“And you always suspected that his new wife was after that, I bet.”
I closed my eyes. It was getting too hard; the fiction was making me sick inside. Every time I told another lie, it was like swallowing a little more poison.
No, I imagined myself finally saying, that’s not it. You see, my father’s been alive for centuries. I don’t even know how long he’s been alive. My sisters, who are also the mothers of his children, keep him alive by bringing him young, virile men, men whose lust for them has raised their blood and made it nourishing for him. I was destined to do the same before I ran away.
Do you think I could still marry Liam?
My imaginary response nearly made me laugh insanely. There was a danger that I realized for the first time. I could go raving mad. Maybe that was what would happen in the end. I wouldn’t escape even though I was physically away from him. I would go crazy and end up babbling things that no one would believe, until they put me in some cli
nic. That way, Daddy would be protected after all. They would all be protected. They would be so confident about it that they might even come visit me, which would set me screaming and get me into a restraining jacket and keep me on suicide watch in solitary.
“Yes,” I finally said. “But my father is not some rich old man who’s found an attractive new wife obviously after his money. He’s a very handsome, charming man. In short, he’s the whole package.”
Ken Dolan nodded thoughtfully. “Well, I do look forward to meeting him. I hope I can help mend the rift between the two of you.”
There was so much more I could say about that, but I turned to Liam instead.
“Ready?” he asked.
“Yes. Good night, Ken,” I said.
He smiled, but he looked very thoughtful, too. I had planted some seeds.
Liam took my hand on the way out. I saw that he was very sensitive to my feelings and very concerned. He was so sweet and loving that I felt guilty about causing him any anxiety. Would this be the way it would be forever between us? Could I have this, something I had come to believe was impossible? Was it worth fighting hard for?
“I’m okay,” I said. “Stop looking like someone who lost his pinkie finger.”
“What?” he said, smiling.
It was something my father would tell me when I was much younger and something had bothered me. I would imagine my hand without a pinkie finger, and he would laugh and then lift me into his arms.
“That will never happen to you,” he would say. “I will always protect you.”
He always drove away any fears I might have.
Could I remember only the good things? Was that a surgery I could manage?
We drove off, talking now about things to do before the wedding and work that was already being started on the grounds of the Dolan estate. We didn’t slow down until we made the turn and saw the police car in front of the Winston House.
19
We got out of Liam’s car slowly.
“What’s going on here?” Liam asked. “The last man wearing a uniform in this house was a member of the Continental Army.”
I shook my head. I didn’t even want to venture a guess.
When we entered, we heard voices in the living room and went directly there to find two police officers, one with a notepad open and the other apparently asking Mrs. Winston, Jim Lamb, Mr. Brady, and Mrs. McGruder questions. Mrs. Winston was in her colonial Windsor chair, and the others were seated on the settee. Everyone turned to us.
“What’s happening?” Liam asked first.
“It’s Collin Nickels,” Mrs. Winston said. “This is the third day he’s been missing. We thought it was time to inform the police. All of his things are still here, and he hadn’t told us that he would be gone. He hasn’t called. He paid for six weeks. Mrs. McGruder and I thought it was enough to be concerned.”
She turned to the policemen.
“This is my great-nephew, Liam Dolan, and another of our guests, Lorelei Patio. Miss Patio is on the same wing of the house as Mr. Nickels and works for my nephew, Kenneth Dolan.”
“Oh, Dolan Plumbing Supply,” the policeman with the notepad said. From the look on his face, it was clear how impressive the Dolans were in Quincy.