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“Yes,” Bram said as he helped me out of my coat. “But we haven’t approached her yet. We were waiting for you. By the way, you look incredible in that dress.” His hand lingered on the small of my back, causing a spark of heat to race down my spine. We hadn’t had sex, but I knew it was only a matter of the right time.
“Thanks,” I told him, standing a little too close. The dress hugged my body like it loved me, a thought I had whenever I tried on something new… did it love me? This dress absolutely fit that description, and from the looks I was getting from my best friends, I’d say this dress adored me. “How ‘bout we talk to her before this dance gets started, while everyone is still sober?”
“Good idea,” Vince said, and we took off for her table at the opposite end of the large room.
I loved how Moon Hall sparkled this year with hanging cobwebs, big and small spiders, and floating ghosts that laughed and screamed periodically. Black flower arrangements adorned each table, and each table had been covered in either black or a muted orange tablecloth. Henrietta and her friends sat around one of the larger tables, covered in orange. As we approached, the woman sitting to her right stood, leaving the chair empty.
She gazed over at us as we walked in closer to her table. Her wide smile instantly made me feel welcomed. Her grin grew with each step, like she was genuinely happy to meet us.
“You must be Luna.” She remained seated but held out her hand. “I’m so happy to meet you. I can’t tell you how much I’ve been looking forward to this. I even brought the family Bible with the information you might need. I’ve kept it up, so all the dates and names are current.”
I took her hand in mine and didn’t shake it, rather surrounding it with both of mine. I had an instant connection to this lovely older woman, with her blond hair, her lovely face with just the right amount of makeup, and a witchy outfit that belonged on a stage. I knew from the moment I saw her, the late Scarlett Camarari must have designed it. She had designed costumes for Broadway, and in her later years, took up the art here in Cricket. I also knew, from my research, that Henrietta and Scarlett had been best friends.
There was something about Henri’s smile that made me feel accepted. The woman exuded kindness and warmth.
“Thank you so much for bringing it, Henrietta.”
“Oh, please call me Henri,” she insisted. “No one calls me Henrietta but my accountant, and he’s an old fart.”
I sniggered and knew I liked this woman.
I turned to the guys and introduced them. They each shook her hand, then we all grabbed chairs and sat around her at the table. Her friends seemed to know we were having a short meeting, so they graciously left us to it.
“This means a lot to us,” I told her, trying to make myself comfortable while sitting next to her. I couldn’t wait to hear more about her family, and I could tell the guys were just as anxious.
“So, what’s this all about, exactly?” Henri asked. “You mentioned something about my grandmother Chantel. What did you want to know about her?”
“Let’s start with how many children she had. And were they boys or girls?” I decided to get right to the main question.
Her face brightened, like she was happy to share this information. “I know she had three children, two girls and a boy.”
I instantly felt as though we were on the right track here.
“Did they all make it to adulthood?” Bram asked, totally interested in what she had to say.
We all were.
“Well, my mom certainly did, or I wouldn’t be here,” she said, chuckling. “And my uncle Hank died on the beach in Normandy, during World War II.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” Vince offered, leaning in so he didn’t have to shout over the voices and music in the hall. “A brave man, to be sure.”
A wide grin stretched on her pink, glossy lips. “I don’t know how brave he was, but the poor boy was just twenty years old. I only met him once, when I was too young to remember him, but I do. He had kind, sea-blue eyes and could make me laugh. He always brought me an apple whenever he visited. It’s those kinds of things you never forget.”
She had kind, sea-blue eyes as well, and I would never forget her either.
“What about the other daughter? Whatever happened to her?” I asked, hoping this would be the information that would lead us to Carrie Ann’s true identity.
“And what was her name?” Vince asked, anxiously waiting for her response. He looked intense and nervous at the same time. Still incredibly handsome though, despite his chalky skin color.
She turned and opened the large Bible on the table in front of her. It had all sorts of yellowed papers stuffed inside. At first glance, it looked more like a journal, rather than a Bible, but when she flipped through the pages, I saw the text, and it was absolutely the Bible.
“Let’s see if I can find the document with all the full names and dates.” She flipped through the pages. “My mother called her Matty, so I never knew her real name.”
Henri’s fingers were as nimble as a woman’s half her age. No sign of arthritis nor were there any dark spots. Just a diamond the size of Texas and a pinky ring with a sapphire bigger than the diamond, and I noticed a matching large sapphire, encircled in diamonds that hung from a thick golden chain around her neck. The woman had exquisite taste in jewelry.
“Here it is,” she said, holding up the delicate slip of paper. “According to this, Chantel and Sven Darling had three children: Hendrik, that’s my uncle Hank, Gertrude or Gert, my dear sweet mother, and Matilda, that was her name. Aunt Matilda, who disappeared way before I was born. I think my mom wasn’t even ten yet.”
“Matilda disappeared?” I asked. I could hardly believe this news. I had to control my excitement. I could tell the guys were excited as well. “How did she disappear? Do you know?”
