“A date,” Grayson finished. “March fifth, nineteen sixty-seven.” He looked toward Zara. “Does that date ring a bell for you?”
Zara shook her head. “But then,” she said, “when it comes to my mother, I’m almost certainly not the right person to ask.”
Chapter 36
LYRA
Take these.” Grayson pressed a handful of individually wrapped caramel candies into Lyra’s hand. “You might need them. And watch out for her cane.”
Theherin that sentence was Grayson’s great-grandmother, who they’d located in the Hawthorne House bowling alley—yes,bowling alley—where Nan, as she was called, was currently occupied with bossing around a man who, based on his attire, was probably part of the security detail.
“No, no, no.” Nan jabbed at the man with her cane. “When you’re bowling for yourself, young man, you can do what you want, but when you’re bowling forme, you don’t take the coward’s way out on a seven-ten split.”
“We’re going to have to talk about the fact that your house has abowling alley,” Lyra told Grayson under her breath.
“Technically, it’s Avery’s house now,” Grayson replied. It was the first time in hours he’d said Avery’s name. Lyra could feel how much it cost him.
“Grayson?” Nan spotted them, then glared at Lyra. “What did you do to him?”
“Let me guess,” Grayson said wryly. “You’re referring to the flannel.”
Nan snorted. “Constantly naked until he was about four, this one,” she told Lyra. “And now he has emotional security suits.”
“Lyra,” Grayson said, his lips twitching very slightly, “allow me to introduce you to my great-grandmother, Pearl O’Day. The infamousNan.”
“Where’s Xander?” Nan demanded. “He’s my favorite.”
“Xander is everyone’s favorite,” Grayson replied. “Nan, we need to talk to you about Alice.”
“My Alice.” Nan’s voice went softer in volume if not tone, then she turned on her bowling partner. “Out!”
The man did not have to be told twice. Lyra was guessing that nighttime bowling was not in his job description.
Nan eased herself down on a nearby bench, but she kept her cane in hand, and Lyra remembered Grayson’s warning.
“Caramel?” Lyra offered.
“I suppose I will.” Nan begrudgingly took the candy, unwrapped it, and popped it in her mouth.
As the old woman took her sweet time chewing, Lyra and Grayson took a seat on an opposing bench.
“Why the sudden curiosity about my Alice?” Nan asked Grayson finally. “I can count on one hand the number of times you’ve ever asked about her.” Nan glanced at Lyra. “Died before this one was born, my Alice did.”
That one sentence spoke volumes:She doesn’t know.Either that, or Nan was lying through her caramel-chewing teeth.
Lyra left it to Grayson to decide on their next move. He went for the direct approach. “Does the date March fifth, nineteen sixty-seven, mean anything to you?”
Nan’s grip on her cane ominously tightened. Wordlessly, Lyra leaned forward and passed another caramel across the gap between the benches.
“If you’re after the Hawthorne fortune,” Nan told Lyra, unwrapping the candy, “you’re too late. Another girl got there first.”
“I’ve met Avery,” Lyra replied, unruffled. “And I wouldn’t take money from this asshole if my life depended on it.” Lyra softened the wordasshole. Slightly.
“That’s her nickname for me,” Grayson informed Nan.
“I like you.” Nan pointed her cane at Lyra. “Less than Avery. Hell of a lot more than the other one.”
“Eve?” Lyra could have cursed herself for the way that name escaped her lips.