It was obvious that she was still very angry, but I couldn’t tell if she genuinely thought Piper didn’t—couldn’t?—truly care for others, or if these were the words of a mother whose only child had rejected her.
Before I could formulate a response, she continued. “We always had to work so hard to ground her. She was too vain for her own good, always primping in the mirror and trying to charm people. She was elected homecoming queen, of all the anti-feminist, frivolous things . . . We wanted her to focus on her academics, her intelligence. She’s a brilliant girl, but she threw it all away. Thought she’d run off to Hollywood and get discovered.”
“I didn’t realize she’d wanted to be an actress.”
“Oh yes,” she sneered. “Thought she was quite the little star. Even when she was little, she always wanted to put on plays for us with her friends, insisted on being the center of attention. We’d tell her we weren’t interested. I mean, really. It does no good to coddle children, to lull them into a false sense of security about unattainable goals. Do you realize how minuscule the chances are that she would be able to support herself by acting?” She didn’t wait for me to answer, clearly warming to the subject. “Close to zero. We wanted her to go into a meaningful field, be a doctor or an engineer. We thought we’d talked sense into her when she chose Virginia Tech, but then she ran off with Ethan. A spoiled rich boy.”
I jumped in. “Her second husband was rich, too. He and his daughter also died in an accident.”
I watched her face as that sank in.
“What kind of accident?”
“Sailing. Apparently the daughter fell off the boat, and her father jumped in after her. They weren’t wearing life vests, and they both drowned.”
She raised her eyebrows. “Very odd, indeed. Pamela was with them?”
I nodded.
“I can’t imagine why they weren’t wearing life vests. That’s sailing 101.”
I decided to plunge ahead. “I have to wonder if maybe it wasn’t an accident.”
She narrowed her eyes. “Are you accusing my daughter of murder?”
“No. But you have to admit, two husbands with untimely deaths is awfully coincidental. Ethan died while the two of them were hiking, and she inherited the money from his trust fund. And her second husband, Matthew Dunn, left her an estate worth twenty million. Don’t you think that’s suspicious?”
“It may be, but what do you expect me to do? I don’t have any influence over her any longer. If you’re so worried, you should go to the police. I can’t help you.”
I leaned forward. “Dr. Rayfield, please. Just tell me: Do you think she’s capable of murder?”
She leaned back in her chair, clasped her hands together, and closed her eyes. “Honestly, I don’t know. I never really understood her. There was one incident . . .”
My heartbeat quickened. “What?”
“There was graffiti spray-painted on a teacher’s blackboard, threatening to kill him. It was the same teacher who’d given her a bad grade.”
“You thought she might have spray-painted the threat because someone failed her?”
“No, no. He’d given her a B, and we’d grounded her for two weeks, so she had to miss the homecoming dance. In the end, they crowned the runner-up since she couldn’t go.”
They’d grounded her for a B and made her miss homecoming when she was selected queen? It was a wonder she hadn’t threatened to kill them, Joanna thought.
Marion shook her head. “She swore she had nothing to do with it. But there was black spray paint in our garage.”
“Had she bought it?”
“No, it was my husband’s. But as you say, very coincidental.”
This woman was a real head case. “Anything else?” I asked.
“Not that I can think of. I’d have to say that anything is possible. I washed my hands of her a long time ago. If there’s nothing else?”
I shook my head and stood to leave. “Thank you so much for your time.”
If anyone had the recipe for raising a sociopath, it was Marion Rayfield.
45
Piper
Leo’s family was coming over for Thanksgiving dinner in a few hours, and Piper was nervous. She’d wanted to have help here today so she could focus on her guests, but Leo had cautioned her against it, saying his mother wouldn’t think well of her if she did.
She’d met Leo’s family only once before, on their disastrous would-be wedding day. Leo had confided to her that his mother thought he was getting remarried too fast. Piper would have preferred if he’d have kept that information to himself. Why couldn’t men tell when discretion was the better part of valor?
The house was blessedly quiet. Rebecca had left to spend the day with her father, and Leo had taken Evie to the Compo Beach playground, but Stelli had complained of another stomachache and was resting upstairs. Soon enough the house would be filled, though, with Leo’s parents, his brothers, their wives, and their kids. There would be sixteen for dinner, including Piper, Leo, and the children. She hoped today would be a time when she might ingratiate herself with the family.
