“Get to know them more. Mom can talk too much, especially after a few glasses of wine. Dad…he can be stubborn.”
“Have the men always cleaned up after Thanksgiving? I don’t remember that.”
“Yep. You and Mom went to the living room, and she gave you a recipe for her apple pie.”
“Oh,” I said. “Now I remember. I’ve never made it.” That reminded me. “You told her about me remembering mashing potatoes, didn’t you?”
“Guilty as charged.”
“Dad was great. Holidays always depended on the Coopers’ schedule. It’s just…” I wasn’t sure how to say what I was thinking. “Dad and Daphne. I don’t know. There’s something to be said for witnessing a healthy relationship day to day.” Reaching in my purse, I checked my phone. I had multiple text messages from Leigh.
The first one said.
* * *
“I CAN’T BELIEVE YOU’RE NOT HERE. WHY DIDN’T YOU WARN ME?”
* * *
“I forgot to tell Leigh I wouldn’t be at Daphne’s,” I said. “Oh.” I kept reading her text messages. “She said that Grant left before dinner.”
“Did she say why?”
“Oh my God. Joe showed up and kissed Daphne in front of the entire family.”
Fin opened his eyes wide. “He’s not married?”
“His wife passed away from cancer a few years ago.”
“Well, that mystery is solved.”
“You’re talking about Daphne and Joe, what mystery?”
His glance came to me and then back to the highway. “Why Daphne contested Reid’s will.”
“Because she was his wife.”
“Because your dad’s attorney wants in on the cut.”
“No,” I said. “Joe and Dad were friends.”
“Do you think this is new or could anything have been going on with Joe and Daphne before Reid died?”
Again, I leaned my head back against the headrest. “I was obviously oblivious. It’s turning into a freakin’ Peyton Place.” When Fin looked confused, I added, “It’s an old 1950s novel about a quiet town with scandalous secrets—everyone is having an affair with everyone else. It was super shocking at the time it was published. Both for the radicalized sexuality and the places some of the people had sex—super taboo. It blew the lid off the perception that sex was just for procreation. The novel has been banned repeatedly.”
“Peyton Place,” he repeated. “I’ll add it to my TBR.”
I laughed. “It’s not as scandalous anymore. If you want some hot, steamy reads, I’ll let you borrow my Kindle.”
It was Fin’s turn to laugh. “I prefer participating in hot, steamy sex over reading about it.”
My thoughts went back to Daphne and Joe. Scrunching my nose, I said, “Maybe Dad and Daphne had an open marriage. It just seems wrong for the two of them…”
“There’s no set time for mourning, but yeah, it seems unprofessional, unethical.”
Chapter 31
Fin
