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“Just a pile of excuses,” she said briefly. “But that’s not going to matter, is it, Podge? You’re going to do the right thing, aren’t you?” Just like that, her cold anger vanished, and she smiled at me, that sweet, wheedling smile that used to feel like sunshine on an icy day.
But I was still frozen. “Yes,” I said. “Ian’s wanting me to stay for the funeral, but I’m trying to leave sooner.”
“Stay for the service,” she said suddenly. “It’s only two days away, and it would look odd if you just disappeared. It’ll be easy enough to deal with things once you get back to the States.” She shoved her perfect mane of curls back away from her face. “Everything will be just fine, Podge,” she said. “It’ll be easy enough to fix. In fact, I’ll come and help you. Of course there’d be no way you’d want to keep all that money—you’ve always been the fairest of us.”
I gave her a tight-lipped smile in return, saying nothing, but Bella was oblivious. “You’re right, I’d better get out of here before someone sees us and all our hard work is in vain.” At that moment, I couldn’t think of her particular share of the hard work of the masquerade, but I didn’t point that out. I was feeling wretched and guilty enough.
She started past me, smelling of some fresh and innocent perfume, and then halted. “Tell me, how has Ian been? Has he given you any trouble?”
Nothing but, I thought as I shook my head. “I haven’t seen much of him.” A straight-out lie, to go with her lies.
“I suppose I should have told you, but he and I had a bit of a fling a while past. You know he’s always been in love with me, and he’s been desperately jealous of Marcus. I hope that didn’t make things uncomfortable. It was long enough ago that he wouldn’t be any more likely to notice the difference between us.”
Another piece of information I could have happily done without. “He’s been busy—if he was in love with you, I’d guess he’s finally over it.”
An ugly look crossed her face for just a moment, and then she had her sunny smile once more. “Let’s hope so. It was tremendously tiresome.” Before I could realize what she was doing, she pulled me into her scented embrace. “You’ve been a better friend than I deserve, Podge,” she murmured in my ear. “I won’t forget it.” A moment later she was gone.
I looked down and saw that my hands were shaking. My sense of betrayal was overwhelming—I’d loved and admired Bella my entire life, holding her up as a vision of what a Whitehead ought to be. When idols fall, they fall hard, but oddly enough, my anger wasn’t for her, it was for me, for being so goddamned vulnerable, for believing in those years of sugared sweetness. She was the one who’d given me that hated nickname that still made me feel fat and clumsy.
I shoved my hair away from my face, Bella’s hair, and realized my face was wet with tears. Of course, it was. All I seemed to do was cry nowadays, over Granda, over Bella, over Ian.
No, not over Ian. Never over Ian. He hadn’t made love to me, he’d made love to the ghost of Bella, and even that he’d regretted. I was the outsider, the one who didn’t belong. I couldn’t even begin to fathom why Granda had changed his will—maybe his letter to Bella had explained his decision, but she hadn’t bothered to share any of it.
I stiffened my spine. Enough was enough. I’d been kept prisoner here for the last few days, despite my half-hearted efforts to escape. No more. Leaving everything to me was just one more of Granda’s manipulations, and while I loved him, missed him already, I wasn’t going to jump to his tune any longer. I was going home, refusing the inheritance, and getting on with my life.
But first, I was going to tell Ian exactly who I was.
My walk back to the house was uneventful, the only uncomfortable moment when I saw my watcher once more, loitering near the cleft in the rock that led to Pinnacle Point. He wasn’t close enough to speak to, and I was half tempted to march over to him and demand to know why he was following me, but there was no one else in sight on this perversely sunny day, and I wasn’t a complete idiot, even if I’d been acting like one. I gave him a friendly nod and started down across the fields. He didn’t nod back.
By the time I returned to the house, everyone was at lunch—I could hear Mary Alice’s strident voice and Marcus’s deep one from the dining room. I almost headed straight upstairs until I remembered I had vowed to talk to Ian. Once he knew the truth, I would be out of there so fast my head would spin.
All conversation stopped as I walked in the room, but Ian wasn’t there, just the cousins and Marcus. Marcus had traded in his pale pink jacket for something more somber, and the sisters were both in over-the-top funereal black. Clearly, they’d arrived here ready for mourning.
“Where have you been?” Mary Alice demanded.
“Walking,” I said briefly.
“Well, you can’t expect us to hold lunch for you if you go wandering off. And really, it’s most inconsiderate of you. There are things that have to be decided, plans to be made...”
“I thought Ian was taking care of all that,” I said. “Where is he, by the way?”
“God knows,” Marcus said. “Probably doing what we’ve been doing. Trying to track down Podge.”
God, I hated that name! “And did you?” I asked innocently.
“You’re the only one who’s been in touch with her over the last few years. Apparently, she’d been living in New Hampshire but she’s disappeared without a trace. You must have her phone number somewhere.”
Bella had my phone—it would serve her right if I gave them that number. I shook my head. “I haven’t talked to her in ages.”
“Someone has to tell her Granda died,” Marcus said.
“And that she’s managed to end up with everything,” Mary Alice added in an acid voice.
I could have told them all the truth—after all, Ian would have that opportunity, but for some reason, it was important to me to tell him first. “Does Mr. Fergell have contact information?”
“He has nothing,” Mary Alice snapped. “Clearly, we need a new lawyer—he’s been completely inadequate. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if he was working with Podge and splitting the money.”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” I said wearily. “Kitty hasn’t been here in over twelve years—Granda banished her. The idea that she could manipulate him into leaving her money is absurd.”