She tied an apron around her waist and went to work. She’d put the turkey in early that morning and was putting the finishing touches on the homemade pie crusts. She had made the mashed potato and sweet potato casseroles last night, and they were in the refrigerator, ready to be popped into the oven. Now she was organizing appetizers and veggies for before the feast. She’d decided to tackle a Greek appetizer, hoping it might endear her to Leo’s parents, and settled on spinach pie, painstakingly filling the filo she’d gotten at the grocery store with what she hoped was the perfect balance of spinach and feta cheese.
She put the three pies in the oven, set the timer for forty minutes, and went into the dining room, where she put together a simple centerpiece—a row of seven low glass vases with a single white mum in each—simple and elegant. Straightening one of the place mats, she moved a wineglass a tad, and left the room feeling satisfied. Now she could go upstairs and get herself ready before Leo and Evie returned.
It was nearly three by the time they got home, just enough time for Evie to change before everyone arrived. Piper had laid out Stelli’s clothes but saw when he came downstairs that he’d chosen a different pair of pants and shirt. A silent act of defiance? she wondered. Evie, who was old enough to choose her own clothes, had picked a cranberry-colored sweater dress.
“Evie, you look so pretty. Would you like to come help me in the kitchen?”
“Sure,” Evie said, following Piper.
“Here you are,” Piper said, putting two boxes of crackers on the kitchen table. “Will you put these crackers on this cheese board?”
The dessert pies were cooling, and the spinach pie would soon be ready to come out of the oven. Piper opened the oven door to check on it. It needed a few more minutes to brown on the top, so while Evie was busy with the crackers, Piper pulled the shrimp platter out of the refrigerator. As she turned around, she almost bumped into Leo.
“Boy, you’ve been busy. The house smells amazing.”
She smiled. “I’ve loved every minute of it. I hope everyone has a big appetite.”
“You don’t need to worry about that,” he said, and grabbed a shrimp from the platter. “My family loves to eat.” He popped it into his mouth just as the doorbell rang. “Speaking of which . . . I’ll get it.”
Piper wiped her hands on the apron before taking it off, turning to Evie, and motioning her toward the foyer. “Let’s go see who’s here.”
They must have come as a convoy, Piper thought as the entire family came trooping through the door.
“Leo, agape mou,” Evangelia said, hugging her son to her.
His father moved in for a bear hug as soon as Leo’s mother let go. They stood together looking at Piper. Evangelia gave her a forced smile. “Peeper,” she said. “Very nice to see you.”
“It’s Piper, Ma,” Leo said, and Piper heard Stelli snicker behind her. “What ha
ve you got?” Leo pointed to the three shopping bags they’d brought with them.
“Happy Thanksgiving, Piper,” Stelios said as he enfolded her in his strong arms. At least one of Leo’s parents was nice to her.
“You know, Ma never goes anywhere empty-handed,” Gus said.
Piper looked at the bags in alarm. Had the woman brought food?
“Take, take. Into the kitchen,” Evangelia ordered them.
With a sinking heart, Piper picked up one of the bags, which was quite heavy, while Leo picked up the other two. His mother and father followed them into the kitchen, where Piper and Leo set the bags on the counter. Piper’s heart sank as the others unpacked the contents from two large insulated bags—a huge platter of sliced lamb, a pan of roasted potatoes, a deep tray of rice. It was the entire dinner. She was too upset even to look as they started on the second bag. What was Piper supposed to do with everything she’d cooked? What kind of crazy people brought an entire meal to a home where they’d been invited to dinner? As they unloaded the last bag, Piper saw a tray of baklava and another of something they called koulouraki, some kind of braided cookie. She wanted to cry—or scream.
She looked pleadingly at Leo, but he seemed completely oblivious, as if this were the most natural thing in the world. As her kitchen was taken over, she grew impatient and asserted herself. “This is so generous of you, Evangelia. Thank you so much, but I’ve already cooked our dinner.” She gestured toward the large turkey on top of the stove, where it was waiting to be carved. “We’re having turkey. It’s traditional on Thanksgiving. And I’ve made potatoes, both white and sweet, and lots of vegetables. I don’t think we really need all the food you’ve brought, but I could wrap it up and put it in the refrigerator for you to take with you later.”
Evangelia turned to Leo and began to speak rapidly in Greek.
“What?” Piper said. “What is she saying?”
“You’ve hurt her feelings. She was only trying to help you, so you wouldn’t have so much to do with the whole family coming.”
