The Last Keeper's Daughter by Trogner Rebecca

Author:Trogner, Rebecca [Trogner, Rebecca]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Crescent Moon Press
Published: 2013-02-09T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fifteen

“I can’t believe he’s dead.” Jo said. She was sitting with Martha in the kitchen at Waverly.

“Mr. Ayres was a good man.” What Martha said was true, but he was also a sad, empty husk of a man who emotionally died the night his wife did. She kept those words to herself. No good came from speaking ill of the dead.

Jo took a sip of coffee and stared out at the pool. “Isn’t it strange, even for an Ayres, to have the memorial service at night?”

“It isn’t really night, just dusk, and no, nothing would surprise me from Mr. Ayres.”

“He seemed okay the last time I saw him. Did he ever say anything to you about his heart?”

“He wasn’t blessed with a healthy constitution.” Martha patted Jo’s hand. “His heart got tired. We all die. It’s a part of life. You will see. Things will be the same for years, even decades, and then in one instant everything will change.” Martha felt it was a blessing that his time on earth was over. Maybe his soul was finally at peace.

She watched Jo from the corner of her eye, and tried to remember how it felt to be young, to feel that an endless number of summer days lay ahead. Martha had worked for the Ayres family almost forty years. It seemed like yesterday that she’d come to Waverly, hired by old man Randolph Ayres. He’d passed away just two weeks before Walter’s wife, Marissa, had died in childbirth. Walter had never recovered, and she’d taken over as Lily’s mother. For Martha, it was an unexpected life, but one she cherished.

They both turned back to the window, watching a guard patrol around the house. Jo shook her head. “I was almost afraid to drive in. Are they necessary?”

Martha laughed. “They are intimidating, aren’t they? The lawyer arranged for them. There is a lot of interest in Walter’s death.”

“Have you heard from Lily? She called me the other day. We actually talked about Walter and her boyfriend. She’s never talked to me on the phone.”

“It’s the new medication,” Martha lied, something she rarely did, but felt it was necessary. “I think she’s in love.” She smiled at Jo. “That helps, too.”

“What did you say his name was?”

“Krieger Barnes.”

“I’ve never met anyone named Krieger. Is he related to the Barnes of Greenwich?”

“I don’t know.” Martha couldn’t remember much about him. It caused her to fret, this feeling that she was forgetting something important.

“Did you have him checked out? He could be using her.”

Martha thought it a shame that Lily and Jo always had to worry about someone’s intent towards them. It was one of the downsides to wealth.

“What could they have in common?” Jo continued. “Lily doesn’t speak. Well, she used to not speak. She’s never had a date. You don’t think…?”

“No, no, it isn’t like that.” In some ways Martha worried more for Jo than Lily. Jo had endured a long string of stepfathers. Her mother cared for her own gratification and nothing for her daughter.

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