“Look, I’ve got to go. The funeral is upstate tomorrow, and we’re all going up there today, so…”
“Are you okay?”
“It’s good seeing you.” He headed for the limo, but called back over his shoulder, “Take care of yourself, Kat.”
And then he was in the car.
And then the car was melding into traffic and disappearing down the street.
Kat felt Gabrielle come to stand beside her, a cup of coffee in each hand. She gave one to Kat and blew on the contents of the other. “How was he?” Gabrielle asked.
“Different,” Kat said, not sipping. Not smiling. “He was different.”
Chapter 4
Driving toward the big house in Wyndham Woods, Kat couldn’t help but think about the first time she’d ever been there. It had been dark, and she had been younger. But the biggest difference, it turned out, was that some places are far more intimidating when you approach them via the front door.
“Name?” the guard asked when Gabrielle pulled up to the gate.
“We’re here for the memorial service.” Gabrielle gestured at her black dress as if that should be explanation enough. Kat thought that perhaps Gabrielle should have chosen a longer dress if she’d truly wanted to send the right message.
“It’s a private ceremony.” The guard pointed to his clipboard. “Name?”
“We’re guests of Hale’s,” Gabrielle said.
“You’re going to have to be a little more specific,” the man told them.
“The Fifth,” Gabrielle added. “W. W. Hale the Fifth.”
“You sound very close.” The guard put his clipboard away.
“She’s his girlfriend.” Gabrielle jerked her head in Kat’s direction.
The guard leaned down to peer at Kat, then whispered to Gabrielle, “Between you and me, Mr. Hale the Fifth has a lot of girlfriends.”
“Well, between you and me—”
Kat leaned across her cousin and spoke through the open window. “Thank you.”
“But—”
“It’s okay, Gabrielle. We don’t need to be let in.”
It was easy enough to park the car and climb the fence. Even in heels, Gabrielle didn’t complain about the long walk through the forest and short stroll across the vacant side of the yard. It was almost like nothing had changed, Kat thought, when she reached the top of the trellis, forced open the window, and slid inside the empty hall. But walking toward the railing at the top of the stairs, Kat immediately knew that she was wrong.
The first time she’d been in that building, it had been dark and quiet. Sleeping. But now the main floor was wide awake. Gabrielle peeked over Kat’s shoulder, stared at the crowd that filled the foyer below, and said, “I thought we had a big family.”
There were men in dark suits, women in black dresses and the occasional veil. And yet it didn’t look or feel or sound like a funeral, not with the clinking of glasses and waiters making their way through the crowd with champagne and caviar on silver trays.
It seemed to Kat that it had taken a death to make the big, abandoned house come alive.
“So,” Gabrielle said with a deep breath, “this is how the other half lives.”
“No, Gabs.” Kat shook her head. “This is how the other half dies.”
“I guess,” Gabrielle said. “I haven’t been to a funeral since…” She looked away, unable or unwilling to say your mom. “Sorry.”
“Don’t worry about it.”