“She’s no dummy,” Olivia said. “You think she’s going to get herself on the
wrong side of our father now, while he can still change his will?”
He pulled his hat and gloves on and went out the back door. Poor Tobey. He
had a hard time making small talk with the customers. Olivia tried, and failed, to
imagine the conversation in which her brother and Mrs. Place might engage.
When Olivia got home and opened the back door she could already hear
Seborn’s bell clanging and went straight upstairs.
“So, has he gone for her?”
“Yes, Father.” She turned to leave the room.
“No. You stay here. I’ll be needing a witness.” He nodded at the rocker that
stood next to the bed. “You can read to me till she gets here.”
Olivia obediently sat down and picked up “Gulliver’s Travels.” She read until
they heard the front door open and Tobey’s voice at the bottom of the stairs. “Up
there, second door on the right.” Unfamiliar steps tapped hesitantly up the stairs,
followed by a tentative knock on the open door.
“Come in, come in,” Seborn rasped.
Though Mrs. Place wore a thick red woolen coat, she shivered as she stood in
the doorway, looking as if she expected to be arrested, if not shot. Olivia set the
book on the bed and rose to face her.
Mrs. Place visibly steeled herself before she spoke. “Good afternoon to you,
Mr. Killion. It’s good to see you looking so well. Afternoon to you, Miss
Killion.” Mrs. Place nodded toward Olivia’s chair, but avoided looking directly
at her. “Did you want to place some kind of special order from the bakery?”
“No need for play-acting,” he said, his voice hoarse. “Do you suppose the
world is full of fools? I didn’t raise any, I can tell you.”
Olivia took a few awkward steps toward Mrs. Place and stuck out her hand.
“It’s a pleasure to see you again, Mrs. Place,” Olivia said, astounding both Jettie
Place and herself. That kind of social grace wasn’t in Olivia’s nature. She always
felt like the most awkward person in any group, not the one who helped put anyone else at ease. Mrs. Place paled, but took Olivia’s hand and smiled.
“Set yourself down here.” Seborn nodded at the rocker Olivia had vacated
and Mrs. Place did as told. Olivia edged around to the other side of the bed, to a
vantage point from which she could observe both their faces. His showed no
emotion, as if he were performing a task to be checked off a list. Jettie Place looked both nervous and resentful.
“Look here, we both know I won’t be getting out of this bed.”
“Please don’t talk like that.” Mrs. Place put her hand on his, uneasily tracking
Olivia out of the corner of her eye. Olivia thought she had never seen a worse liar.
“I’m only saying what’s true. And here’s something else that’s true – you may
have cultivated expectations over the years, but there’s not going to be any mention of you in my will.” He paused and coughed. “So I want to do right by
you now, while I’m still breathing. And I’m not saying that Avis might accuse you of tricking me out of that money, but there’s no harm in having Olivia here
as a witness.”
