Page 41 of Tempt Me

“I’ll think about it,” I say.

“Think about what?” Von says as she walks into the kitchen. Her heels click on the tile floor as she opens the fridge and pulls out a bottle of water. She turns to see Noah and her expression tightens. “Oh. You’re here.”

“Lovely to see you too, Siobhan,” Noah says with mock sweetness.

My sister and my best friend always disliked each other back in the day. It seems like that hasn’t changed.

“I have to head into the city,” Von says to me.

“And which CEO might you be helping evade a fraud conviction today?” Noah asks.

Von glares at him. “At least I don’t spend my time eating donuts and sitting on street corners with a radar gun,” she shoots back. “Do you guys ever actually do anything around here, or is the sheriff’s office just another incompetent waste of taxpayer money?”

“All right, enough Von,” I say, as if she’ll actually listen.

“Hey, I’ve kept your mother’s case active for as long as I could,” Noah says.

“Active isn’t the word I would use,” she retorts. “From where I’m sitting, you haven’t done jack shit.” Before Noah can reply, she turns back to me. “I don’t know what you’re thinking antagonizing Dad but stop it. We don’t talk about Mom’s…” She can’t even bring herself to say the word murder. “We don’t talk about it in this house.”

“How would you know?” I say. “You’re never here.”

Two red spots appear on Von’s cheeks. “Neither were you, until a week ago,” she snaps. “So don’t get all holier than thou on me. I have an important job, Caden. Arealjob, not fixing motorcycles on some Podunk winery in Argentina.”

Noah stands. “As lovely as this family reunion is, I’ve got to get back to work. Those donuts aren’t going to eat themselves,” he adds, tipping an imaginary cap at my sister. “See you around, Caden.”

She glowers after him. “I do not understand how you’re friends with him.”

“Don’t be such a snob,” I tell her. “Noah’s a good guy.”

“Whatever. I’m heading out. Tell Daisy thanks for dinner.”

“She really nailed Mom’s pasta sauce, didn’t she?”

Von’s face softens. “Yeah,” she says. “She really did.”

“I went out to the shed last night,” I say, my gaze drifting to the back window, where the little cottage sits on the waterfront, deceptively quaint.

I sense Von stiffen. “And?”

“It looks the same.”

I meet her eyes and see a flicker of the pain I witnessed the day I arrived home, when they were wheeling Mom’s body out of the house on a stretcher.

“Did you hear anything that morning?” I ask.

Von’s jaw clenches and she shakes her head. “You know me,” she says. “I can’t sleep unless I’ve got an eye mask on, ear plugs in, and a white noise machine going.” She swallows hard. “I wish I had heard it. Maybe I could have…”

Her voice trails off.

“I don’t think any of us could have done anything,” I say.

Von’s eyes flash. “You weren’t here,” she snaps. Then she presses her lips together and takes a long inhale. “Do you know how hard it was? After Mom died, and you left? Dad was…” She shakes her head. I feel everything in me freeze, like ice crusting over my skin. “I don’t know if he slept. He tried to act like everything was normal. We never talked about Mom. I never saw him cry. Daisy was a mess. Al was drinking a lot, even for him. Finn copied Dad, pretended he was fine. I tried to take care of everyone but that’s not me, Cade. That’syou. You and Mom were the caretakers. I don’t…I don’t know how to talk to people. I’m no good at comfort.”

“I’m sorry, Von,” I say. And I mean it. It feels like there was no good choice for me to make back then. I’ve hurt so many people.

She points a manicured finger at me. “You better find out who did this. Otherwise, you’ve gotten all our hopes up for nothing.” Her phone buzzes. “My car is here.”

She turns and stalks out of the room.

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