn’t dire, but yes.”
The fact that she asked at all meant it was dire. But I appreciated her attempt to give me the leeway.
“If Ginny gets new stays, then Iwant new shoes!” Tabs called as she stomped into my study. “Mine have holes!”
“They do not,” Mother said, rounding the corner after her.
“Well, my toes are pinched, and I’m certain holes will appear any day now!”
Mother chuckled, then sighed. “She is growing as well, I suppose.”
Stays. Shoes.
I plastered a smile on my face. “I shall write it all down. We’ll make a special trip in the coming weeks.”
“Oh, can we take our list to London?” Ginny leaned against my desk and picked at her nails. “We could all squish in that little room you always rent. Things are so much better done there.”
A trip to London would cost ...
“It has been a time since we left Brighton,” Mother agreed. “And having Anna here ... She is so elegant and accomplished. Perhaps London would rub off on us.”
I set aside the book in my hands. “Yes. Well, Anna comes from a very different lifestyle than we are accustomed to.”
“She does,” Mother agreed.
Ginny’s eyes grew wide. “Perhaps she’d invite us!” she exclaimed. “Show us around. Introduce us to her friends.”
“We could see Anna’s house!” Tabs agreed.
My head started to pulse. I’d thought I’d designed the perfect life for us here, away from all that. “We cannot invite ourselves. And London is an unnecessary expense. We have everything we need right here in Brighton.”
Ginny groaned. “Anna would invite us. It would cost us nothing.”
I looked up at her, at the easy way she tossed around our finances as though they were fluid and simple to manage. My nostrils flared, and I raised a pointed finger. “Let me tell you something, sister.” My words were clipped, jaw ticking. “Nothingin life comes without a cost. Even if you are not the one who pays it.”
She jerked back, nose scrunched, and looked to Mother.
“Come, girls,” Mother said, frowning at me. “Let us leave your brother to his thoughts.”
Tabs bounded from the room while Ginny stood from my desk and turned. She held the doorframe and cast an ugly look over her shoulder.
“Never mind the stays. I can manage on my own. You’ve ruined the very idea of them.”
“Genevieve.” My voice was too rough, too deep. Too much like my father’s. Still, I stood, hands fisted, with half a mind to follow and release every grievance upon her. If she only knew.
