The men sat down in their dirty clothes and ate it all.
“This is how I remember it,” Byon said. “This camaraderie.” He looked at Clive. “I didn’t think about...about the others.”
They looked at Clive, waiting for one of his poor-me statements. Instead, he said, “I have some really rich clients. I bet they’d love to meet you. Maybe they’ll back your new play Love and Death at Oxley.”
It was seconds before the others could react.
Byon recovered first. “Jack will star in the show.”
“Like hell I will,” he said. “I have enough trouble trying to get Kate when I live with her. If I left her alone I’d never get her.”
The other men burst into laughter.
“What?!” Jack demanded.
“Should we tell him?” Byon asked.
“If he’s that dumb, I vote no,” Chris said.
“I agree,” Clive said.
“What does that mean?” No one answered Jack’s question.
Byon looked at Chris. “You can play your father.”
“No thanks. I’m going home, and I’ll marry Teddy and have three kids.”
Clive snorted. “Won’t happen. She’ll stay with her mother.”
Chris leaned forward. “It’s already started. The women are planning to open a Renewal studio in Sydney, and Teddy is going to run it. Nadine is going to become the manager here in the UK. The idea is to give Wilhelmina time off because she plans to marry the lawyer and have kids. Adopt or IVF. They haven’t decided which.”
The men were staring at him.
Chris shrugged. “If you grow up with two mothers, you learn the female language.”
“I always suspected there was one,” Jack said.
Clive spoke. “You’re going to leave your farm and move to Sydney?”
“I was born into farming,” Chris said. “I didn’t choose it. But I do like the animals. I might look into zoo work.”
“Job satisfaction over money,” Jack said. “I like it.”
“Teddy will earn more than you,” Clive cautioned.
Chris smiled. “You old men and your egos. My generation doesn’t believe in that sexist lunacy.”
* * *
That night, Jack asked Kate what was going on.
“Just making plans.”
“For Teddy to move to Australia and run a Renewal branch? And for Nadine to stop looking for a rich husband and support herself?”
The look of surprise on her face gave Jack great satisfaction.
“Who told you?”
“It was my clever deduction,” Jack said.
“Yeah, right. We heard you guys singing. Will Byon give you credit in his new show?”
Jack, clean from a shower, stretched out on Kate’s fancy princess bed. “So give me the facts, ma’am, on everyone.”
“Seems like you already know it all.”
He remained silent.
Kate climbed up to sit at the foot of the bed. “Nadine and Teddy are going through a three-month course to learn about Renewal. Diana’s going back to Australia as soon as she’s allowed to leave. She said Chris wants to stay here in England while Teddy is in training, then they’ll leave together. Actually, Chris wants to spend more time at Oxley.”
Jack nodded. “Wants to learn about his father, does he?”
“Yes, but I hope he doesn’t think about what he could have had.”
“He’s got his feet on the ground. He won’t do that. And what about Puck?”
Kate grinned. “That has been interesting. She visited her mother in prison and Mrs. Aiken was really nasty to her.”
“As always.”
“Right, exactly. When Puck got back, Teddy and I were hugging her in comfort, but Nadine got angry. Yelled at her. ‘Have you never heard the word NO?’ The next day Puck was only gone for an hour. Seems she walked out on her mother.”
“Good for her.”
“And then...drumroll please... Puck asked Willa if she needed anything to do with plants for Renewal, like maybe edible gardens.”
“You think Puck would ever leave her house? Leave Oxley?”
“Maybe.” Kate drew her knees to her chest and stared at the pretty bedspread.
“Okay,” he said, “out with it. What else do you have to tell me?”
“Aunt Sara is going to stay here while you and I spend two weeks in Scotland.” She waited for his reply.
“Sounds good.” He looked at her from under lowered lashes.
His look was of such invitation that Kate got off the bed. “Aunt Sara says she wants some time alone but I think she’s going to try to win back Isabella.”
“How angry is she?”
“Very. It’s a my-life-is-ruined level of anger and it’s understandable. She grew up here. Restoring Oxley was her lifelong dream.” Kate sighed. “She’s been getting requests from people to hold séances here. They’re saying Sean’s spirit wants to be heard.”
“They’re probably right. Poor guy. I wonder if he had any family.”
“Nadine says no, that Sean was orphaned young.”
“He never got to see his daughter.”
“And Chris never knew about his father,” Kate said.
Jack rolled off the bed. “I like that the kid will be here with Sara, but I still wish she’d stay somewhere else. In London, maybe. She could go shopping.”
“She feels guilty about what happened. She said we solved a murder but she lost a friend.”
Jack frowned. “Sara paid for all this. I think that shows her concern for her friend.”
“Money and friendship don’t go together,” Kate said.
Jack was still frowning. “I know you’re right, but I wish she’d get out of this place. All the needless deaths that have happened here. Sara isn’t thinking of joining a séance, is she?”
“Only if she could get a book out of it.”
“I’ll talk to her.”
“Please do,” Kate said.
He started for the door but paused. “Two weeks, huh? Just us?”
“No one else,” Kate said.