The morning after Daddy’s funeral was quiet. Hannah, the cook, made omelets for brunch. They would have been for breakfast, but I had slept in.
Tina made her appearance even later than I had. She looked like she had a rough night. We all had.
“I thought you would have been up before now,” Devin said as he walked in.
He always came in the back kitchen door, never the front.
“Why are you so loud?” Tina grimaced at him. She had the sunglasses from the day before on her face. She winced and flinched at sounds.
He stopped and looked at her and then headed for the butler’s pantry. He returned with a glass of water and a bottle of pills.
“Hangovers don’t suit widows.” He placed the glass down and upended the pills into her hand, spilling out two before spinning the cap back on.
He pulled up the chair next to mine and opened his napkin with a flourish. He dipped his head and lowered his voice when he spoke to me. “How are you holding up?”
I shrugged. It was going to be weird without Daddy around. How would I know what rooms I could be in to make sure I wasn’t in his way? Would we still have supper at seven sharp?
“Hannah, you’ll stick around and make sure these two are fed right?”
“Of course Devin, why wouldn’t I?” She asked in response.
“With the old man now gone, I thought the staff might decide to look for jobs elsewhere,” he said. He nodded, indicating Hannah should sit.
She carried over a plated omelet for him, and then sat down. “I haven’t talked to anyone else, but Jessie told me everyone is paid through the end of the week. That’s enough time to make sure Miss Harleigh and Mrs. Tina can handle this big place on their own or have other arrangements put into place.”
“Without knowing what’s stipulated in the will, I’d like for you to stay at least until the end of the month. I’ve left a message for Jessie, but I doubt I’ll have a chance to speak to her directly before I leave.”
“You’re leaving me?” I blurted out. I didn’t want Devin to go. He may have been a big jerk, but he knew how to take care of everything. My father had basically raised him to know how to manage the staff, and the household needs in addition to his business. I knew nothing. I wasn’t even any good at sitting in the corner and looking pretty. That’s what all of Daddy’s wives had done, looked pretty and not much else. It’s what he expected from me.
Devin patted my arm, and I instantly felt like I had overreacted.
“I have a meeting with suppliers. It’s an overnight trip to Washington. It was scheduled before…”
He let the last part trail away, before my father died.
Devin left. And I felt more alone than I ever could remember.
When Tina suggested we go out and get our nails done, I declined, after all we had just had our nails done a few days earlier.
“I know,” Tina said as she inspected her nails. “But I’m over this color, and you’ve been picking at your nails. They need to be redone. Come with me anyway, we’ll get lunch.”
“Why not?” I shrugged. I wasn’t doing anything around here. Besides, I didn’t know Tina very well. I was away at school when she married Daddy. I never lived in the house with her. In the fight following my dropping out of college, Daddy agreed that I needed to be on my own to learn some hard lessons. Those lessons weren’t particularly hard, not when I had an allowance that paid for everything. And my idea of a job was to teach yoga modifications to plus-sized practitioners three times a week.
I usually kept my nails slightly longer than short, and I never wore polish. I couldn’t keep it on, it always chipped, as it had. Tina was right, I should get them fixed.
Few of my mother’s words stuck with me. ‘If you can’t maintain a look, don’t attempt it,’ stayed with me. It was something she would repeat often, usually when she was having her hair touched up, or she was smearing lipstick on at the table after having eaten.
My nails were clean, tidy, and buffed to a nice sheen. A nail tech still worked on Tina’s long, stiletto-shaped nails. She sipped from a glass of red wine.
“What should we do next? Go shopping?”
I shook my head. I didn’t have enough in my account. Devin had canceled my lease after I had paid rent for the month. I knew they were letting me play at being an independent woman, it was something I usually ignored. Watching Tina in her extravagant clothes, carrying an expensive purse, and suggesting we go spend more money just reminded me of the lesson Daddy wanted to force me to learn, do things his way, or don’t expect any support from him.
“I can’t. I don’t know what’s happening with my allowance now,” I admitted.
“Pish, honey you have a huge inheritance coming your way. You should spend some of it on yourself. Get some new clothes. All you wear is those leggings and big T-shirts.”
I wore what was comfortable. I had big boobs and a bigger butt, finding fashionable plus-size clothes was a challenge. Tina was curvy, but she was also petite. She fit into regular sizes. We were similarly shaped, but I had almost six inches of height on her, and that changed everything when it came to the sizes I wore. Shopping wasn’t fun when I couldn’t find anything that fit.
She rolled her eyes and made more scolding noises at me. I spent the afternoon following her around shops as she bought cute outfits and expensive jewelry.
Tina’s parties started the next day.
I hadn’t seen Hannah, or Jessie, or anyone else who worked for Daddy in days. But there were meals prepared and left in the refrigerator for me to heat up.
I called Devin a few days later.
