Chapter 26
Night Ten
Julian
Julian should have mentioned to Simone to keep things close to the vest, but he was so happy that she was willingly spending time with him that, in a rare lapse of foresight, he’d forgotten.
He didn’t want or need any of these people to know the dynamic of their relationship or really any of the pertinent backstory unless he was offering it himself.
“Simmy,” he said in the kitchen while she and Betty were exchanging getting-to-know-yous. “Could you run to the car and get the gifts we brought? I forgot them in the back seat.”
She swiped his keys and nodded. He’d taken great care with the basket for Sybil—imported chocolates, rare German gummies, marzipan flowers—though he doubted she had passed a piece of candy through her lips in decades.
The other one was just a hodgepodge for the rest of them to enjoy over dessert because Julian had always hated pie, even Robin’s.
Even on Thanksgiving. Also, it was important that they saw him as a laconic candy store proprietor.
He hadn’t spent decades of his life learning how to be deep undercover without paying attention to all the smaller details of how people sized you up.
The front door swung open again, and Zeke strode in with his parents and sister, Simone trailing them, a gift basket in each hand.
Zeke toted an enormous bottle of Veuve Clicquot under his good arm, resting it on the kitchen island, and proceeded to disappear into Sybil’s dining room and emerge with as many champagne flutes as one hand could carry.
It was interesting, Julian thought, how Zeke knew exactly where to find those.
He wondered how much time the two of them were spending together and what else he didn’t know.
Introductions were made, Zeke hugging Simone like they were childhood friends, so he left her in Zeke’s company, to find Betty sitting in the backyard on the same chaise lounges they’d lain atop a few weeks back. The dog curled up at her feet.
“How are things? It’s been a bit since we’ve really had a chance to catch up.”
Julian hadn’t seen Betty in person in over a week, too long for his liking.
He’d wanted to check in, make it to the city and swing by the diner, but then Simone showed up and stayed, and he spent the time duping her into thinking everything was normal.
That he was healthy, that he was sleeping, that he didn’t open and close his old files several times a day, looking for any questions he’d forgotten to ask, looking for the answers he hadn’t known to seek.
“Well, you know, life is absolutely wonderful. I won the lottery, met the man of my dreams, am now a major philanthropist.”
“You want to be a philanthropist?”
“That’s what you took from that, Julian?” Betty sighed. “No, it’s fine. My life is fine.”
Julian knew that she had met a boy, but Betty wasn’t aware that he had kept further tabs.
“Speaking of dating—”
“Is this the part where you pretend to be my dad?” Betty stretched her legs out, and Pluto reoriented himself to rest his head on her shins.
“Well, with no family to speak of, would that be so bad? To have someone?”
“No,” she said, and to her credit, Julian thought, she didn’t even hesitate, didn’t even flinch. She was as good as he was.
“Come on, aren’t you freezing?” he said, nudging his chin toward the house.
She ignored him. “Do you think,” she started, then trailed off. “Well, do you think that all of this is helping? That we’ll ever actually sleep again?”
Julian thought he might literally die before he slept through the night again, but he knew what she wanted to hear. And so, with so many lies already between them, he said, “Yes, Betty. Absolutely yes.”
Then before he could assess if she believed him, there was a commotion, followed by loud shouting in the living room, and they both darted up and ran inside.