Page 22 of Where Quiet Hearts Scream
My heart thumps and I look up to see Aunt Allegra standing before me with an arched brow and questioning look on her face.
I swipe my thumb across the screen. “Just pictures of Tril walking down the aisle,” I say, holding up the phone to show her one of several hundred photos I’ve snapped in the last few hours. “She looks so happy and radiant.”
Allegra wraps an arm around me, tugging my body into hers. “She does,” she says with a happy sigh. “And it’s about time. Trilby deserves some true happiness after everything she’s been through.”
I can’t help but feel a trickle of bitterness work its way through my blood stream. Of course Trilby was going to be more damaged than any of us, having been in the car with Mama when she was killed. But why she had to fall for a mob man—the same ilk as the men who took our mother from us—I will never understand.
The same bitterness sinks deeper when I notice Benito pull Tess through the terrace doors and head down toward the beach.
Is this it now? Are we each destined to be mafia wives? Including Bambi who’s still in high school? I swallow and push my phone back inside my purse. Thetruth floods my veins with a conviction that unnerves me.
I would ratherdiethan marry a mob man.
“I’m proud of you, honey.”
Allegra’s words filter through the red haze clouding my vision. “You’ve really made a life for yourself out here. It’s obvious the manager values you, and you look happy and healthy—glowing even. If I didn’t know better I’d say you’d fallen in love with a man, but it’s clearly your new life you’ve fallen in love with.”
I stop breathing and hope it calms the flow of blood to my cheeks. Fallen in love with a man? Maybe I have.
“I’ve really missed you at home but it makes me feel better to see how happy you are and how your new life suits you.”
“Thanks Allegra. I miss you all too but I do love it out here.”
“So, you think you’ll stay in the Hamptons?” Her tone is contorted into something like regret and I can tell by her expression she’d rather I was home. It looks as though it won’t be long before Tess flies the nest, and if Bambi’s late night texts to me are any indication, the relationship between my aunt and my youngest sister is growing taut.
I hate feeling responsible for how anyone else is feeling—I don’t handle it very well, so I do what I always do and blame the stars.
“According to my horoscope, it isn’t likely I’ll return to Washington Port,” I say with a sympathetic smile.
Her lips purse. “You’re still reading those things?” she asks, tightly.
Allegra has never approved of my interest in astrology and tarot so I half-expected this.
“If by ‘those things’ you mean astrological progressions that I calculate with mathematical precision, and haven’t failed me so far, then yes.”
She shakes her head slowly. “Serafina, you know how nervous I get when you use that nonsense to make decisions about your life. If you want to come home, you can come home. You don’t have to do everything those silly charts supposedly tell you.”
I take a careful breath. “But that’s the idea. I turn to my charts when Idon’t knowwhat decision to make—when I’m unsure either way. I don’t use them to dictate how I live my entire life.”
Allegra’s tipped chin and furrowed brow tell me she isn’t convinced. “So, where will you go from here?” she asks with a resigned sigh.
“Who says I’ll move on from here?” I shrug. “All I’ve seen is I won’t be returning home. I might stay here. That’s certainly my preferred option at the moment.”
An image of Andrew’s face flashes across my lids and I have to bite my cheek to stop a smile from forming. Sure, our relationship has been platonic, but he bought me flowers, took me to lunch andmowed downtwo men who wouldn’t leave me alone. Not to mention the way he listens intensely to every word I say. Hesomehow makes me feel like I’m the most fascinating person in the world.
Allegra’s face falls though, flooding me with guilt.
“But the progressions can change,” I remind her. “And you’re right—I don’t always have to act on them. I still have a mind of my own and can make a decisionwithoutusing charts and cards when I absolutely have to.”
Her shoulders relax a little. “Okay, well that’s good. And after that I feel like I need a drink—hard liquor preferably.”
“Have you seen the whiskey bar?” I’m thankful for the change in topic.
“No…” A cheeky glint appears in Allegra’s eye.
“Let me show you.” I loop an arm through Allegra’s and back on safer, familiar ground, we leave the dancing in full swing and head back through the hotel.
With Allegra sufficiently occupied with a large glass of twenty-one-year-old Japanese whiskey in hand, I hover again on the edge of the dance floor.