“What’s the matter, Harleigh?” Was that concern I heard in his voice?
“I thought you were coming back. Tina is out of control.”
The hardest lesson while living on my own was learning how to avoid Devin showing up while I was out on dates. And now, I just wanted him here to help me with this Tina situation because I knew he would handle it.
“Is she a danger to you, or anyone? Herself?”
“I don’t know, Devin. She’s been partying constantly. I think they are doing drugs.”
“Okay, Harleigh. I’m stuck here at least one more day. Your father’s death has put some doubt into the supplier’s trust that the company will continue on successfully without him.”
“Don’t they realize you’ve been running things for the past few years?” I asked.
“Not everyone is aware of that,” he chuckled.
“Devin, she’s trying to spend all of the money. She thinks she’s getting everything, including the house. What should I do?”
“She can’t spend everything. I’ll have the card company cap her spending limit. In the meantime, just stay out of her way.”
“I can’t go back to my apartment,” I pouted. “Can I go to yours?”
“I don’t think moving out of the house is a smart move. Hang in there. I’ll be back soon.”
He couldn’t be back soon enough.
I only left the house long enough to teach my class, but that was enough.
Music blared from the house as my boss’s son pulled up the drive.
“Thanks, Seth,” I said as I shut the car door behind me. The studio owner had insisted that her teenage son give me a ride. I looked up at the house, and around at all the cars lining the drive. Tina was having another party. Or maybe it was a single party that hadn’t ended yet.
I climbed the steps, more tired from my yoga class than I should be. I have been constantly tired these days since Daddy’s passing.
I opened the door and heard a loud crash. I looked around frantically to see what I had knocked over. There was nothing near me, just shoes and the odd discarded champagne bottle. I hadn’t believed Tina during the first party when she claimed it was a wake honoring my father’s memory. I certainly wasn’t going to believe any excuse she had this time.
Another crash sounded, and I followed the noise through the formal rooms of my father’s house. Blue plastic tarps were haphazardly strewn over pieces of furniture, and I could smell fresh paint. Pulsing music and the breaking crashes did not suit the old-fashioned and conservative décor. An empty DJ set up stood abandoned in the middle of the next parlor I cut through. Dropping my bags I looked at the turntables and the knobs to see if I could figure out what slider or switch would shut this thing down.
Cables trailed from the board and I followed one set to a pair of amplifiers. The other cable snaked its way to an electrical outlet. I pulled the plug. With a warbling complaint, the sound stopped.
The next crash was followed by a lot of cussing and then laughter, and without the music, I could tell it was coming from the back entry hall.
When I saw what Tina and her friends were doing, my first thought was to call Devin. I didn’t know how to confront her. She was my stepmother, even if she was only twelve years older than me, even if she was making a huge mistake.
“Tina!” I yelled.
She twisted and looked at me. She gave me one of those up and down rakes of judgment before sneering at me. “Go away, mummy is redecorating.” She flipped her hand at me and then cackled with laughter. Her friends joined in. I didn’t recognize any of them. This was a different crowd than she had partied with the last time I met any of her friends.
They were painting a lurid purple over original mahogany wainscoting. The choice wasn’t my favorite, but I knew better than to paint over the historically significant décor.
“You can’t do that,” I said. I walked over to her friend with a paintbrush. With more fortitude than I realized I possessed, I took it out of his hands.
“The house is going to be mine, and I want to change the color. All this wood is so gloomy,” Tina’s words were slurred.
It didn’t surprise me at all that she was drunk this early in the day.
“You don’t know that. You won’t know that until they read the will.”
“You are such a pain in the ass!” she screamed. “Get out! Get out of my house!”
“It’s not your fucking house!” I yelled back.
She actually stumbled away from me, as if no one had ever yelled at her before. Regaining her balance and composure, she stomped over to me, yanked the paintbrush from my hand, and threw it. It sprayed an arc of paint splatter over her friends, the walls with the vintage wallpaper, and the ceiling.
Everyone, except me, laughed. Tina picked up the gallon of paint and splashed it onto the wall
I turned on my heel and ran to my room. I called Devin.
“You need to come home,” I whined as soon as he picked up. “She’s destroying the historic value of the house.” I wailed.
“Calm down Harleigh, what’s going on?”
I cried and tried to compose myself enough to talk. “She’s painting the back entry purple. And there were tarps in other rooms.”
“Fuck.”
I waited for him to say something more than just cussing.
“Okay, I have a flight out of here late. But that’s not going to help you now.”
“Call Sanderson, he’ll know what to do.”
I followed Devin’s instructions. Mr. Sanderson said he would call the lawyer for me. Someone would be there soon. I stayed in my room. And I waited. Almost an hour later cars started to leave. I snuck downstairs.
The guy from the funeral, the one Devin said was hitting on me, had his arms around Tina as she sobbed against his shoulder.
