Page 10 of One Last Night

I decide to leave this alone. I’ll keep an eye on Luann and make sure she doesn’t get herself into real trouble. As for Julian? He’s a big boy. He can take care of himself.

I return to my Miss Marple book. With the mysteries in my own life put in their place, I’m able to read three more chapters of her riveting tale before sleepiness finally overcomes me. My eyes closed, and tonight is one of the few nights when I’m not plagued with any nightmares.

Save for one brief dream—more of a fleeting image, really. I am lying on a web of grapevines while a spider with glowing red eyes approaches me.

CHAPTER FIVE

I wake at six-thirty the next morning, as I usually do. I like to begin my days with a cup of coffee and sometimes toast with jam. I adore children, but I am not young anymore, and even older children require a great deal of energy to care for.

Usually, I am the first one up, though, in a fully staffed house like this one, it's not uncommon for the cook to be awake as well. I don't mind company. Servants generally get along well with me, and they often know all of the skeletons hiding in their employers' closets. I am firm in my commitment to stay out of this family's drama, but that doesn't mean I won't pick the low-hanging fruit. I am, after all, a slave to my nature, just like the venerable Miss Marple.

The fruit this morning isn’t low-hanging, and I don’t pick it so much as it’s flung in my face. I nearly collide with Victoria downstairs, and after we both recover from the shock, I notice that the entire family is downstairs with her. The children are holding hands, their knuckles white and their eyes huge. Julian is red-faced and furious, and Victoria looks like she’s just witnessed a murder.

That thought, of course, sends a chill down my spine. I’ve known many people who’ve actually witnessed a murder, and I’ve seen a few murder victims myself. “What is it?” I ask. “What happened?”

“Did you see anything last night, Mary? Anything at all?”

Out of the corner of my eye, I see Luann flinch, but I remember my promise. There’s no way on Earth that Victoria could be sent into such a state over her granddaughter’s crush. “No, ma’am, nothing at all. I stepped out of my room for a breath of fresh air on my balcony, but I didn’t see anything.”

“You didn’t see anyone walking around the vineyard?” Julian asked.

I blink. Is this a test? Is he trying to see if I overheard his conversation? But no, that wouldn’t have anything to do with the rest of the family. “No. I’m sorry, will someone please explain what’s going on?”

“My Chardonnay vines were destroyed,” Victoria laments. “Not all of them, thank god, but I’ve lost nineteen bushels, at least.”

She crosses her arms and shakes her head. Her lips are trembling, and now her eyes show the same rage Julian’s do. “I can’t believe this. How does someone get over our fence without tripping our alarm and then proceed to destroy a quarter-acre of vines?”

“Well, if we’d installed cameras like I asked you to do, we’d know, wouldn’t we?”

“It’s Robert,” Julian says curtly. “I swear to God, it’s him. I’ll bet you anything he hired the asshole who set fire to the winery too.”

Victoria rolls her eyes. “It’s not Robert, Julian.”

“Well, who the hell else would it be? You think some teenager hopped the fence and chopped down our vines for fun?”

I glance briefly at Luann, but she doesn’t react to that. In any case, it would be pretty foolish for a boy to damage a vineyard belonging to the grandmother of the girl he fancies.

“No, I don’t think that,” Victoria says in a tone she might use talking to a willful child, “but I don’t believe it’s Robert either.”

Julian lifts his head to the ceiling. “For God’s sake, Mom. Why are you so blind when it comes to Robert? Are you in love with him or something?”

Victoria reacts viciously to that. She spins around and shrieks, “Julian Bellamy, shut the fuck up! Robert Cartwright is not stupid enough to destroy our property over some pettyrivalry that doesn’t mean shit in the real world. Are you stupid enough to go cut down his vines? Do you hate him enough to set fire to his winery? Hmm?”

Julian blinks, chastised into contriteness by his mother’s outburst. He lowers his eyes and says softly, “No. I’m sorry. I’m just mad.”

Victoria takes a deep breath and rubs her temples. “I know. I’m mad too. But we need tothinkabout this, not just point fingers at the nearest asshole we despise.” She looks at me. “Mary, I’m very sorry to start your morning like this. Will you take the children, please? Somewhere out of the house. I don’t care where as long as you have them back before dark.”

"I think that's an excellent idea, ma'am. Children, let's go upstairs and dress. We can go to the beach, or we can enjoy a picnic breakfast. Or perhaps we can go to the movies if you prefer."

Nathan’s eyes widen. “Can we see—” He stops himself and looks sideways at his dad. “The movies. Let’s go to the movies. Is that okay, Luann?”

Luann nods distractedly. I get the sense she’s more disturbed by what happened last night than Nathan is. Or perhaps more guilty?

“Fine with me,” Julian says. “Go see whatever you want, but if it’s some scary movie that gives you nightmares, don’t come crying to me about it.”

Nathan rolls his eyes. “Dad, I’m sixteen. I don’t get nightmares anymore.”

“Yeah? Good for you. I’m forty-three, and I have nightmares every day.”

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