“Goddamn it, Lolly!” Uncle Jake bellowed back, pressing fingers defensively against the cup of his ear. “I ain't that deaf. I can see clearly who Jordan and Candace are.” He offered me an arthritic hand. “How you, son? My sister Mildred was your great-grandmother.” He jabbed a finger toward Mutt and Lolly. “They ain't her kids, though. Praise God.”
Lolly slapped Jake's shoulder playfully-but a little too hard for my liking. She scooped up the offended Sweetie in her arms. “Uncle Jake likes to remind Mutt and me we ain't his blood kin. But we do all the takin' care of him that he needs. He forgets how kind we are sometimes.” A vinegar tone lay underneath her honeyed voice.
“Hmmph,” Uncle Jake said, but he huddled down in his chair. Aunt Lolly crossed her arms, imprisoning Sweetie, and smiled beatifically at him. I took a step back-a sudden dislike of Lolly Throckmorton surged through me. Her bullying tone toward the old man riled me. Her sugary but hard-edged voice reminded me of a candied apple-with a razor hidden in it.
“Well, well, well,” a voice sounded behind us. I turned and saw a tall, buxom woman in her early fifties standing in the library entrance. She was resplendently attired in a brightly flowered blouse with white jeans. Her hair was dyed a dark auburn; her bright blue eyes were ringed with mascara. Under the makeup her face resembled a softened version of Bob Don's. She came forward and pecked Bob Don on the cheek.
“Hello, brother.” She favored Gretchen with a smile bordering on distasteful. “Gretchen, darling. Don't you look lively today?” Her smile rested on me. “This must be my new nephew.” She extended a hand. “How do you do, Jordan? I'm your aunt Cecilia Goertz.”
I shook her hand and introduced Candace while Gretchen trilled, “Sass, honey, I've been telling Jordy all about you and he's just so excited to meet you.”
“Yeah, I can see he's all atwitter over making my acquaintance.” She gave Candace a dismissive glance-one woman boldly appraising another-and turned her attention back to me.
“So you going by Goertz again, Sass?” Philip Bedrich called from his couch. He sipped at his iced tea and sucked on the lemon, letting the rind drop back into the glass. “After all, you do have a plethora of surnames to choose from.”
“You'll probably need to borrow a good name when you go bankrupt again, Philip. I'll loan you one with a good credit rating.” Sass, like the others, gave my face and my body an unwavering assessment. “You got all my brother's best features, honey. Did you get any of his brains?”
Bob Don laughed. “Hell, he got your nerve, Sass. Just keep prodding him; he can take care of himself.”
I wasn't anxious to get into a battle of repartee with Cecilia Goertz; she obviously had a nimble wit. Her eyes stayed locked on me as I fidgeted on my feet. One polished nail rested against her chin, tapping, and I imagined it running along an envelope's seal, securing a message of hate inside.
“Where's Aubrey, Sass? I want him to meet Jordan and Candace,” Uncle Mutt said.
“I don't know. Gettin' in touch with his inner child or some such garbage.” Sass sauntered to where Deborah Goertz stood by the drink cart and poured the last of the margaritas into a glass. She sipped and hummed appreciatively. She glanced over at Gretchen. “Where's your pick-me-up, darling? Thought you'd be parched after your long trip.”
Gretchen beamed with pride. “I'm sober now, Sass. I haven't had a drink in nearly a year.”
Sass ran a tongue along her lips. I watched her watch Gretchen. Apparently no congratulatory message was forthcoming from her sister-in-law.
“We're all very proud of Gretchen,” I ventured. Gretchen started in surprise but said nothing.
“I'm sure you must be.” Sass went over and kissed Gretchen lightly on the cheek. “I hope it won't bother you if the rest of us drink. I'm stone dry, darling.”
“Of course not,” Gretchen assured her, but I saw her gaze light on the glimmering bottles on the drink cart for the briefest of moments.
Sass smiled thinly, then wiped her fingers along Gretchen's cheek where she had kissed her. “Sorry. I shouldn't sip at that delicious margarita, then kiss you. I wouldn't want a trace of alcohol touching you, darling.”
Gretchen didn't flinch. She turned away after a moment and asked Bob Don for a Dr Pepper. He hurried to pour her soda. Uncle Mutt broke the embarrassed silence.
“All right, everyone get your drinks and let's unwind before dinner. I got an announcement to make.” Uncle Mutt's glare went to every face in the room.
“Announcement?” Aunt Lolly murmured to Sweetie. “How exciting.”
She didn't know the half of it.
“Where are the kids?” I asked Aunt Lolly after fifteen minutes of idle conversation with my new family. Silence crashed down like a curtain falling unexpectedly on actors in mid-scene.
Aunt Lolly paled and a hand fluttered near her throat, smoothing out her skin. “Kids? What kids?”
“Well, at every family reunion I've been at, there's always lots of kids underfoot…” I became aware of the uncomfortable quiet holding sway in the room. Uncle Jake coughed. The fleeting sense of acceptance and comfort I'd started to feel from the Goertzes wisped away like smoke.
“Did I say something wrong?” I finally managed.
Aunt Lolly offered a fatuous smile. “Oh, no, honey, not at all. You see, Deborah's not been able to keep a man, and the twins are both divorced. And Aubrey, well-” She didn't elaborate. “Tom has a couple of kids”-she fixed a baleful eye on him-”but he doesn't have much contact with them, do you, Tommy? Not a good idea, is it?” She took a long, slow sip of her red wine.
Tom Bedrich didn't appear rattled by his aunt's jeer. “No, Aunt Lolly, I don't. I'm not sure how that's any of your concern, though.”
Abashment colored my face. “Listen, Tom, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have raised the subject.”
“Would you bring young'uns around this crowd?” Uncle Jake asked, drawing his blanket tighter around his legs. “I sure as hell wouldn't. Foulmouthed and ornery they are- and I don't mean kids.”
“Anyone got a mirror for old Jake?” Philip murmured from the safety of his chair.
“Well, maybe you and Candace will marry and have kids,” Aunt Lolly offered. She blew a puckered kiss at Can-dace, who stood talking with Deborah. “And then you can bring them to the island for a visit. Wouldn't that be grand?”
Deborah excused herself, and I saw a hot light of anger pulse in her dark eyes. Aunt Lolly rocked back on her heels, as though she'd scored a point in a child's game.
The gathering had thinned: Sass had departed in search of her son, Bob Don and Mutt had excused themselves for several minutes, and Gretchen had gone for a predinner stroll. I pardoned myself from the crowd and headed up to my room.
Candace might have planned to play bodyguard all weekend, but I believed in the direct approach. I'd fetch the profane epistles I'd received and produce them at the dinner table. Make a stand, and make it early. Whoever my correspondent was, let him or her know immediately that I wasn't going to be cowed. If the rest of the family was as shocked as I hoped they'd be, I'd smoke out the culprit early. And get on to the business of fitting in.
Fitting in? I stopped with my hands on the stair, halfway toward the third landing. Did I really want to do that with this clan? I liked Deborah and Mutt and felt ambivalent about the rest. But for Bob Don, I would have to make the effort. I didn't delve into analyzing what my attitude meant toward my relationship with him.
I began climbing the stairs again, but paused as I heard voices whispering below in urgency: “Don't walk away from me! I'm telling you, you better do something now. Now!”
Aunt Sass.
“Don't be silly. He's not a threat.” A voice I didn't know, male, younger, calm, with a slow rasp of a drawl not unlike my own.
“If you blow this-”
I stayed still, not daring to move, chastising myself for eavesdropping.