‘Sorry. Did you ask me a question, Olivia?’ Charles shook himself, as if he were shaking off a trance. ‘This is very rude of me, isn’t it?’ He grimaced as he held up his notepad. ‘I beg your pardon, everyone. Why don’t I take my food into my study so I can get some more work done without being impolite?’
‘Dad . . .’ Olivia rolled her eyes. ‘I saw the museum yesterday, remember? I think you’re done! Seriously, it looks as good as it needs to. Doesn’t it, Ivy?’
‘Wha–?’ Ivy’s voice sounded bleary. Clearly, she had no idea what the others had been talking about.
‘Ivy agrees,’ Olivia said firmly to their father. ‘You’ve done a great job, so stop worrying about it!’
‘Why, thank you, Olivia.’ Charles smiled at her. ‘I appreciate the kind words. However, this isn’t about this weekend’s exhibit. It’s about what I might do with the South Wing of the museum if it is, indeed, entrusted to me afterwards.’
‘What?’ Olivia stared at him. ‘But you’ve been working so hard on the exhibit. Can’t you give yourself a little break?’ Or some time to pay attention to your wife? she added silently. Can’t you see how weird Lillian’s acting?
But Charles was already standing up. ‘I’m afraid not, my dear. There’s no time to be lost. I want to do something spectacular – but more than that, it needs to be worthwhile.’
He headed out of the room, leaving Olivia staring helplessly after him. At the table, Ivy was still busy using her fork to turn her sweet potato into mangled, not-so-sweet mashed potato, while Lillian seemed to have turned into stone.
As Olivia watched Charles disappear through the door, irritation flashed through her, tightening her chest. How can such a smart man be so oblivious to how his own family feels right now?
Looking again at Lillian’s mask-like face, where all expression had been carefully hidden, Olivia released her tension in a sigh.
‘I like your dress, Lillian,’ Olivia offered. ‘It’s very . . .’ Formal, she finished in her head. Who wore a black silk evening gown to a family dinner at home? ‘. . . elegant,’ she finished out loud. ‘Where did you –?’
‘Sorry!’ Lillian’s head whipped to the side as her smartphone chirped yet again. She lunged for her handbag. ‘Excuse me. I just have to see who’s trying to contact me – they seem rather insistent.’
‘OK,’ Olivia said. But she frowned as she saw Lillian race upstairs with full vampiric speed, obviously waiting to answer the phone until she was out of hearing range of everyone else. Why would she need that much privacy for her call, if she doesn’t even know who’s trying to talk to her?
‘Oh.’ Ivy sighed, emerging for the first time from her distraction. ‘That reminds me, I left my phone in my room. Brendan might need to call me. Maybe . . .’
‘I’ll get it for you,’ Olivia said. She gave a mock-serious face, pointing to the mangled mess on Ivy’s plate. ‘Just promise me you’ll put that poor food out of its misery!’
‘Will do.’ Ivy gave her a sad half-smile and a mock salute.
Olivia started up the stairs towards her sister’s room. As she walked past Charles and Lillian’s bedroom door, though, the sound of Lillian’s strained, unhappy voice stopped her in her tracks.
‘I’m really, really not sure about this,’ Lillian said softly.
‘Are you nuts?’ The crackly voice of Jacob Harker sounded through the phone so loudly that even Olivia could hear it in the hallway outside. ‘You would have to be, like, totally crazy to turn this down! It’ll give your career a massive boost.’
‘I know,’ Lillian said, ‘but –’
‘This director really wants you on the project. To prove it, he’s offered to produce your feature-length directorial debut after you wrap. He just wants you to help him out on this one shoot.’
There was a long, agonising pause. Olivia could almost feel her stepmom’s indecision vibrating through the air. She held her breath to keep from making any tell-tale noises.
But why is this such a hard decision? Olivia wondered. Why would she be so unsure about taking a new job on a movie? Yes, Lillian had moved to Franklin Grove, but she and Charles must have factored in that she would need to travel from time to time. After all, it was her movie career that had brought her to Franklin Grove in the first place, at the beginning of the year.
Finally, Lillian let out a heavy sigh. ‘I’ll think about it,’ she told Harker. ‘Now come in, please.’
What? Olivia’s eyebrows rose. Why would Lillian ask Jacob Harker – who was in another state – to come into the room?
. . . Oh, wait. She didn’t ask Harker. Oops!
Olivia winced. After all the times the vampires around her had been caught off-guard in this past week, why did tonight have to be the night Lillian started hearing like a vampire again?
Bracing herself, Olivia opened the door.
Inside the bedroom, Lillian stood by a plush, ornate double-coffin in the shape of a heart. As Olivia stepped inside, Lillian placed her smartphone on the glossy wooden lid of the coffin and turned to give her stepdaughter a stern look.
‘Eavesdropping is never nice, Olivia. You’re old enough to know that by now.’