“Where is Veronica tonight?” Theresa questioned, wine glass in hand. I noticed Principal Hawkins made no comment about the remembrance ceremony.
Noah cast his gaze on Theresa, a certain sharpness in his eyes when he looked at her. “She’s under the weather. Rest assured she’ll be present and well by the time the remembrance comes around.”
“Oh good,” said Enda. “Veronica was always the life and soul of the party.”
I guessed that was the polite way to describe an alcoholic.
“She’s very much like her father that way,” Lydia added fondly.
They spent the next half an hour reminiscing about the late great Victor Dylan. I mostly sat in the corner, observing. At one point, Enda came and perched on the arm of the sofa next to me, the scent of wine strong on his breath.
“You’ve grown to be a very beautiful young woman,” he said, eyes shining tipsily. “It’s no wonder my son is so smitten with you.”
Kean told his dad about his crush on me? I shifted in place, embarrassed.
“He came home today looking very upset though,” Enda went on. “I saw you both talking down on the beach. Did you upset my boy, Estella?” I didn’t fail to hear the note of anger in his voice. Being a successful businessman, Enda was clearly used to getting his way. The idea of his son being rejected obviously bothered him.
“If I caused upset it wasn’t intentional,” I replied, deciding I’d had enough of this conversation. I stood, but he grabbed my wrist tightly.
“Give my son what he wants, and he’ll treat you well. Very well. You could do a lot worse.”
“Please, let go,” I said, but his grip didn’t loosen.
“Let go.” Noah’s low, threatening command echoed mine, and I was suddenly aware of his looming presence behind me.
Enda plastered on an amiable smile and immediately released my wrist. “I was just telling young Estella here how my son is very much taken with her.”
“That doesn’t mean she has to be taken with him,” Noah responded archly, levelling Enda with a dark look.
Enda cleared his throat, looking unsettled by whatever he saw in Noah’s eyes. “No, you’re right. It doesn’t. My apologies, Estella, if I upset you.”
I didn’t accept his apology. Instead my attention was drawn to a kerfuffle on the other side of the room. Theresa was riffling through the old antique chest of drawers, pulling open each cabinet and searching for something inside.
“It must be in here,” she said. “Remember how we used to play with it all the time?”
“It’s in the bottom drawer,” came a quiet but sharp voice, and I almost forgot that Sylvia had been sitting over by the window.
Theresa’s eyes widened, like she’d forgotten her, too. “Oh!” She bent to pull open the bottom drawer and withdrew a large, flat piece of wood that folded in the middle. I had no idea what it was until she flipped it open to reveal an ornate Ouija board. My heart skipped a beat, unease filling me, as my eyes traced the engraved letters of the alphabet and the numbers zero to nine.
“Remember how we used to hold seances back in the day?” Theresa said with drunken fervour. “Such fun! We should do one tonight. Maybe we can commune with Victor.”
“I’m not sure if that’s a wise idea,” Principal Hawkins said, placing a hand on his wife’s shoulder.
“Oh, come on, be a good sport,” she said, her eyes landing on me. “Hey, didn’t your daddy pop his clogs a while back? We could talk to him. Wouldn’t you like that, sweetie?”
I arched an eyebrow. This woman wasn’t only perverted, she was rude, too. Doing my best not to reply with, didn’t you try to have sex with a fourteen-year-old? I responded, “I like to imagine my father is in a better place, and I’d rather not disturb his peace, but thank you for the very sensitively worded offer.” There was no mistaking my sarcasm, and Noah barked a laugh. His lips curved into a smile as he brought his glass to his mouth. Others in the room seemed amused, too.
“I like this one,” Lydia said. “She’s feisty.”
“I wouldn’t mind taking part in a séance,” Enda put in, bringing everyone’s attention back to the board. “Who knows who we might make contact with.”
“My mother passed away a few years ago,” said Lydia. “I’d love to communicate with her. Just to know she’s okay.” She looked to Noah. “Do you mind if we do this?”
He made a sweeping hand gesture. “Knock yourselves out.”
Lydia looked to me now. “Would you like to take part? You must miss your father a great deal.”
“I do, but I don’t believe a piece of wood can help me commune with him.” I eyed the Ouija board, a sense of dread filling me. Whatever that thing was, negative energy practically pulsed out of it in waves.