Chapter 34
Alice
Had it not been for Dominic’s briefing of the situation during the two-hour car ride, and the large, decorated sign perched in front of the iron gates, I could have easily assumed that the vine-covered, English-style manor was Rosie’s lake house.
She’d always wanted one. Her vision might have been for a smaller, more quaint version of the hotel-esque property we’d pulled up to, sure, but the extravagance and abundance could have been explained away by her never-ending obsession with Downton Abbey and her son’s overt incompatibility with moderation.
She would’ve loved it.
Or maybe she still did. Maybe thinking about her in the past tense was wrong, or dehumanizing, or… I didn’t really know what to think, how to act, what to do with my hands or my face or my voice.
A middle-aged woman with cropped gray hair stepped out to greet us as Dom tipped the valet. She was wearing an auburn wool turtleneck that looked tight and suffocating and abrasive, and maybe that’s why she was slouched like she was in pain and smiled the way people do at funerals.
It was unsettling and off-putting, and my skin was blotching and itching just watching the coarse fibers dig into her neck as she led us through the grand doors, into the grand foyer, up the grand stairs, past the grand library, and to a completely separate grand wing of the manor.
The lighting, the decor, the design—none of it was any different.
There were just as many fresh flowers stuffed into porcelain vases, just as many oil paintings plastered on the pale blue walls, and just as many vintage chandeliers hanging from the tall, textured ceilings in this wing as there had been in the ones we’d passed.
Somehow, though, it all felt so much more muted on this side of the door.
The air was stuffier.
Phantom wool scraped against my neck like barbed wire, and I scratched, having completely forgotten about Dominic’s presence until he caressed my shoulder and almost sent me flying.
“Hey,” he whispered, slowing us to a stop, unconcerned that we would lose Sage—the woman with the patient eyes and uncomfortable sweater. “Let’s pause for a second and take a breather.”
How? There was no oxygen in here.
“Amgood.” The back of my neck was weirdly cold and damp, especially given how hot the rest of me was burning, but other than that, I was fine.
His brows pinched. “You’re sweating.”
A rattling noise scraped out of my throat. It was meant to ease his worries, but it sounded like an alien attempting to replicate a human laugh.
Jaw working, he threw a glance down the hall, where Sage was waiting patiently with her hands clasped loosely in front of her.
“We don’t have to do this today. There’s a small bed-and-breakfast I usually stay at during multi-day visits; it’s just down the street. We can go there for the night and come back tomorrow, once you’ve had a chance to sleep, eat, and… you know, process.”
“I don’t need to sleep. Or eat. Or process.”
“I do,” he lied.
“All right, so go. I’ll see you there in a bit.” I half jogged to catch up with Sage, stuttering a quick apology for making her wait. Then I blacked out, buried so deep in my own head that I didn’t realize what corners we turned or what doors we pushed through to get to her.
I just blinked, and there she was.
In my memories of her, Rosie was all color. She used to wear so many pinks, reds, and yellows that looking at her sometimes made me crave candy. The only other time I’d seen her dressed in all black was at my grandmother’s funeral. It was as startling then as it was now.
“Rosie, honey, you have another new visitor. Don’t you want to say hi?” Sage nudged, trying to pull her focused attention away from the backgammon board laid out in front of her.
It wasn’t until Dominic cleared his throat that I realized he was in the room, standing next to me, allowing me to lean against him for support.
Rosie finally lifted her head, and his arm was around my waist before I even knew I needed it, grounding me. She looked the same, but different. The evidence of the last eight years was etched around her eyes, her mouth, and everywhere else her smile touched.
“Her name is Alice,” Sage supplied gently.
After a moment, Rosie’s entire face lit up. She grinned, turning in her chair. “Is it, really? I have a daughter named Alice,” she declared proudly.
“Do you, now? First time I’m hearing about this,” Sage said, providing me with an extra few seconds to recover.
“She’s not my blood, but she’s my heart. Lovely, lovely girl.”
I forced my lips into a smile, my throat sealed shut, pins pricking at the back of my eyes.
Rosie’s attention shifted to Dom. With the same gentle kindness, she asked, “What’s your name?”
The large bay window nestled in the background, just behind her, slipped a blurry foot to the left before assuming position again.
“Dominic,” he provided calmly. His fingers pressed into my hip, and I reached for them without thinking, covering his hand with mine.
She nodded, pleased with the name he’d been assigned, then returned to contemplating the board. Sage offered me and Dominic a warm, comforting smile, and when he gave her the nod, she quickly slipped out the door.
“What’s this?” He inched us closer to the table, fingers still woven through mine. “You’re playing backgammon all by yourself?”
“Oh, no. I’m playing with my husband. He just went…” She trailed off. Then, “He’ll be back in a minute.”
“Went to get you flowers again, I bet,” Dom teased lightly, and she chuckled, a hint of color washing over her carved cheeks.
“He does love to buy me flowers.”
