Vi’s gaze jerked to the one who had spoken. She was, perhaps, slightly more vibrant. Not in her physical coloring, but her sister was wearing a white dress and she was wearing a pale pink dress. The pale pink was well-chosen for her coloring and somehow made her eyes seem a little darker, her cheeks a little healthier, her lips a little deeper in contrast. This sister also lightly colored her lashes and brows, so she wasn’t quite so ghostly.
The lady smiled, nodded, and then added to her request for the cocktail. “I’m Jane, of course. Equally tepid is our Ann. Tobias, at least, got multiple syllables in his name.”
“Vi,” Violet replied, deliberately leaving off her own extra syllables. “So nice to meet you. Your mother told you what your grandmother said?”
“Mother doesn’t believe in sheltering us from Grandmother,” Tobias replied, sounding exhausted. “Mother says that we need to know what we’re dealing with when it comes to Grandmother and learn how to defend our hearts.”
Vi fiddled with her wedding ring and then crossed to make the cocktails. She made enough for everyone and then passed a tray around. Almost as one, Violet and Kate set theirs to the side while Lila and Rita drank deeply.
“Your mother must have been frustrated to have your cousin the favored son when he was such a rogue,” Violet said as Jane sipped her drink.
Jane’s expression didn’t try to protect her mother or grandmother. It was a mix of dislike, sarcasm, frustration, and a multitude of other feelings. “I don’t understand why Mother even cares—” She paused and then adjusted, “cared.”
“Jane—” Tobias’s plea went unheard.
“Grandmother Meyers is her mother. Our mother can’t just forget that, can she?” Ann added, and it sounded like an old argument. An old one and not a tepid one. Suddenly the colorlessness of the Watkins’s youth was ridiculous. They weren’t colorless or tepid. They were simply not Jason Meyers.
“I don’t see why not,” Jane replied.
“Because,” Ann started, scoffed, and lifted the cocktail as though it were a lifeline.
Violet leaned back and watched, hoping they’d carry on, but it seemed the movement of watching them like they were her own personal three-act play was sufficient to silence the trio.
“Smith said you think Mother may have killed Jason,” Tobias started. “That idea is ludicrous.”
“Is it?” Smith asked silkily. He was in the corner of the room, watching silently and taking notes as the rest of them interacted. “People murder each other for far less than a lifetime of never being good enough. Let alone dislike and persistent snipping about one’s children.”
Tobias met Smith’s gaze and then sighed deeply. “Do we know when Jason was murdered?”
Smith nodded. “He was killed the evening of the storm around 8:00 p.m. He was last seen by his friends, the Tappers, for dinner.”
Tobias rose, frowned deeply and then asked, “Tessa was there?”
Ann and Jane scoffed in unison in such a way that only a sister would understand.
“Do you have feelings for Miss Tapper?” Vi asked Tobias.
Tobias flushed so brilliantly red that his sisters groaned for him.
“Toby,” Ann muttered low. She shook her head and glanced at the others as if to ask, “Can you believe this?”
“So,” Rita said, “it’s love.”
“It’s not love,” Jane snapped. “Love isn’t wanting a girl who is stupid enough to be in love with Jason Meyers. It’s the admiration of her looks and her fine eyes.”
Vi grinned at Jane, catching the reference and then glanced at Kate, whose smile was as wide as her own.
“I do like you,” Kate told Jane.
It was as though they had found a like-minded soul in the other. Violet turned her attention from Jane to Tobias, whose cheeks were slowly returning to their normally pale hue.
“I didn’t meet Tessa when I visited the Tapper home,” Violet told Tobias. She made sure there was no judgement or mockery in her voice. “But I’ve been the one who loved someone and wasn’t sure of their feelings. This is what I can tell you for sure—”
He turned to her, his gaze masked.
“Mrs. Tapper despises Jason Meyers. He’s gone now. But do not just show up and expect Tessa to turn her feelings, whatever they were, to you. Her feelings are complex, I’m sure. They were lifelong friends, weren’t they?”
Tobias nodded.
“Then she’s mourning. Even if he isn’t worth mourning, she’s mourning him.”
Tobias’s hand clenched into a fist and Vi wanted to reach out and smack him.
“If you mock those feelings or try to talk her out of having them, well—”
“Don’t,” Lila said firmly.
Tobias nodded, but Vi wouldn’t bet her fortune on his capacity to listen.
“She’s lost her fiancé because of Jason. She’s now lost him too. Her parents aren’t going to want to support her forever,” Tobias said. The calculation in his gaze made Violet’s desires shift. She wanted to ball up her fist and knock him right in the nose.
“Oh Toby,” Jane muttered.
“She could do far worse than Toby,” Ann defended.
“You can’t just tell a girl to love you because she was dumb enough to love another and now she’s getting a bit older.” Jane finished her cocktail while also rolling her eyes at her brother. “She can’t just turn on love. It takes time, being worthy of it, and sheer compatibility. You love her?”
“You know I do,” he said with a tortured groan.
Jane didn’t seem impressed with his earnestness, but Ann reached over and patted him. “She’d be lucky to receive your love.”
“Oh,” Lila groaned. “I can’t…he did it.”
Rita laughed. “Lila!”
“Me?” Tobias asked.
“She’s been drinking,” Kate soothed, shooting Lila a scolding look.
“We were together,” Ann snapped. “When Jason died, we were together.”
Every gaze turned to Ann and she blushed.
“Do you have any witnesses?” Smith asked.
“We need them?” Ann demanded. “We have each other.”
“But you clearly all care about each other. I would lie for any of these people, except maybe Smith,” Lila said. She turned to Smith. “No offense, Smith.”
“None taken. If I need someone to lie
