Say You Will(69)
Viola hurried into the room. “Portia said it was urgent to get here, and I arrive to find you having a picnic. How is that an emergency?”
“The picnic is courtesy of Rosalind’s cheating lover.”
“He’s not cheating,” Rosalind said, to clarify. “He’s lying.”
“At least he has good taste.” Vi sat on the rug as she shimmied out of her coat. “I love macarons.”
Summer did, too, Rosalind remembered suddenly. Then what Viola said struck her. “Portia told you to come?”
Portia reached for the alcohol. “Nick showed up at the door, and I thought we should have reinforcements, just in case.”
Rosalind gaped at her sisters. “You all came here to protect me?”
“Of course.” Plucking another macaron from the box, Bea looked at her like she was insane.
She swallowed the sudden lump in her throat.
“Is that whiskey?” Viola said, perking up. She stretched her arm out, wiggling her fingers. “Give. Getting here was hellish.”
“Traffic?” Portia asked as she handed over the bottle.
“Charles. He didn’t want to watch Chloe, and I forced the matter.” She took a hefty gulp from the bottle. Then she took another.
Bea put her hand on Vi’s thigh. “He isn’t violent, is he?”
“Good God, no.” Viola chuckled, but the sound held no humor. “He’d have to be roused to passion to hit me, wouldn’t he? He doesn’t care enough to bother.”
Rosalind gaped at her sister.
Bea was the one to act, of course. She pushed the bottle back toward her. “Drink up then. You’ve earned it.”
“Bugger it all, isn’t that the truth?” She downed a hefty mouthful and then passed it to Portia. “So what are you going to do, Ros?”
“I don’t know.” She looked at everything Nick brought her. “It’s complicated. He lied to me. Can I forgive him? Is he a pathological liar who’ll just do it over and over again? Where will we live? And then there’s Summer, Father’s other daughter.”
“You think too much,” Bea said. “You always have. What does your instinct say?”
“Love him,” she said without any hesitation. She blinked in surprise.
“That’s your answer.” Bea put a finger under Rosalind’s chin and lifted her head. “You wouldn’t love someone who wasn’t worthy.”
“I did.” Viola took another sip of liquor. “You’d think I’d have learned.”
They were all silent for a moment.
And then Portia said, “What’s she like? Father’s other daughter.”
Rosalind tried to paint Summer with a dark brush, but she couldn’t. She touched the scarf that Nick gave her, so like the one she’d passed on to her half-sister. “She’s a solicitor, and good at what she does. She inspires loyalty, obviously, and she longs for color. She wants to belong, just like we all do.” Rosalind frowned. “I liked her. A lot.”
They were all silent again. Viola took another drink from the bottle and Portia stared at the floor, her lips pursed in thought.
Rosalind said what she thought they were all thinking. “I don’t know that I can deny her what father left her, if he left her anything.”
“Even after she lied to you?” Bea asked with curiosity more than anything.
“Even then.”
“Hmm,” was all her oldest sister said.
“Are we having a party and I wasn’t invited?”
They all looked up to the doorway. Their mother stood there, looking elegant in vintage Chanel.
As confidently as she was dressed, the expression on her face was the contrary. She looked unsure standing there, as if she may not be welcome.
Rosalind extended her hand, to welcome Jacqueline in. “Portia overreacted and called in the cavalry.”
“I was prudent,” Portia said indignantly. She made space next to her as their mother walked into the room. “We’re dissecting the gifts Rosalind’s lover brought her.”
“Her lover.” Her mum looked at her sharply as she sat on the floor next to Portia. “So, it’s serious.”
“No,” she lied, feeling guilty about it because she’d been so righteous about Nick’s lies.
“She wants him,” Viola drawled, handing the rye to their mother.
Jacqueline didn’t miss a beat. She lifted the alcohol to her mouth and took a long pull before passing it to Portia. “I’m gathering that wanting him is a bad thing. Is he a murderer?”
“He lied about who he was,” Bea said, meeting their mother’s gaze. “He stayed close to Rosalind to find out about the will, because he’s the stepbrother of father’s illegitimate daughter.”