“What kinds?” He pulled out the seat to her left, gesturing for me to sit. He took the chair next to mine.
“All kinds,” she boasted.
“And which ones do you think he’ll surprise you with today?”
She paused to think, her smile fading a touch with the unexpected effort. As though she couldn’t remember what the flowers were called.
“Lilies, maybe?” he offered.
Relief washed over her expression. “Oh, yes, lilies. I love lilies.”
“Or maybe it’ll be tulips.”
She nodded again. “Yes, tulips would be good, too.”
He looked around animatedly. “Where will you put them? You’ve got too many bouquets and plants as it is.”
He had a point. The suite was cluttered with fresh flowers and potted plants. It was like a mini indoor gardening center.
“You have enough greenery in here to put Adrien to shame,” I muttered awkwardly, feeling as though I needed to say something.
She gave a noncommittal hum, and I left it at that. While giving his briefing in the car, Dominic had gently told me not to ask her if she remembered things, places, or people. “It can stress her out,” he’d said. “I used to try, mostly out of desperation, and it… just trust me on this one.”
I squeezed his hand under the table, smiling when he met my gaze. He brushed a soothing thumb over my knuckle before turning his attention back to Rosie. “Dad texted me and said he was going to be a while, so why don’t the three of us play for a bit? Just until he gets back.”
She smoothed her palms over the cascading frills of her dark blouse, nodding. “Sure. Okay.”
“I gotta admit, I’m not very good at backgammon. Would you mind if we switched to cards?” His mouth twitched. “That way, we can team up against Alice.”
“That’s a great idea. You should call her, tell her to join us. They won’t let me have a phone.”
“They won’t?” He started to clear the board, nudging her phone to the side to make room. “Are you sure?”
“Yes, I’m sure. They won’t let me have one, even though I need it to call my son.” She tucked her dark brown hair behind her ear, lips pursing unhappily.
“I didn’t know you had a kid.”
“I do. Just the one, and that’s about enough, I think.”
He snorted, and some of the tension melted from my shoulders. I bit my cheek. “He’s a handful, huh?”
“The best kind.”
“What’s his name?” Dom tried.
There was a small pause as she studied her lap, thinking. “I forget.”
“That’s okay,” he said easily, “I forget things, too, sometimes.”
“It’s hard to remember everything,” I offered with what I hoped was a reassuring smile.
“For most people,” she agreed, “but not for my son.”
Dominic smiled down at the folded board, and a warm glow spread through my chest. “Oh yeah?” he teased.
“He’s very smart,” she informed him proudly. “Too smart if I’m being honest. Gets him into trouble sometimes.”
“Like how, exactly?” he asked.
She sucked in her cheeks the way she used to when Dominic made an inappropriate joke she was about to reprimand. “He recently learned to count cards.”
The laugh that burst out of me was so sudden and unexpected that both of them started. My palm slapped over my mouth, my eyes widening in apology.
Dominic’s card-counting phase was legendary. At fifteen, he’d duped a handful of kids at school out of enough money to buy himself a new set of rims… for the car he’d swindled from the oldest, richest, and dumbest of the lot.
He’d driven that thing around without so much as a learner’s permit for a total of seven weeks before finally getting caught and taking me down with him.
Yes, I knew about the car, how he’d come about obtaining it, and where he’d kept it parked.
Yes, we’d used it to sneak out past our respective curfews multiple times to go on late-night taco runs, arguing aggressively about what music we blasted during the drive.
And yes, we did jump a fence or two so we could enjoy our tacos with whatever view we thought would be worth the effort.
And okay, yes, technically, it was trespassing onto private property, per the multitude of signs we’d blatantly ignored.
But three weeks of no social media, no friends, and no parties was an unreasonably harsh punishment for breaking, like, three laws at most, I’d argued.
Dominic nudged my foot under the table, eyes twinkling as he suppressed a knowing smile. I’d gotten off easy compared to him. Rosie had been murderous when the cop dropped us off at 2:00 am. She’d dragged him to the guesthouse by the ear, yelling about how he could’ve gotten us both killed.
His sentence was twice the length of mine and three times as harsh. He hadn’t been allowed a phone at all. Though she hadn’t thought to take the walkie-talkie away.
“He’s a good kid, don’t get me wrong,” she went on, her confidence growing. “But he gets bored and wants her attention. So he gets himself into all sorts of situations.”
I leaned in, plopping my chin on the base of my palm with theatric curiosity. “Whose attention?”
Dominic nudged my foot again, and I bit back a grin. “Mom seems to think I have a crush on her boss’s daughter.”
“Do you?” I teased.
“No. She’s a mouthy, spoiled brat who derives sadistic pleasure from causing me pain.”
I hummed. “She sounds really pretty.”
He chuckled, shaking his head with soft exasperation as he finally started dealing out the cards. “And she very much knows it.”
“Good for her.”
I picked up my hand and settled back with a satisfied smile, counting down the seconds until the show was over and I could run away.
Lock the door.
And scream until my lungs gave out.