Pen looked dubious. “Are you sure you can trust them?”
He considered the question, turning his chair to gaze through the plate-glass window to the rippling waves on the lake. An egret stood in the shallow water of the inlet waiting for breakfast to swim or hop by. Puffy white clouds scuttled in from the west as the breeze kicked up.
“A year ago, even six months ago, I’d have been leery. Seriously leery.” He puckered his brow as he reflected on the last couple months, the changes he’d seen in the family dynamic. “But ya know what? Eldridge’s disappearance has done interesting things to the family. Plenty of accusations and blame have been thrown around, most of it disproved, and yet I feel more like I can trust my siblings now than ever before. We’ve been through the fire together, and it’s strengthened family relationships.”
“The proverbial silver lining?”
He lifted a shoulder. “I suppose. I’d say a lot of the change has also come from the significant others in the family.” A strange ache filled his chest at that thought, and he spun his chair back to face Penelope.
“What do you mean?” she asked as she carefully placed a block on the top of a tower. Nicholas immediately knocked the tower over with a gleeful chuckle.
The ache eased to a warmth as he watched his two guests—guests who felt less like company every day and more like people he wanted as a fixture in his life, guests who made him want to be his best self, guests who made him hopeful about the future for the first time in many years. Recognizing that truth, he could easily see why his siblings had grown more likable, become easier to trust and developed a more genuine loyalty to the family.
“Everybody’s getting engaged and married, becoming parents,” he explained. “Funny how being in love, sharing life with your soul mate can change a person. I guess falling in love, being truly happy brings out the best in the Coltons.”
“Love brings out the best in everyone.” She gave him a smile that burrowed to his soul.
“Yeah, I suppose.” He scoffed a laugh and shook his head. “Even Fowler and Marceline have been nicer lately.”
She made a choking sound and coughed. “What? Fowler? Even my mother said she thought he was a putz. And that was when he was just a teenager.”
“Good ole rotten Fowler. He’s always been as mean as a riled Texas rattlesnake toward me and the other kids in the family. But he’s mellowed in the past month or so after proposing to his longtime love.”
“Wonders never cease. And Marceline...” She bit her bottom lip as she narrowed her eyes in deep reflection. “My main memory of her is when your family came to our house once for a dinner party and she kept referring to us as ‘new money.’ Her tone made it clear that in her mind that was synonymous with pond scum.”
Reid snorted. “Our family fortune is ‘new money.’ Eldridge and his brother had nothing as kids. Eldridge was a two-bit criminal who married money, got lucky in oil and capitalized on key investments.”
“Oh, I do believe she was including your father in her denigration. She bragged about her real father having come from old money. From the ‘establishment.’ She made me feel so...unworthy of our wealth.”
“No wonder you hated our family.”
“I had a long talk with my mother that night. She told me a person’s worth and value is in how they treat other people, how they use their resources and work at making the world a better place. How well they love others.” Her expression reflected a mellow tenderness, a longing.
Reid tried to remember what he could about Pen’s mother. She’d largely been overshadowed by her vocal and obsequious husband whenever he’d met her. “I think I’d have liked your mother if I’d known her better. Your father, and my inattentiveness, made it easy to overlook her.”
“Dad loved to keep her in the shadows. I think her more charitable views on topics and her love of rescuing animals embarrassed him.” She pulled her mouth into an ugly moue. “He was a jerk toward her when I was young but he was really unkind to her after she got sick. There were plenty of times I wished he’d been the one who’d gotten cancer, if only so he’d see how sick mom felt.”
“You miss her.”
She lifted her gaze to his and gave him an odd grin. “Of course. She was my rock as a child.”
Reid cocked his head to the side, his thoughts swirling. Clearly Pen had her mother to thank for the gentle soul she’d turned out to be. “Why did she stay with Hugh if he was that awful to her?”
“She wasn’t perfect. She freely admitted she liked the lifestyle Dad’s money afforded her. The nice clothes and spa treatments. And having his money allowed her to spend more on her animal charities. The rescues. My parents managed to lead relatively separate lives, pretending to be the happy couple when social obligations required.”
He nodded. “I get it. In fact, before Eldridge disappeared, I’d have said that was how my parents’ marriage worked.”
“And now? You don’t think so anymore?”
“It’s weird, but...no. At least...my mother seems to actually be grieving for Eldridge.” He twisted his lips in a frown. “To an annoying degree. She’s quite the drama queen and prima donna, but I’m beginning to believe her feelings are genuine. I wouldn’t have said that before all this insanity started six months ago.”
Pen dodged a block that Nicholas threw her direction and redirected her attention to her son. “No, Nicholas. Don’t throw your blocks.”
Reid slapped both hands down on his thighs as he pushed out of the chair. “And on that note, I’ll go talk to the clan. I think we may need their help to corner your father. I’ve no doubt he’s suspicious of us, so any contact from us will be stonewalled. But if he still values having my family on his client roster, I’m betting he’ll be more ingratiating to one of my siblings.”
She rose from the floor, as well, and followed him to the back door. “Anything I can do in the meantime?”