dirt you have on him that gives you free run of his house and other treasures.â
A native Midwesterner, Joy had met Dickens Hart circa 1995, when she and a group of college friends came to the High Country for a girls-getaway. The couple had been married for just a year when Joy abruptly left the marriage â and town â with a hefty enough financial settlement to set local tongues wagging.
Not that it took much.
âAre you kidding?â Joy asked. âIf everybody knows, I lose my leverage.â
âIâm writing his biography,â AnnaLise said. âAre you telling me thereâs a skeleton in an obscure closet that Dickens didnât chronicle in the thousands of disturbing pages Iâm sifting through?â
âYouâll have to let me know when youâre done sifting.â
âHe
is
an interesting man,â AnnaLise said.
âHe ⦠was.â Joyâs tone was tinged with a note of regret, perhaps even genuine sadness.
Although the two women had known each other casually from Joyâs annual visits to Sutherton, after her divorce they had struck up a true friendship when the older woman returned in September to open the spa at Hotel Lux on the summit of Sutherton Mountain.
Now AnnaLise touched her friendâs arm. âIâm sure this isnât easy for you, Dickensâ other wives and lovers showing up.â
âActually, Iâve always been friendly with his two other ex-wives.â
âDo you think theyâll both be here?â
âKate, my direct predecessor, died of breast cancer last year, but Shirleyâs coming. She was Hartâs first wife and a real pistol. Youâll like her.â
âIâm sure I will.â But, all of a sudden, AnnaLiseâs stomach was tied in knots. âIâm glad youâre here.â
âWhat? You donât want to meet your probably mutant half-brothers and half-sisters all by your lonesome?â
âBelieve me, Iâm never âby my lonesomeâ these days and, anyway, both Mama and Daisy are here with me.â
Joyâs eyebrows were raised. âWell done. How did you ever manage that?â
âPlayed to their curiosity. And, at least on Mamaâs part, a little of her greed. On my behalf, of course.â
âOf course. I have a hunch weâre in for an interesting weekend.â
âIâm glad youâre here,â AnnaLise repeated, raising her glass in salute. âI was hoping that Bobby would come, too, to keep me sane.â
âAnd what am I, chopped liver?â
âNo, but when it comes to the subject of Dickens Hart youâre certainly not a role model for mental balance.â She held up her free hand. âSorry. Iâm a fine one to talk.â
But her friend didnât seem to have taken offense at her characterization. âBobbyâs even-keeled for the most part, Iâll grant him that, which would come in handy this Thanksgiving weekend.â
âDonât I know it. We just ran into him, driving Roy Smoaks back from the airport.â
âWhat? You donât think itâs heartwarming?â Joy asked, seeing the look on AnnaLiseâs face. âGrandfather and grandson discovering each other after a lifetime apart?â
âAnd, coincidentally, when said grandson has inherited the second-most impressive house on the lake.â AnnaLise waved across the lake at Bradenham, with its trellised wooden deck cantilevered out over the lake. âNot that it seems enough for Roy. He was reminding Bobby that he â Bobby, I mean â was no longer part of Suthertonâs
ar-is-to-cra-cy
.â She drew the word out like Smoaks had.
âNice guy. But, as you said, itâs only the
second
most impressive, this place being numero uno.â
AnnaLise shrugged. âRoy has no grounds to grouse about that. If Bobby
had
, indeed, been Dickensâ son instead of Ranceâs, Roy