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The front door slammed, and somebody walked across the hall, and then Shane came into the kitchen, Rhett trailing behind him.
When he saw the four of them standing there, he paused, and Rhett flopped down beside him.
He looked tall and broad and dangerous, all dressed in black. He looked damned good, in fact
“Joey?” Brenda whispered, dead white now.
“This is Shane, Joey’s nephew,” Agnes said. “Shane, this is Brenda Dupres. Fortunato?—”
“Shane, oh, my God.” Brenda put her hand over her heart. “Shane. Of course, what was I thinking? Well. You’ve grown up since the last time I saw you.”
“That’s Little Shane?” Lisa Livia whispered to Agnes. “Who knew he was gonna grow up to be that?”
Shane eyed them all warily.
Lisa Livia waved to him. “Hi, Shane. Remember me, Lisa Livia?”
“Hello,” Shane said, still cautious, which was something, given the effect Lisa Livia and her tube top usually had on men.
“You think the next time you’re in the basement, you could bring up that Venus statue?” Lisa Livia said.
“It’s a crime scene, LL,” Agnes said, trying not to watch Shane’s face. “We’ll get it to you, I promise.”
“Welcome home, Shane,” Brenda said, holding on to the counter now. “Whatever are you doin’ back in Keyes? Something for Joey?” Her voice shook a little on Joey.
“Looking out for Agnes,” Shane said. “We were wondering why nobody cleared out the basement before it was boarded up.”
“Cleared out?” Brenda said, her voice a little higher than usual.
“You got a bar full of booze down there, racks full of wine, a good pool table, and that real nice statue of the Venus de Milo?—”
“Real nice,” Lisa Livia said, while Maria looked at her in disbelief.
“—but it all got boarded up. Why?”
Brenda blinked at him. “Oh, Frankie. It just all reminded me so much of Frankie, so I just nailed the door shut and papered over it after he disappeared.”
“My ass,” Lisa Livia said in Agnes’s ear. “She killed him. She probably buried him down there, that’s why she’s so spooked it’s open again. She’s probably got him buried under the Venus.” She sighed. “He’d have liked that.”
“Shh,” Agnes said, praying that was a joke. “Brenda, what did you want to talk to me about?”
Brenda looked back at her, as if she wasn’t quite sure who Agnes was. “What? Oh, Agnes. Well, about the wedding, of course. I was hoping you’d be reasonable about moving it to the country club since you’re never going to get the house painted in time but—” She looked back at the wall and then at Shane. “—I think I’m just going back to the Brenda Belle now and we’ll talk about it tomorrow.” She smiled weakly at Shane. “Tomorrow’s another day.”
“It always is,” Agnes said.
“I’ll go with you, Grandma,” Maria said, and Brenda didn’t say a word about the “Grandma.”
Shane moved aside, and Brenda glided past him, tottering a little on her heels, still beautiful, but very pale. For the first time, she looked close to her real age.
Maria shot one last baleful look at her mother and followed Brenda out the door.
“What’s the Brenda Belle?” Shane asked when they were gone.
“Her yacht,” Agnes said. “She’s been living on it since she sold me this place.”
“It’s an old tub,” Lisa Livia said and looked at Agnes. “Do you believe me now?”
“Maybe,” Agnes said. “Believe what?” Shane said.
