She shut her files.“How do you know?”
“Know what, darling?”
That I am looking into Atlas Bennett.That I am fascinated by him.No, no, fascinated was the wrong word.She was merely conducting research.That was all.Research.Just like she and her friend Sloane researched their other subjects.
“Names are important, you know,” her mother said.“Take me, for example.I was named for the Magnolia.A name that fits me perfectly.Beauty.Dignity.Southern charm.”
Yes, nowhere in that description wasmurderous predator.So perhaps it wasn’t the most perfect name ever.
“And you…” Magnolia turned her waving hand toward Lily.“My precious daughter.Named after the beautiful lily.”
Lily’s jaw locked.“Many lilies are extremely poisonous.”One of her mother’s little jokes.You literally named me for poison.“They cause vomiting, mouth pain, and weakness.”
Magnolia smiled.“Isn’t that fun?”
“Not to the people vomiting.”
A delighted laugh escaped Magnolia.“You are telling more jokes lately!I find that wonderful.Maybe you are finally coming out of that shell of yours!”
She wasn’t a turtle.“That wasn’t a joke.I don’t think the people vomiting would find it very fun.”An inhale.“I was serious.”
“Aren’t you always?”Magnolia’s lips pulled down.“How did I wind up with such a serious child?”
Maybe because you’re a murderer, and I grew up knowing that dark truth.Lily also had never been particularly amused by her name.She didn’t think her mother had given it to her because lilies were beautiful.But because they were poison.
Magnolia settled a bit more comfortably in her chair.“Beautiful things can be dangerous.They should not be underestimated in this world.Carry your name with pride.”
Like it was easy to carry a name given by your serial killer mother.There was a reason Lily had always made sure she used her father’s surname of Gallo and not her mother’s maiden name of Calhoun.
Something has to separate us.
“Of course, your middle nameisOleander,” her mother murmured.Those big, wide eyes blinked innocently.“Are you going to accuse me of some wicked intent with that one, too?”A blink.“Honestly, darling, you should be grateful I gave you such beautiful names.”
Her palms were slick with sweat.Her mother was playing games.Oleanders were poisonous.In some cases, fatal.Severe cases of oleander poisoning could result in heart paralysis because the oleander contained cardiac glycosides.
“Do you still journal, my Lily?”Magnolia asked with a flutter of her lashes.“When you were a child, you were always scribbling away in your diary.”
No, she had not been.As a child, she’d never kept a diary.She’d also never had any close friends.Magnolia hadn’t liked for the other children to visit their house.
“The therapist here tells me that it would be very beneficial for me to keep a recording of my thoughts.My emotions.”Her mother pressed her lips together.Slowly released them.“I suppose I could give it a try.I do want to cooperate as much as possible.”
Her mother hadalways written down her thoughts and emotions.She was the one who’d kept journals.
And Lily had been the one to dispose of them so they could not be used against Magnolia.Well, most of them.She’d kept one.
Did her mother know that?Lily suspected that she did.
“Keep a journal,” her mother urged her.“Maybe it will help you, too.”
You want me to read your journal again, don’t you?I’ve read it a thousand times.There is nothing inside that will help me.Time to change the subject.“Are you still in contact with the doctor from Louisiana?”
“Who?”A faint pucker between Magnolia’s brows.
“The man who offered marriage,” she reminded her.
“Oh, right.We’ll see what happens.You just have to be very, very careful with men.You never know what burdens they carry.Weallcarry burdens in this world.”
Again, Lily knew the phrasing was deliberate.All the talk about names…about carrying burdens…the world…
