already uncomfortable interior temperature. Her eyes were continually drawn to the closed casket. It looked much too large for a person of her grandmother’s size.
Eventually Father Burns’s words penetrated Skye’s thoughts. “I could stand up here and tell you that Antonia Leofanti has gone home to be with our Father and is at peace with Him in His kingdom, because that is true.
“I could stand up here and tell you that Antonia Leofanti lived a long life and left a wonderful legacy of family and love. That too is true.
“But when someone, old or young, is ripped from this mortal coil by violence, the question then becomes: Do we seek an eye for an eye? Or do we turn the other cheek?”
Skye missed the rest of what the priest said. Her mind latched on to his question and refused to let go. Vengeance or forgiveness? It was a tough call, but perhaps simple justice was the answer. She had always believed that the consequences should fit the action.
After the funeral Mass ended, Skye followed her parents numbly down the aisle. May climbed into the limousine with her brother and sisters, and Vince rode with the other pallbearers, which left Skye and her father together for the trip to the cemetery.
As she slid onto the front seat of her parents’ white Oldsmobile, and Jed settled into the driver’s seat, Skye looked at her father’s expressionless face.
The air-conditioned interior was a relief and they drove in silence for a while. Jed switched on the radio, then turned it off almost immediately.
“Dad?”
“Mmm?”
“How mad at me is Mom?”
“Aw, she’s not mad. She just doesn’t like things to be stirred up.”
“I didn’t mean for Aunt Minnie to have such a hissy fit.”
“Well, she’s always been real high strung. She’s been having those spells of hers since she was a teenager. She didn’t even finish high school because she had some sort of breakdown her senior year.”
“I never knew that.” Skye turned to look at him. “What happened?”
“If I remember rightly, Antonia and Angelo sent her to visit some relatives somewhere.” Jed scratched his head. “Seems to me they had Mona go with her.”
“Relatives? See, that’s exactly why I was trying to get the family history from Grandma before she died. I didn’t know we had relatives anywhere else.” Skye straightened in her seat as they entered the cemetery.
The black wrought-iron gates that spelled out Scumble River Cemetery and the narrow, tree-lined road always sent Skye’s imagination down dark paths, and her thoughts turned to the idea of mortality.
The graveside service was mercifully short, considering the heat and humidity. Father Burns led them in a prayer and then Simon guided them back to their cars before lowering the casket.
Skye picked her way past the graves, stopping to examine a monument shaped like a regulation-sized La-Z- Boy. Mementos had been glued all around it. A football huddled near a beer can, and golf tees were heaped next to a videocassette. The coup de grace was an ashtray fastened to the chair’s arm, a faux cigarette made to look as if smoke were rising from its tip.
Where else but Scumble River would they make a monument out of a man’s bad habits?
May and Vince had both elected to ride with Skye and Jed to the luncheon at the new church hall. They entered a large room with folding tables and chairs and plain white walls. Although not fancy, it was at least air conditioned. They were among the first to arrive.
Skye noticed her mother’s pallor and fetched her a glass of cold punch. “Here, Mom, you look as if you could use this.”
May downed the liquid in one gulp and handed the empty cup to Skye. “Thanks.”
The silent treatment. Skye hated when her mother stopped talking to her. Usually May never quit chattering, so when she spoke in single words, Skye knew she was in hot water.
“Look, Mom, I’m sorry about yesterday.”
“This isn’t the place to talk about it.” May spotted people beginning to arrive, and moved toward the door. She whispered over her shoulder, “Just stay out of trouble today.”
Skye was scanning the crowd for Vince when someone grabbed her arm from behind and yanked. She turned, swallowing a scream, when she saw her Uncle Dante.
He pulled her toward a door leading to the catechism classrooms. “I want to talk to you, young lady.”
Her stomach dropped. Short of creating a scene, Skye could see no way to break loose. “Let’s talk here. I was just going to get something to eat. We could sit together.”
Dante’s eyes narrowed, which caused them to all but disappear under his jutting brow. “Not in public.”
She had never seen her uncle like this. He dragged her out of the common area, and shoved her into a room decorated with children’s drawings of Jesus. Dante pushed her into a child-sized chair and pulled over the teacher’s chair for himself. “What do you think you’re doing questioning my son?”
“Questioning him? Me? I don’t know what you’re talking about.” She could almost make herself believe her own words, since her conversation with Hugo seemed years ago rather than yesterday afternoon.
“Don’t play dumb with me, Missy!” Dante roared. “You talked to both Hugo and Victoria about how much money they had.”
“It was just conversation. I hadn’t seen them in a long time and commented on how well they seem to be doing.” She rounded her eyes. “I had no idea a car salesman could make so much money.”
Dante puffed out his chest. “Hugo’s the best, and Prescott’s going to do even better.”
“Yes, that private school is certainly impressive.” Skye relaxed a little. She could almost rest her chin on her knees, the chair was so small. “Do you help them with tuition?”
Dante’s face turned an alarming shade of reddish-purple and his voice grew louder. “You don’t get it, do you? I’m telling you to lay off my family. Quit asking questions.”
Skye rose and started edging toward the door. “I’m just surprised you’d agree with Hugo.”
“About what?” Dante’s bulging brow wrinkled.
“About subdividing Grandma’s land instead of farming it.” With her hand on the knob she grew brave. “I mean, you were always the one who said if Grandma lived much longer, we’d have to start selling off the land to pay for her care, and it would be such a shame to lose it for farming.”
“Subdividing it? What are you talking about?” Dante seemed to notice for the first time that she wasn’t sitting any longer, and he started to lever himself off his seat.
“Didn’t Hugo tell you about his lunch with that guy from the Castleview housing development company?” Skye eased the door open.
Dante sank back into his chair. His answer was almost inaudible. “No, no he didn’t.”
That had certainly hit a chord. She’d never seen Dante lose his bluster so fast. As she left the room, Skye said over her shoulder, “I wonder what else he didn’t tell you.”
Skye saw the twins sitting together at a long empty table. From the debris surrounding them, she surmised that their children and spouses had already been and gone. She quickly took a glass of punch and made her way over to Ginger and Gillian.
“Mind if I join you?” she asked, hoping they weren’t too angry at her after the incident with their mother yesterday. She didn’t relish being kidnapped again, nor the idea of another five-mile hike home.
Ginger and Gillian paused in their conversation and nodded after a brief hesitation.
“How’s your mother? I’m sure sorry about yesterday.”
“Did you really accuse her of murdering Grandma?” Gillian asked.
“No! I just commented on how much work it had been for her to serve Grandma three meals a day, and that things would be easier for her now.”
Gillian pushed her dish away and sighed. “She’s okay. Something happens; then she’s fine. At least she didn’t have one of her spells.”
Her cousins were really being nice about yesterday’s incident. Maybe she had misjudged them. “Did her visit to Carle Clinic help with her spells?”
“Could be,” Ginger said. “You know Mama, we don’t discuss things like that.”
Before Skye could reply, two young boys came tearing around the table, chased by two little girls. The boys
