Page 24 of Courting Catherine
Suzanna, lost somewhere in her own heart, sighed a little as the last notes died.
“That was beautiful.” C.C. walked over to kiss her sister’s hair.
“I’m rusty.”
“Not from where I’m standing.”
Smiling, Suzanna reached back to pat her hand and felt the gauze. “Oh, C.C., what did you do?”
“Just scraped my knuckles.”
“Did you clean it well? When was your last tetanus shot?”
“Slow down, Mommy. It’s clean as a whistle and I had a tetanus shot six months ago.” C.C. sat on the bench, facing out into the room. “Where is everyone?”
“The kids are fast asleep—I hope. Wiggle your fingers.”
C.C. sighed and complied.
With a satisfied nod, Suzanna continued. “Lilah’s out on a date. Mandy’s looking over some ledger or other. Aunt Coco went up hours ago to have a bubble bath and put cucumber slices on her eyes.”
“What about him?”
“In bed, I imagine. It’s nearly midnight.”
“Is it?” Then she smiled. “You were waiting up for me.”
“I was not.” Caught, Suzanna laughed. “Exactly. Did you fix Mr. Finney’s truck?”
“He left his lights on again.” She yawned hugely. “I think he does it on purpose just so I can come over and recharge his battery.” She stretched her arms to the ceiling. “We had lobster and dandelion wine.”
“If he wasn’t old enough to be your grandfather, I’d say he has a crush on you.”
“He does. And it’s mutual. So, did I miss anything around here?”
“Aunt Coco wants to have a séance.”
“Not again.”
Suzanna ran her hands lightly over the keys, improvising. “Tomorrow night, right after dinner. She insists there’s something Great-Grandmother Bianca wants us to know—Trent, too.”
“What does he have to do with it?”
Suzanna brushed at C.C.’s bangs. “If we decide to sell him the house, he’ll more or less inherit her.”
“Is that what we’re going to do, Suzanna?”
“It might be what we have to do.”
C.C. rose to toy with the tassels of the floor lamp. “My business is doing pretty good. I could take out a loan against it.”
“No.”
“But—”
“No,” Suzanna repeated. “You’re not going to risk your future on the past.”
“It’s my future.”
