“Where’ll I get the water?” she said.
“I’m sure you’ll figure out something,” I said.
“It’ll take forever.”
“No. But it will take a while.”
“Why did you do it?” Quinn asked.
Kyra looked at him warily. “I dunno. I don’t like foxhunting, I guess.” She glanced over at her mother and said, “I think it’s stupid. People who do it are stupid.”
Amanda had looked like she’d been biting her tongue ever since she walked into the room. Now her face flushed dull red.
“That’s enough, Kyra. Time to go.” If Amanda’s words had been in a little balloon above her head, they would have been encased in ice.
“I don’t foxhunt,” I said.
“No, but you let them do it.” She jerked her head toward Amanda. “Your farm’s part of their territory.”
“It’s one of several farms. Why single me out?”
She cocked her head and shrugged. “I heard my parents talking about that woman who died when her car went into Goose Creek. And how you’re trying to find out something she was going to tell you,” she said. “I thought maybe you’d wonder if someone was after you, too. And you’d be scared enough to cancel the hunt.”
Quinn and I exchanged glances. I cleared my throat. “I see.”
Amanda’s face was a mixture of anger and embarrassment. “I’ll deal with her at home,” she said to us.
“And we’ll see her tomorrow,” Quinn said. He glanced at Kyra. “Right?”
She nodded, with a trace of the old sulkiness.
“Oh, don’t you worry. She’ll be here as soon as school’s out,” Amanda said.
“Excellent,” I said. “In that case, I think this conversation’s over.”
Quinn and I walked them to Amanda’s Range Rover.
“We’re not quite done,” Quinn said. He walked over to the carriage house and opened the door. When he came out he was holding the plastic bag with Freddie’s remains in it. “This is yours. And this.”
He handed her the bag and her studded collar.
Kyra took them silently, her eyes downcast. She held the collar like it was made of something heavy. I knew she realized that was how she’d been caught.
“That stuffed animal was the last gift you got from your grandfather before he died, Ky,” Amanda said. “Put the bag in the trunk and wait in the car.”
She obeyed, still quiet.
“I apologize again for my daughter,” Amanda said. “Like I said, her father and I will discipline her.”
“I think she’s been punished enough,” I said. “Hopefully she’s scared now, too. I’m sure it won’t happen again. See you tomorrow for the meet?”
She nodded. “Thank you.”
“I’ll open the south gate first thing in the morning,” Quinn said. “That way you and the rest of the hunt don’t have to ride through the main entrance if you don’t want to.”
“No one knows about Freddie but us,” I said. “As for the paint at the front gate, if anyone asks, it was probably someone’s idea of a pre-Halloween prank.”
“You don’t have to do that but I’m grateful.”
She got into her car and drove off.
“I think that put a definite chill in our friendship,” I said.
“Well, she better get over it,” Quinn said. “She’s got her hands full with that kid.”
“I know. Hey, you were good at that bad cop thing,” I said. “You terrified me.”
He looked pleased. “That was nothing,” he said. “I wasn’t even warmed up.”
Pépé showed up at eight o’clock the next morning just as I was leaving for the villa. We met in the foyer. He looked a little worse for the wear, his bow tie charmingly askew, smelling of cognac and tobacco and someone’s heavy, old-fashioned perfume. Thank God he hadn’t been driving.
“You want a cup of coffee? I just turned the pot off, so it’s still pretty hot,” I said, kissing him on the cheek. “How was it?”
“Formidable,” he said. “But I am a little tired.”
“Maybe you should go to bed.”
He nodded. “I think I will.”
“I’ll be back this afternoon to pick you up,” I said. “Maybe around three or four? Unless you want to sleep longer and we can go to the cemetery tomorrow.”
“No, no,” he said. “I want to go today. If that’s still agreeable with you.”
“Of course,” I said. “I’ll see you later.”
I watched him climb the stairs. He took his time. Eighty-two years old and out all night partying like he was twenty-eight. I blew him a kiss that he didn’t see and left for the vineyard.
I was the first to arrive at the villa. Quinn came later after opening the south gate for the Goose Creek Hunt.
“Did they show up?” I asked.
“Oh, yeah. Blowing that foxhorn, doing all the stuff they do. Came through the south gate like we figured they would.”
“Many horse trailers?”
“A few. Most of them rode their horses. Hacking, or whatever it’s called.”
“It’s called hacking. You see Amanda?”
“Yup.”
“Shane?”
“Him, too. With all the hounds, yapping up a storm. He said it’s going to be a good day with no wind and cool air. The fox’s scent will lie right there close to the ground. Easy for the pack to follow.”
“Good. Mick there, too?”
He put his hands on his hips. “Maybe I should have taken roll. Yeah, Mick was there, too. Sunny, Ryan. All the usual suspects.”
“I just asked.”
“You should have asked about Mick up front. Though I would have thought he would have told you himself. Especially since you’re sleeping with him again.”
“Don’t you have work to do?”
“Not before I get a cup of coffee. Is it made yet?”
“I haven’t had time.”
“I guess I have to do everything around here, don’t I?”
I followed him into the kitchen. “How’d you know about Mick and me?”
“Went by the General Store this morning. Thelma was feeling chatty.”
I’d been filling the coffeepot with water. I turned sharply and water splashed onto the floor. “When Thelma doesn’t feel chatty, she will no longer have a pulse. Do you mean to tell me it’s making the rounds at the General Store that I spent the night at Mick’s place?”
“You slept there? She wasn’t sure who bunked with who.” He took the pot from me and poured the water into the reservoir.
I wiped up the floor as the coffeemaker started to gurgle. “Don’t share that, okay?”
He got a carton of milk from the refrigerator. “So you are back together?”
“No. And I don’t want to talk about it.”
He leaned against the counter and folded his arms across his chest. “Okay, fine.”
I reached for the sugar bowl and spooned some into my coffee. “Any idea if Nicole’s left town yet?”
His eyes narrowed. “I don’t know. She called Sunday morning and left a message but I never called her back. You going to have any coffee with that sugar?”
“Huh? Oh. You make strong coffee. It needs extra sugar.”
“You’re mad Mick hired Nicole.”
I picked up the carton of milk. “Okay, so I am. You know something? I’ve finally realized everything’s about business with him—even when it seems like it’s not. His whole life revolves around work and winning and owning the best of everything.” I stirred my coffee until it became the color of liquid caramel. “Nicole’s got a great reputation, so of course he had to hire her. The thing is, he never seems satisfied or happy. He’s always restless. Bored.”
I thought about what Frankie said about him the other day. It was all about the thrill of the hunt with him.
“That include you?” Quinn asked.
“Yes.” I blew on my coffee. “How come you didn’t call Nicole back?”
He picked up his mug and held the swinging door open for me. “I don’t know.” We both walked into the tasting room as the door swung so hard the hinges creaked. “Guess we both have things we don’t want to talk about,” he said.
The hunt, which had allowed the new puppies entering the pack and the younger horses to be tested in the field, ended just before noon. It was the more informal season known as cub hunting and lasted from September through November. Even the dress was more casual because the members wore lightweight tweed jackets instead of the formal black jackets they’d use once the regular season began in November.