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Now Mom sobers a bit, sitting back on the couch. “If the wedding even happens.”
“It will,” I tell her firmly. “They really love each other. I saw it with my own eyes. Even after Andries learned about the cabaret and the whole Bar Rouge scandal, he stood by her side.”
Mom hums to herself again, thoughtfully. I take her hand with mine and lean against her, my head on her shoulder. “Dad is making a big mistake,” I breathe, “But that doesn’t mean you have to do the same.”
She stiffens but doesn’t push me away. “I told you I would think about it.”
I close my eyes and take in the feeling of closeness with my mother, breathing in her comforting, familiar scent, before giving up on the subject and deciding to stop before I push her too far. “Okay, Mom.”
I move to leave, but she stops me with a hand on my knee. I look at her, and she searches my eyes with her own, cupping my cheek briefly with her eyes bright before she straightens again. “Darling girl, do you need an appointment with our family doctor?”
Her question throws me. “For what?”
“Well, like we talked about before, now that you have a boyfriend––”
Her meaning catches me off guard, and I groan, embarrassed. “Mom, I told you I’ve got it handled! I got the pill in Capri, I’m good.”
She frowns delicately. “El, it’s best we make sure it’s the best choice for you. A pharmacist is not a substitute for a doctor.”
“I’m good, Mom. I swear.”
Mom pats my hands, looking as uncomfortable as I feel. “If you say so, darling, but just tell me if you change your mind, alright? There are lots of options to explore.”
I give my Mom an awkward hug and escape into the hallway, letting out a breath when I’m out of earshot of her. Leave it to my mom to make me so uneasy that I forget what I wanted to talk about in the first place.
I consider leaving but remember that I told Hannah I’d go to see her collection before I left. I knock on her bedroom door a few times before I hear my sister’s voice from within. Once I enter, I realize that the pastel colors that her room had been painted before are long gone, replaced by lavish scarlets and creamy ivory. It’s immaculate in decor and cleanliness, and my sister is perched on a stool towards the back of the room, leaning over something.
She doesn’t say anything to me, so I shut the door behind me and approach her. What I thought was a makeup vanity appears to actually be a work desk, and Hannah is above it, holding a small, figure-eight shaped magnifying glass to her eye as she examines a stunning, glimmering emerald ring.
“That’s beautiful,” I comment, coming to stand beside her. “Is it yours?”
“No.” Hannah doesn’t stop examining her prize. “I found it on the beach in Lake Como. It must have fallen out of someone's bag.”
The way she answers so smoothly sets off some alarms in my head, but I ignore them. “Damn, such a lovely ring, too. I’d be bummed if I had lost it.”
“People lose precious things all the time,” she responds deadpan, still not looking up at me. Her behavior is odd.
“Yeah, I guess they do. But Johan told me you have an entire collection of random things like this. How come I've never gotten to see it?” I keep my voice light and teasing, suddenly extremely interested in seeing her stash.
My sister shrugs, finally removing the magnifying glass from her eye as she looks at me. The harsh light she’s using to see the ring clearly makes her look pale. “You never asked. Johan was the only one who was polite enough to inquire about it.”
“Uh, ok. Can I see it?”
“Sure.”
Hannah stands, and I’m taken aback by how tall she has become. How did I not notice it before? She has at least 4 inches on me, and her dark brown hair falls down her back in a sleek sheet that she brushes over her shoulder and out of the way. She’s treating me with a strange aloofness, and while my sister has always been introverted, it almost seems like she doesn’t want to be around me.
I follow her to her dressing room, which is just as stark and tidy as the rest of the room and watch as she pulls open a large drawer. I gasp, moving next to her to get a closer look. The drawer is full of antique jewels, broaches, and buttons. Some bear family crests that I recognize, others are unmarked but clearly expensive and precious. There is no rhyme or reason to her collection, only that everything is worth money and is striking in its own way.
“Wow,” I breathe. “This looks like a pirate treasure. How long have you been collecting these?”
Hannah takes a second to reluctantly answer. “Since I was twelve or so. It’s grown… quite a bit since I showed Johan. How is he doing, by the way? Since you saw him in Capri and all.”
“Fine. Actually, I invited him to dinner here in a few weeks, so you can ask him for yourself.”
“Really?” She becomes more animated than I’ve seen her this entire visit. “That’s amazing! So you guys are..?”
I shake my head emphatically. “We’re not together, no. We are just friends.”
