Gina raises a hand. “Please don’t talk about my son.”
Alice exhales. “Gina, I never met my mom—did you know that?”
Gina nods. Nick had told her about Alice’s mother dying at childbirth. It might be the one thing she and Alice have in common. They’re both orphans. Well, except Gina isn’t one, not technically, anyway.
“Let me tell you something: I would’ve killed to have a mom like you. I see how you are with Calan: loving, nurturing, supportive. His entire family expects him to run the company one day and yet all you want is to see him happy.”
Gina feels her eyes welling up.
“I know you’d do anything for your family,” Alice continues, her voice now a whisper. “But don’t tolerate the intolerable. That’s not in anyone’s best interest.”
Gina swallows back her tears. “How can you be so sure he did it?” Her voice is angry. For once, she does not care if she is being rude. Alice has some nerve.
“You’re a woman.” Alice takes a step closer to her. She moves like a lioness in the jungle staring down her prey. “Tell me: would you ever lie about something like this?”
Gina opens her mouth to answer, but no words come out.
Interview with Terry Henrietta Spencer
Member of the Alma Social Club—Third Generation. Enrolled in 1994
The curse is real. I know what you’re thinking. It’s what all outsiders think. You’re thinking it’s a small-town myth. Silly superstition. But that’s because you’re not from here. Just have a look at the Dewar family tree. There’s a copy on display at the ASC building. Go on, have a look. A set of twin boys in every generation and in every generation one of them dies young. Unexplainable and eerie, but also undeniable. It’s like there’s only room for one of them.
Backer had a twin brother of his own, did you know that? Not a lot of people do, it’s one of the reasons why I always take home the gold on Town Trivia Night. Not that I’m bragging. My grandfather was actually good friends with Backer.
Anyway, Tish thought she had gotten lucky. She had her own set of twin boys, both alive, both with kids of their own (not twins, though, such a shame). We were all surprised that the curse hadn’t struck, to tell you the truth. Not that we wanted it to. But then that woman came along, saying that Bobby was a predator and that he didn’t deserve to be in charge of Alma Boots. Such a ridiculous claim! Why would anyone say that?
And then someone (I don’t remember who exactly) started floating around the idea that Nick might be behind it. So he could take his brother’s place. Well, we couldn’t have that. It’s no secret Nick thinks we should merge with Souliers—he’s a lot less business-savvy than Bobby, as I’m sure you can tell. Anyway, at first, I thought it was paranoia. But then the two of them got into that awful fistfight right after Halloween. Right in the middle of the street, too! And that’s when I thought to myself: Maybe what’s happening now is like a modern-day version of the curse.
Brother against brother. Nick against Bobby.
Seven
Bobby
Tuesday, September 10th
Bobby looks up when he hears a knock on his office door.
“Got a minute?” Nick is wearing khakis and a dark blue button-down shirt rolled up to the elbows. As usual, he looks untroubled and relaxed.
“That depends on what it’s about.” Bobby leans back on his swivel chair.
Nick steps inside and shuts the door behind him. He draws a deep breath and stuffs both his hands in his pockets. “I saw you and Goddard going into Doug’s office this morning.”
“And?”
“And you want to tell me what you and the head of HR were doing going into General Counsel’s office?” He arches his left eyebrow.
“Company business.” Bobby gives him a blank stare.
“Would that company business have anything to do with Eva Stone?” Nick delivers these words slowly, carefully.
“No.”
Nick casts him a doubtful look. “You need to be careful. It can’t look like you’re meddling in the investigation.” He takes a seat.
Bobby feels a spike of irritation. “I’m this company’s CEO. I have other issues to deal with my department heads. Real issues. Not empty threats.”
Nick shrugs. “I’m just looking out for you.”
“I appreciate that.” Bobby gestures to the paperwork on his desk. “I really do have to get back to work.”
Nick crosses his right knee over his left and places his right hand on top of his shin. The gesture is arrogant, somehow. “Can we talk about Calan then?” Nick asks.
This again.
“Definitely not.” Bobby would almost prefer to discuss Eva—and Nick knows it. It’s probably why he brought up Eva Stone to begin with. Nick probably thinks that Bobby will feel bad about shutting down two topics of conversation in a row. Nick is wrong.
“At least tell me you’ve given it some thought. I really think Calan could benefit from working with me. He’s an artistic kid,” Nick says. The subtext isn’t lost on Bobby: Calan is artistic like Nick. Nick assumes everyone wants to be like him. And why wouldn’t he? Nick has led a charmed life.
Years ago, his brother had made a big show of renouncing his claim to Alma Boots, dismissing it as far too tedious for his free-spirited, creative mind, only to reappear after he ran out of funds and had no way of supporting his globetrotting lifestyle. One would think that the prodigal son’s return would’ve been done with a modicum of humility, but no—Nick had waltzed back into their lives with his usual golden-boy attitude, expecting things to magically fall on his lap, no effort required.
Bobby had been willing to give his brother a job. A good one, too: the same one he had gotten when he graduated from Harvard. But their dad wouldn’t hear of it. Nick was made Chief
