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“After Mom died, we both needed something to occupy our minds. Since we weren’t moving to France without her, I decided building a new home for Dad would be a good thing. Give him something to focus on. He loves getting into the details. He just finished it. Took nearly two years with crews working around the clock.”
“And how did you cope?” asked Decker.
She smiled sadly. “I buried myself in work, too.”
“Your mother died in a blizzard, I understand,” said Decker.
Dawson nodded and rubbed at a ring on her pinky. “From carbon monoxide poisoning in her car,” she said in a low, halting voice.
“What was she doing out in a blizzard in the first place?” asked Decker.
“Alice Pritchard, an elderly neighbor, had called. Her power was out and she was in trouble. She had health problems.”
“Why didn’t she just call 911?” asked Decker.
“My mom would have gotten there faster than the 911 folks. And we had a backup generator, so Alice would have been fine at our house. It had happened before, and each time Alice would call us.”
“But your mother never made it to Alice’s?” said Decker.
“No, and Alice died, too.”
“My God,” said Jamison.
Decker said, “If the neighbor died, how’d you know she had called your mom and that was the reason she was out in the blizzard?”
“My mom had texted me when Alice called. But with the time difference I didn’t see the text until the following morning. The first I knew about it was when they found her in the car after the blizzard had passed.”
“I’m very sorry,” said Jamison as Baker tenderly patted Dawson’s shoulder.
There was a moment of silence until Decker said awkwardly, “Um, your dad said you’ll be running the world before long.”
Jamison eyed Decker nervously, but before she could say anything, Baker chimed in. “Daddy’s perfect little girl.”
Decker noted that Dawson did not seem happy about this remark. “And we understand you had a brother?” he asked, drawing another stern look from Jamison.
She said, “I’m sure Caroline would rather talk about something else.”
Dawson coughed and took a drink of her water. “No, it’s okay. Yes, my brother, Hugh. We called him Junior. He . . . died.”
Decker said, “Joe Kelly told us he and your father didn’t see eye to eye on things. But he wouldn’t elaborate.”
Dawson gazed at Decker with an intensity that made him feel uncomfortable. “Good old Joe. He does like to keep things close to the vest.”
“Was that wrong of him?” asked Jamison.
“No, I suppose he was just trying to shield the family from undue attention. Joe’s always been loyal that way. The fact is, my brother was gay and my father had a big problem with that. He cut him out of the will, out of the business, out of his life. In the end, Junior couldn’t live with it, I guess. So he decided to end his life. He took a bunch of pills. I was the one who found him.” She dabbed at her eyes with her napkin.
“Damn, Caroline, I had no idea,” said Baker.
“No reason you should have known. I cared deeply for my brother. We were very close.”
“That . . . that must’ve made things difficult between you and your father,” said Decker.
“We didn’t speak for about a year after Junior died. But then we lost Mom, and . . . and we decided as the only family left we needed to seek a truce. So we did.”
“Do you think the truce will hold?” asked Decker.
She tapped her ring against the wood, as though for luck. “I don’t think I have a choice,” she replied.
