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Alana laughed and stepped forward to wrap Ella in a hug. “Don’t blame her for anything she says. She’s already had a mimosa.”
Back in the kitchen, Julia’s three children, Anna, Henry, and Rachel, sat around a big platter of pancakes. They leaped up to hug Laura and Danny and grabbed chairs and plates for them.
“Grandma has been spoiling us with these amazing, delicious meals,” Anna explained. “I’ve only been here since Wednesday, and I swear, I’ve gained five pounds.”
“There’s no way,” Greta quipped, a twinkle in her eye.
“Grandma, I saw how much butter you put in that gratin last night,” Anna said with a cheeky grin.
“Americans are so afraid of butter!” Greta exclaimed. “The French never shy away from it. They lathered it on everything.”
“How was your drive?” Alana tugged Ella’s backpack from her shoulder and heaved it upon her own instead.
“It went quickly,” Ella explained, her brain whizzing with input. “Where’s Julia?”
“Oh, she’s having a meltdown, as usual,” Alana said with a chuckle. “Let’s get your stuff inside and run over to help her out.”
“Sounds like a plan,” Ella returned.
The release party for Bernard Copperfield’s second published novel was to begin at five o’clock later that afternoon. Julia and the event manager she’d recently hired for her newly revived publishing house had decided to throw the party in the residency space of The Copperfield House, which featured an immaculate library with large windows and doors that opened out onto the beach. This was the space where many of the previous Copperfield artist residents had shown off their work prior to departure. Ella could remember many intimate concerts, book readings, little plays, and painting displays between the old-world shelves.
In the library, Julia and her event manager, Valerie, hovered over several clipboards. Julia’s hair was frizzy as she continued to run her fingers through it and worry herself to death about the party and its numerous guests, many of whom were coming from off the island.
“Jules,” Ella said her name in singsong.
Julia lifted her gaze and opened her lips into an outrageous smile. In a flash, she crossed the room and threw herself into a three-person hug. There they stood, the three Copperfield Sisters, giggling madly at the sheer wonder of being back together again. Ella wondered if they would ever get used to it.
“You made it!” Julia howled.
“I did. And I heard you need help,” Ella announced.
Julia scrunched her nose and broke her hug. “My to-do list is still a mile long. And on top of it all, I still need someone to go down to the post office to pick up all two hundred copies of Dad’s book. We really, really need them tonight. Obviously.”
“That’s the whole point of the evening, Julia!” Alana chided.
“It’s not my fault that the postal service delivered them late,” Julia shot back. She then puffed out her cheeks and added, “I want everything to be perfect tonight. It’s Dad’s big return to the literary world.”
“Any sign from the big man?” Ella asked.
Julia shook her head and glanced toward the other half of the house, where Bernard remained locked away in his study. “As recently as last month, he was really excited about seeing so many of his old colleagues in the literary world. But now, I think he’s frightened that they’ve only come all this way to gawk at him.”
“That’s awful,” Ella breathed.
“But it also might be partially true,” Alana offered.
“Alana!” Julia cried.
“What? The entire world views Dad with morbid curiosity,” Alana countered. “We’re the only ones who know that he didn’t actually take all that money. We can’t blame everyone else for not getting it yet.”
As Julia nodded knowingly, Ella’s stomach tightened. It was clear that her sisters were still deep in the throes of proving Bernard Copperfield’s innocence. But what good would it do? Bernard had already spent twenty-five years in prison. Their family had already lost all that time. Besides, Ella wasn’t sure what she believed. Maybe Bernard had really wanted to steal all that money and escape the island with his probable mistress, Marcia Conrad. Maybe Alana and Julia just didn’t want to believe it.
It was difficult to believe that the ones you loved could turn on you like that. But Ella knew that it happened all the time.
ChapterFive
At five o’clock sharp, Ella stood just outside the entrance to the residency’s library so that the breeze off the ocean swept through the skirt of her black dress and fluttered it prettily around her knees. From where she stood, she could just barely make out the curve of Bernard Copperfield’s pipe outside of the window of his study. Smoke puffed toward the tip tops of the surrounding trees.
Within the library, Julia and her publishing team finished up the final touches on the space. Although Greta had wanted to prepare the food herself, Julia had insisted on catering the event, which was a decision that Ella respected. This party was to bring more people into The Copperfield House than had been in over twenty-five years. Greta would be anxious; it would only worsen things if she was in charge of the menu.
