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“No,” Faith said, eyes widening. “Why would she be?”
“I thought maybe she didn’t like the surprise.” She’d seemed pleased. But who knew? Maybe she was a very good actress.
“Well, if she doesn’t, she hasn’t said anything to me about it.”
“Okay, then why do you look like you’re not having fun?”
Faith’s mouth flattened. “I’m having fun.” She shook her head at him, sending the fringey sparkly earrings she wore shimmying.
“Faith, I may have been away from the island for a while but I still know you. And I know how you look when something’s bugging you.”
“It’s nothing.”
“It’s not nothing.”
She rubbed the back of her neck briefly. “I was going to wait and tell you and Mina tomorrow. This is a party.”
“A party you don’t exactly look like you’re enjoying.”
“If I tell you now, then all three of us might not enjoy it.”
That sounded ominous. Which meant it was Harper business. He glanced around the room. Still no sign of Leah. Which meant she was probably out back where there was a bar and tables set up around a small dance floor—it wouldn’t be a Santelli party without some dancing after all—or maybe on the deck. Either way, there were plenty of people for her to talk to and he wasn’t allowed to hover at her side anyway with her parents here. “Well, I’ve asked now. So you might as well spill the beans.”
She sighed. “Okay. Let me go get Mina. Why don’t you go out front, meet us there? If all three of us leave at once, we’ll attract attention.”
He didn’t argue but he waited and watched as Faith walked over to Mina, gave her a quick hug, and then pulled her away from the Fraser brothers. Mina’s expression changed from smiling and pleased to a frown as Faith said something in her ear.
Then he turned and headed out, trying to ignore the twist in his gut that told him he wasn’t going to like what Faith had to say. Something must have happened. But what? Or to whom? Lou was here at the party, he’d just seen her five minutes ago talking to Billy, so she was fine. But that didn’t mean something hadn’t happened to somebody else.
There was no one out front of the house, which was good. Meant he didn’t have to chase anyone off so that he and his sisters could have privacy. But the minute or so it took for Faith and Mina to join him seemed a long time, leaving him with nothing to do but stare at the dark stretch of ocean, breathe in the night air, and wonder if Faith was about to drop a real bombshell.
Chapter Fifteen
“So what’s up?” Zach asked as his sisters reached him. They took up position together, standing opposite him, Mina closer to Faith than she was to him. When they’d been kids they’d been a sturdy triangle, each side supporting the others. Zach and Faith and Mina. The Harpers. On paper their lives had been golden. Privileged. Lucky. Money. Travel. A famous dad. In reality, it had been that but there was also a less-stable side. A side where parents disappeared for weeks or months and strangers came and went in the house. The three of them had relied on one another. Stood together. He’d been the one who’d pulled their trio apart when he’d left. But now he was back and yes, their triangle was battered and lopsided. But he hoped it was mending. They were here together. He just hoped whatever Faith had to say wasn’t going to throw them any farther out of balance.
Faith smiled tightly. “You sure you want to do this now? We can wait until tomorrow.”
“No,” Mina said. She tugged at the silver M she wore around her neck. “We’re here now.”
Faith nodded. “Okay. “She took a breath.
“Just tell me if anyone’s sick,” Zach said before Faith could say anything else.
Her eyebrows flew upward. “God no. I would’ve told you straight out if it was something that bad.” Her expression turned apologetic.
Relief swept through him. “Good. Anything else we can handle.” He hoped.
Faith blew out a breath. “Well, I don’t really know if there is anything to handle yet.” She paused, as if unsure what to say next. Her mouth twisted, as she twined one hand through a lock of her hair.
Nervous.
“Is this about the archives again?” Mina asked.
The archives? He hadn’t been thinking about them.
Faith nodded. “Had a call from the lawyers yesterday.”
“That sounds ominous,” he said. He moved to stand next to Mina—who was chewing her lip and watching Faith intently—reaching out to put an arm around her. “What did they want? Was it about that payment Grey made?” He hadn’t had to think about that for months. Or he’d done his best not to. Because there weren’t many good reasons for Grey to have paid half a million dollars to an unknown recipient not long before he died.
