“Hmm!”
Eli wriggled and pounded on my back. He hated when I did this, but as his older sister, I had the divine right to mess with him.
Laughing, I rolled off and accepted the pillow in the face as punishment.
“Guess what?” I said and signed. “Aunt Violet is making us go to a party at the country club tomorrow. Your tux is in that blue bag.”
His face fell. “Those parties are the worst. The food always tastes like slow-roasted feet and there’s nothing to do.”
I squeezed his shoulder. Over the years, we had been invited to parties in the Estate a handful of times—usually charity events. During one we attended four years ago, little shits snuck behind Eli, shouting and clapping, and then laughing themselves sick when he didn’t react.
“Bring your book and find a place to hide. If Violet tries to track you down, I’ll distract her.”
He smiled his thanks and then went back to the movie. Picking up a pillow, I put it on his lap and snuggled in to watch. This is what we’d been doing for the remains of our summer, sitting around, watching movies, reading, and swimming in the pool. There wasn’t much else to do.
I deleted my and Eli’s social media accounts when hate poured in from victims and random trolls who never invested a penny in the lodge. Blocking almost every number on our phones was the next step. Mom and Dad didn’t spare our friends or their families from their scheme and the last thing my best friend since grade school said to me before I ended the call was “Drop dead, bitch.”
We had no one to talk to. Nowhere to go. And be that as it may, I’d take the crushing isolation of the last two months over going to school with the kids we’d be forced to see at that party.
I TUGGED ON THE HEM of my dress. It looked nice on the rack but in my haste to make a point, I didn’t bother to try the thing on.
“So damn tight!” I burst out.
I yanked on it again and knocked myself off balance, falling sideways into my desk. A noise from behind made me spin around.
Eli’s soft laughs transformed his face. He was fourteen but the round cheeks and big brown eyes made him appear younger. I had the same brown eyes and blond hair, and that’s where our similarities stopped. My face was longer, lips fuller, cheeks narrower, and nose rounder. All in all, the spitting image of my mother when she was the young, beautiful, free-spirited woman who ran through the forest barefoot wearing a crown of flowers.
Eli had that photo of her in a place of honor next to his bed. He still wouldn’t let me put it away even after I told him the full story.
“You look nice.”
“I feel like a stuffed cocktail,” I griped. “Come over here. Let me do your tie.”
Eli dutifully lifted his chin and let me fix him up.
“Miss Ember? Miss Ember?” The house manager, Margaret, pushed open the door. “Mr. and Mrs. Bancroft are waiting for you both. They say to be down in five minutes.”
“We’re coming.”
I finished with his tie and sent him off. I gave myself one last look in the mirror as I grabbed my purse. The dress I chose was ivory and gold. Ivory for the soft, silky material and gold for the belt buckles on three belts wrapped around my stomach and the two belts that doubled as straps. The dress clung to every inch of my torso and flared at the waist to a hem that came mid-thigh.
My final act of rebellion was to swipe on some cherry lip gloss and push my seventh unopened makeup kit aside. Despite that, I scrubbed up nice for a girl who lived in ripped jeans and cut-up shirts.
My aunt and uncle were waiting at the bottom of the stairs and not patiently. Uncle Harrison made a show of checking his watch. “Let’s go. I won’t have your aunt late to her own event.”
The two of them left before I was halfway down the stairs. Eli was already in the car. I slid inside and flashed him a smile.
“Got your book?”
He drew open his coat and showed off the small chapter book hidden inside the pocket. Swiping his thumb across his nose, he winked.
I cracked up.
“What’s funny?” asked Aunt Violet. “This is a very important night. I’ve been working on this party for months and for the last month I had to coordinate the details by phone out of shame of showing my face.”
My grin melted away.
“Your parents have caused irreparable damage to the Bancroft name. Harry has been questioned by the police twice. Warrants issued for our financial records. And friends we’ve had for years questioning whether they can trust us.”
I looked toward my stony-faced uncle. As usual, he sat in silence as my aunt dressed me down. He might not even be listening.
“Tonight is our chance to turn things around,” said Violet. “Show people that the Bancrofts have not been beaten and we’re stronger than your parents’ disgusting, criminal deeds. To that end, I expect you to keep your promise and be on your best behavior.”
“A deal is a deal,” I replied softly.
“People may ask you what you know,” she continued. “What do you intend to tell them?”
My chest constricted in the already tight dress. I squeezed my eyes shut.
Why won’t people stop asking? How many times do I have to say—
“I don’t know anything,” I stated, “and that’s what I’ll tell anyone who asks.”
She sniffed but otherwise said nothing. We made the rest of the drive in silence, not that there was far to go. The Estate Country Club resided near the far end of the community, near their home. Four floors of restaurants, banquet halls, and conference rooms amongst the golf course and tennis courts.
We turned onto a cobblestone path. The car jiggled up the incline to a grand converted mansion. This was another structure built at the founding of the town. It wore its age in the sun-bleached stone, and the cracks in the columns. A local historical society prevents any work be done on the structure other than restoration, and it was better for it.
A smile spread unbidden as the weathered chimney stacks loomed higher. I loved old things. I loved their story. Their immutable presence. Their history stretching through lives, disasters, rising and falling suns. I could wake up one morning and find everything else in my life had changed. But not this building. No, it would always be here.
Uncle parked in front of the valet. He stepped out, rounded the hood, and kissed his wife’s gloved hand as he helped her out. It was sweet. What wasn’t sweet was the two of them gliding off without us. The valet climbed inside and jumped at the glimpse of us in the rearview mirror.
“Sorry, madam. Sir. I’ll get your door.”
I glanced at Eli. “You ready?”
“Why wouldn’t I be? I’ll be hiding behind the coats all night.”
“That’s the spirit.”
My door flew open and the valet extended his hand to me. This is it. No turning back now.
Eli and I climbed out and fell in step behind an elegantly dressed couple. They didn’t notice who we were, and I hoped they didn’t long enough for me to get Eli behind those coats.
I drew him closer to my side, and it broke my heart that he let me. Normally, Eli didn’t care for my overprotectiveness, but the last two months had changed us both.
Holding hands tightly, we stepped inside the beauty and elegance that came from hundred-year-old taste. Modernity couldn’t compete with this. Crystal chandeliers cast a soft glow on the guests passing through to the music and conversation floating out of the ballroom. Red and gold carpet muffled our escape as we crept to the side and ducked behind a display case.