“Well, you are doing him, right?” Jory said. More a statement than a question.
Hannah whirled, gaping at her in shock. “You just said what to mer
“Sorry, I guess that came off a little blunt. But we don’t have any secrets in this kitchen. Long-standing castle rule.”
“You could have warned a person. And why on earth would you…?”
“I saw you two sucking face on the observation deck yesterday.”
Hannah reddened immediately. “Oh…”
“As did Carly,” Des said. “She mentioned it to me last night.”
“This is awful, just awful,” Hannah gasped, horrified. “I feel like some kind of steamy Jezebel. And I’m not, I swear. I’m a deeply religious person, and nothing like this has ever happened to me before in my whole life. It’s wrong. I know it’s wrong. It’s just that we’re so, well, good together.”
“You’re actually into him?” Jory seemed flabbergasted. “I figured it was strictly business on your part.”
Hannah said, “Look, I feel kind of funny talking about this, okay?”
“Sure, whatever.” Jory’s pot of water was boiling now. She dumped in the oatmeal and started stirring it. “I’m not judging you. We all do what we have to do. Besides, it couldn’t happen to a nicer girl. This is me being facetious.”
“You don’t like Carly?” Des asked her.
“What’s to like? She treats people like dirt. Yesterday morning, she ordered me to iron her silk things for her-like I’m her personal maid or something. Who the hell does that old bitch think she is? And who does she think she’s fooling? She’s got so much collagen in her face you can practically hear it sloshing around in there. She didn’t so much as thank me when I did do her ironing for her, let alone tip me. Just looked right through me. Take it from me, that woman has zero class. We see all kinds of millionaires up here, heads of big corporations. The ones who have real class treat our staff with respect. They treat everyone that way.” Jory glanced at Des uncertainly. “You must know what I mean, being resident trooper in a snooty place like Dorset, and a woman. And, well, you know…”
“Black? I absolutely do know what you mean.” Des was starting to like Jory Hearn. She was frank. She had brains. She had pride.
“Aaron told me that he and Carly have an open marriage,” Hannah blurted out suddenly. “That she’s cool with him seeing other women.”
“That’s sure not what I was hearing from her last night,” Des said. “She was talking divorce.”
“Carly’s going to divorce him?” Hannah’s tongue darted out of her mouth, wetting her flaky lips. “Man, I really stepped in something smelly, didn’t I?”
“That all depends on how you want things to turn out,” Des said.
“More than anything in the world, I care about getting Ada Geiger down on film,” Hannah said firmly. “And that’s the truth. But she doesn’t seem at all interested, and it’s pretty obvious that Aaron doesn’t have much influence with her. It’s dawning on me that this may not pan out for me professionally. And that really, really bites, because it’s awful tough out there right now in the cold cruel world.”
“I sure don’t know what we’ll do,” Jory chimed in gloomily, stirring the oatmeal with a wooden spoon. “This place has always been home for both of us. Norma treated us like we were her own children. Now what? Who knows what’ll happen to the castle? I’ll get by, I guess. But Jase has a hard time in the outside world. The poor thing’s so quiet.”
“I’m sure you’ll both have a place here with Les,” Des said.
“But what if Les decides to sell out?”
“Then you’ll move on, and survive.”
Jory folded her arms in front of her chest, hugging herself tightly. “Sorry, I don’t mean to whimper. I just feel like my whole world is falling apart.”
“It’s changing,” Des said. “And you’ll keep changing with it. The day you stop doing that is the day you end up like that nice lady in bed upstairs.”
“It’s a little scary,” Jory confessed.
“Get used to it,” Hannah said. “I’m scared every minute of every day.”
“You are?” Jory looked at her in surprise. “How do you deal with it?”
“Not very well, apparently. But I keep on going.”
“Just forget about the big questions for now, Jory,” Des urged her. “Focus on small steps. Right now, we’re making breakfast. Later on, we’ll do lunch.”
“That reminds me,” Jory said, nodding her head. “When Mitch was getting his coffee he started talking about making us a giant vat of something called American chop suey.”
“That’s my doughboy.” Des smiled.
“I’m not even sure what that is. Any idea what’s in it?”
“Trust me, girl. You don’t ever want to know.”
Compared to the kitchen, it felt practically tropical in the taproom. A kerosene space heater was putting out genuine warmth, and a fire was crackling in the fireplace. Les and Ada were seated at a table before the fire with Aaron and Carly. Teddy was off by himself in the Sunset Lounge, playing a slow, painfully heartfelt rendition of “More Than You Know.”
“Breakfast will be ready soon,” Des announced softly.
“Thanks, Des,” Les said distractedly, running a hand through his uncombed hair.
“Does Teddy have to keep playing that same damned song?” demanded Aaron, the only one of them who was not clad in something warm and fuzzy. He was dressed as he’d been last night, in a crisp dress shirt, bow tie and blazer. Apparently, he never wore anything else. Aaron’s unshaven face offered the only hint that this was not a totally normal morning. His stubble was white, in sharp contrast to his jet-black hair and eyebrows. Des couldn’t help wondering if he dyed them. “He’s been playing it over and over again.”
“Leave him be,” commanded Ada, who still had on her wool robe. “The music soothes Teddy.”
“Well, it’s driving me nuts. And it’s my mother who’s dead and I think I deserve a little consideration.”
“Acky, shut up,” snapped Carly. She wore her mink over a bulky white sweater and stirrup pants. Her long blond hair was pulled back into a tight pony tail, and she had on no makeup. Compared to the blond bombshell of last night, Carly looked not only older but surprisingly plain.
Aaron glared across the table at her, his nose twitching. “What did you say to me?”
“She said shut up.” Ada calmly sipped her herbal tea. “And that goes double for me. Show some consideration.”
“For what?”
“Other people’s feelings,” she replied, her eyes glinting at him like hard, precious gems.
Des stood there thinking that this shrewd old lady did know about Norma and Teddy.
“Why don’t you join us, dear?” she asked Des graciously. “It’s so nice and toasty here by the fire.”
“Thanks, I think I will.” Des pulled up a chair and sat, her muscles feeling stiff and shivery from the cold. The bright morning sunlight had dimmed. The storm clouds were moving in.
“Aaron, there’s something serious we need to discuss,” Les said uneasily. “It has to do with how Norma wanted to leave things.”