I glanced at Dante, then at William, before landing on Gideon. They felt it. I know they did. The silence in the dining room was deafening.
“So, Sian, I hear you’re quite the student,” Lucas, Gideon’s dad said.
“Er, I do my best. I’m not the greatest student, but I’m good friends with the girl who is. Heather.” Sian looked nervous.
Alexander snorted and Sian glanced over at her father.
“She shouldn’t be in that school.”
This made me frown.
“She’s a great student, Dad. So bright.”
“Yes, the school loves it when the underdog succeeds, Alex. Don’t forget that,” my dad, Justin, said.
“I haven’t met Heather,” Joan said.
“You have, Mom. When you come and pick me up.”
Joan frowned. “No, I’m sure I would have known. I’m sorry dear. This big case, you know how it is.”
I stared at Joan Roberts, and something seemed a little off about her. It was like she was off in her own little world. Drink or drugs, I was guessing. The life of a lawyer must be too stressful for her, but then I couldn’t help but wonder why she would willingly want that life for her daughter. It made no sense.
“Heather’s great,” I said. “She helped me out with math and now I’m totally acing that class.”
“At least you didn’t have to bang the teacher to get ahead,” William said, to which his father, George, slapped him around the back of his head. “Dad!”
“Language at the table.”
“He’s not wrong,” Sian said. “We’re all having to do this relationship thing through homeroom. We think it has to do with that party that went bad, but also the student and teacher who were caught in an intimate relationship.”
“You’re cute when you blush,” Gideon said.
“I thought the rumor was false.” Sian sat back.
Our food had yet to come out. I looked at Gideon’s father and I saw he was staring at Joan, who still seemed completely oblivious to everything going on around her.
“You’d be surprised what lengths people would go to in order to make their way up the social ladder of life,” my dad said.
“What is that supposed to mean?” Alexander leaned forward as he spoke.
I detected a lack of love between our dads and Sian’s.
This was an interesting development. Our dads had loved Joan. Watching them now, I saw it. They were still in love with her. It explained why there were no wives. Did they do that not to hurt Joan?
“People make their way into places they shouldn’t,” Lucas said.
“And we sometimes don’t even see the truth,” Harrison said.
“Well, this is nice,” Joan said. “I’ve been looking forward to taking you out to dinner, Sian. Drew told me she’d make sure you were ready.”
Sian frowned, as did I.
“Mom, Drew died, remember?”
Joan sighed. “What? She’s not dead. She’s just asleep. Right?” She turned to Alexander, who cupped her face and pressed a kiss to her head.
“It’s fine, darling.”
“We did,” Lucas said.
“Your mother helped us out of a lot of scrapes when we were boys.” This was said by George.
“Let’s not go down memory lane,” Alexander said. “We all know why we’re here, so let’s keep on track. There is no point in diverting from what is going to happen.”
“Always in a rush to get things over with,” Harrison said.
“Must be so disappointing not to have the patience to enjoy life.” Justin spoke up once again.