Page 97 of Just Like the Brontë Sisters

Chapter 65: Skylar

“How long has she been asleep?” I asked.

“I don’t know. Maybe twenty minutes?” Gavin leaned in and gave me a kiss. “I think she’s out for a while. Do you want to go for a hike?”

“A hike?” I struggled for a good answer. “You mean, we’d leave Bijou here, alone?”

“What’s going to happen to her?” Gavin asked. “Besides, we won’t be gone long.”

My mind sprinted, weighing the pros and cons. If I agreed to go, Mitch would see us leave. He’d probably, hopefully, notice that we weren’t carrying Bijou, and then he could race into the cabin, grab Bijou, and I could meet him at the car.

But what if Gavin had something planned? What if he fixed the stove so that it would burst shortly after we left and Mitch couldn’t rescue her in time? Or, what if Mitch was lying about Gavin trying to kill him this morning? What if Mitch was the dangerous one?

I decided to stall for time. “What were you doing before I got here?” I asked. “Cooking?”

“Just jotting down some notes for recipes,” Gavin replied, and I noticed his notebook resting on the counter.

Check the notebook, Sky. Jo Beth’s voice was sudden and strong, like a siren inside my head. I didn’t analyze the phenomenon, I just opened my mouth and went with the first thing I could think to say. “Gavin, would you mind checking the roof?”

He cocked his head in confusion. “What?”

“I thought I heard some snow cracking against the roof. With all the melting that’s going on, I’m worried it might cave in. Can you go look?”

He gave me a funny look but went to put his shoes on. “Sure, Sky. Anything for you.”

As soon as he was out the door, I grabbed his notebook and began furiously leafing through. I didn’t know what I was looking for or why, but I quickly found the page I hadn’t known I needed to see:

Lemon Bars:

THE CRUST:

1 cup all-purpose flour

¼ cup confectioners' sugar

¼ teaspoon kosher salt

½ cup cold, unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

2 cups pureed pistachios

THE FILLING:

2 eggs

1 cup sugar

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon grated lemon zest

4 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1 cup coconut milk

Gavin’s secret lemon bar recipe used pistachios and coconut milk! And he had known about Jo Beth’s allergies. But why? Why would he make them, just so Mom could take the lemon bars to Santiago and let Jo Beth scarf them down on the morning of her death? That seemed like a risky plan, hardly foolproof, and heavily reliant on circumstance. Still, it seemed pretty clear that he’d intended to hurt my sister. I threw the notebook across the room like it was a bomb I could detonate, wishing I could take Gavin’s life in the explosion. It meant nothing. It meant everything.

Bijou stirred, a soft baby sigh escaping from her sleeping form. I ran to her pack-n-play and lifted her. “Sorry, Sweetie,” I said. “But we have to go.”