about the money before.”
“I can only assume your father intended to tell you.”
“He didn’t live long enough to tell me anything.”
“He lived long enough to pull my brother into a dicey situation.”
“I see. Anything associated with my father is automatically tainted. Including me. Including Ella.”
“Look, I’m here to fulfill my brother’s wishes. My whole family’s wishes. I’ve found you and Ella for them. The money’s waiting for you at Cameron Hall. As far as I’m concerned it doesn’t exist. If you don’t come to the Hall and carry it away with your own hands I swear to God I’ll burn it.”
I turned without another word, walked back to the picnic table, and sat on the tabletop staring blindly at the plasticwineglass I cupped in my hands. I clutched it so hard the bowl cracked. I was dimly aware when Gib sat down beside me. He took the ruined glass out of my hand and tossed it neatly into the trash can. “The money’s yours, either way,” he said.
I gritted my teeth. “I learned a long time ago that no one gives a damn about my sister and me. If I didn’t want the money for Ella, I wouldn’t humble myself to sneak into your ancestral home like a whore.”
“Interesting choice of words. Unfortunately, your plan won’t work.”
“What do you mean?”
He rubbed at lines of fatigue and tension in his forehead. He blew out a long, disgusted-sounding breath. “You’ve been imbued,” he said, “with an importance far greater than you want to imagine.”
“I don’t like the sound of that.”
“You read my great-aunt’s note. You and your sis are invited to the Hall,” he repeated quietly. “That’s what we call it—Cameron Hall. We’ve been closed for a year. I don’t know when or even if we’re going to reopen the inn. So you’ll be our only guests.”
The estate had been closed for a year? Before I could catch myself, I glanced meaningfully at his hand. “I don’t want to be anyone’s symbolic totem,” I finally said.
For a second he shut his eyes, then opened them and scanned the distant skyscrapers as if searching for an escape. “Too late. You represent the triumph of old hospitality come home to roost. And of course the rest of the family sees welcoming you and Ella as the fulfillment of my brother’s wishes.”
“What do you see us as?”
He hesitated. “A gamble,” he said.
I quickly looked away to hide my disappointment. “You’re telling me that if I want that money I have to perform. What kind of act do you want?”
“You have to visit. That’s all. Come set a spell. Kick yourshoes off. Allow yourself and Ella to be pampered. You’ve been designated as Company.”
This was no small thing, in the southern sense of that word. If a person visited a home in the South for any length of time, whether for a mere one-night stay or weeks, months, even years of habitation, that visitor achieved the status of Company, meaning he or she received deluxe treatment.
“How long is your definition of a spell?” I asked, stunned. “How long does your great-aunt expect us to stay?”
“That’s up to you. I’d say anything less than a week wouldn’t even register on her Company scale. You have to understand. Our cousin Bea came to visit when I was a little boy. She’s still there. Another cousin moved in two years ago. In your case, two weeks ought to do it.”
“Two
weeks?
That’s impossible.”
“I’m not any more comfortable with this than you are.”
“I don’t need your charity. Or your self-righteous judgments.”
“Maybe my family’s a little crazy right now. Looking for answers to make the world feel safe again.” He actually smiled a little. “Come and be crazy with them. I’ve spent most of the past year with my arm in a sling and my hand taped up like a baseball glove. All I could manage to do was type one-handed on a little laptop computer. That’s when I started hunting for you through the Internet. On days when I
“I can only assume your father intended to tell you.”
“He didn’t live long enough to tell me anything.”
“He lived long enough to pull my brother into a dicey situation.”
“I see. Anything associated with my father is automatically tainted. Including me. Including Ella.”
“Look, I’m here to fulfill my brother’s wishes. My whole family’s wishes. I’ve found you and Ella for them. The money’s waiting for you at Cameron Hall. As far as I’m concerned it doesn’t exist. If you don’t come to the Hall and carry it away with your own hands I swear to God I’ll burn it.”
I turned without another word, walked back to the picnic table, and sat on the tabletop staring blindly at the plasticwineglass I cupped in my hands. I clutched it so hard the bowl cracked. I was dimly aware when Gib sat down beside me. He took the ruined glass out of my hand and tossed it neatly into the trash can. “The money’s yours, either way,” he said.
I gritted my teeth. “I learned a long time ago that no one gives a damn about my sister and me. If I didn’t want the money for Ella, I wouldn’t humble myself to sneak into your ancestral home like a whore.”
“Interesting choice of words. Unfortunately, your plan won’t work.”
“What do you mean?”
He rubbed at lines of fatigue and tension in his forehead. He blew out a long, disgusted-sounding breath. “You’ve been imbued,” he said, “with an importance far greater than you want to imagine.”
“I don’t like the sound of that.”
“You read my great-aunt’s note. You and your sis are invited to the Hall,” he repeated quietly. “That’s what we call it—Cameron Hall. We’ve been closed for a year. I don’t know when or even if we’re going to reopen the inn. So you’ll be our only guests.”
The estate had been closed for a year? Before I could catch myself, I glanced meaningfully at his hand. “I don’t want to be anyone’s symbolic totem,” I finally said.
For a second he shut his eyes, then opened them and scanned the distant skyscrapers as if searching for an escape. “Too late. You represent the triumph of old hospitality come home to roost. And of course the rest of the family sees welcoming you and Ella as the fulfillment of my brother’s wishes.”
“What do you see us as?”
He hesitated. “A gamble,” he said.
I quickly looked away to hide my disappointment. “You’re telling me that if I want that money I have to perform. What kind of act do you want?”
“You have to visit. That’s all. Come set a spell. Kick yourshoes off. Allow yourself and Ella to be pampered. You’ve been designated as Company.”
This was no small thing, in the southern sense of that word. If a person visited a home in the South for any length of time, whether for a mere one-night stay or weeks, months, even years of habitation, that visitor achieved the status of Company, meaning he or she received deluxe treatment.
“How long is your definition of a spell?” I asked, stunned. “How long does your great-aunt expect us to stay?”
“That’s up to you. I’d say anything less than a week wouldn’t even register on her Company scale. You have to understand. Our cousin Bea came to visit when I was a little boy. She’s still there. Another cousin moved in two years ago. In your case, two weeks ought to do it.”
“Two
weeks?
That’s impossible.”
“I’m not any more comfortable with this than you are.”
“I don’t need your charity. Or your self-righteous judgments.”
“Maybe my family’s a little crazy right now. Looking for answers to make the world feel safe again.” He actually smiled a little. “Come and be crazy with them. I’ve spent most of the past year with my arm in a sling and my hand taped up like a baseball glove. All I could manage to do was type one-handed on a little laptop computer. That’s when I started hunting for you through the Internet. On days when I
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