Great, Piper thought. Now the woman would hate her even more. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings,” Piper said to her. “I just wish I’d known before I did all the cooking.” She noticed Leo’s jaw tick just a touch, and she plastered on a smile. “But, of course, we’ll have lamb and turkey. Thanksgiving dinner is supposed to be a feast, right?” She tried to make it sound like she meant it.
“Kala. Good. Turkey is for the Americans. Lamb is tradition.”
Toula and Angela, her new sisters-in-law, helped Evangelia take the food into the dining room, and Piper grabbed Leo by the arm, holding him back. “Why didn’t you tell me she’d be bringing all the food? Why the hell did I spend two days cooking?”
“I’m sorry. She always brings something, but not the whole meal. I don’t know why she did that this time.” He seemed sheepish but nowhere close to bothered, which made her anger flare. It was just like when Matthew would shrug at Mia’s antics or tell her to relax about Ava’s behavior—it seemed unbelievable that men had so little idea of how manipulative and cruel women could be.
“She did it because she hates me.”
“Piper. That’s not true.”
“She doesn’t even say my name right. She doesn’t like me, Leo.”
He put his arm around her. “Stop this. She just doesn’t know you yet. Come on, let’s go have a drink in the living room.”
Everyone else went into the other room, where the shrimp, cheese, and crackers had been put out. Piper took the spinach pie from the oven and gave it fifteen minutes to cool, then transferred the pre-cut pieces to a platter. She could hear laughter and talking and took a deep breath to steady herself. Leo’s family was so Greek. He’d assimilated so well that she almost forgot his roots. But when his family came around, he fell back into the role of adored son to a mother who clearly thought that Piper wasn’t a suitable wife to him.
When she walked into the living room, Leo stood up from his seat on the sofa next to his mother and walked over to her.
“Ma, look what Piper made,” he said, pointing at the spinach pie she was holding. “Spanakopita.”
Evangelia looked up in obvious surprise. “But I brought mine.”
Leo took a piece from the platter Piper was holding and put it on a napkin. “Here, try it.”
She took it from him reluctantly, examined it, then brought it to her mouth. She made a face. “What kind of filo you use? From a store?”
Piper felt her stomach tighten. “Yes. I got it at Trader Joe’s.”
“What does Joe know about filo?” Everyone laughed while Evangelia shook her head. “You have to make it yourself. And if you too lazy to do that, at least you get at Greek grocery store.” She stood up. “Come. I show you what real spanakopita tastes like.”
Piper could feel the heat in her face, and Leo mouthed Sorry but said nothing. Piper put the platter on the coffee table and smiled. “That’s okay, I’m not really hungry.”
“Ma, come sit down,” George said, trying to take her arm.
She shooed him away. “I’m going to heat up the spanakopita and the tiropites I brought. Leo, show me how to start your oven, please.”
Angela, Gus’s wife, gave Piper a sympathetic look as Evangelia left the room. She picked up one of the pieces of spinach pie and took a bite. “It’s delicious. Thank you so much for having us here today. She means well . . . I hope you won’t let it ruin your day.”
Piper smiled warmly at her. “Thank you.”
“Who wants to see my new remote-control helicopter?” Stelli asked, and for once, Piper was grateful for his interruption. His cousins Michael and George, along with their fathers, followed him from the room, leaving Piper alone with Toula and Angela.
Toula, George’s wife, lifted her wineglass. “To Piper, may she survive Hurricane Evangelia.”
Piper laughed despite herself and clinked her glass with Toula’s.
“She’ll come around. She’s tough but fair. It took her a while to warm up to us. You know Greek mothers and their sons,” Angela said.
Piper arched an eyebrow. “But at least you’re both Greek. That’s one strike against me. And the other is that I’m not the children’s real mother. She really dislikes me.”
Angela tilted her head. “It’s true, the two of them were very close. But you have to give her a chance to get used to you, that’s all.”
But Piper knew she was right. The woman couldn’t abide her, and she proved it when they all sat down to dinner.
Evangelia looked over at Stelli. “Stelios, my boy. Come to Yiayia.”
Stelli obliged, and Evangelia put her hand under his chin, turning his face from side to side. “You don’t look so good. You’re pale. You feeling okay?”
Stelli shrugged and looked at his feet.
“You’re embarrassing him, Ma,” Leo said. “He’s fine.”
Evangelia raised her eyebrows and put her hand on his forehead. “He’s not hot. But still keep an eye on him,” she replied. Then she turned to her granddaughter. “Evie, my koukla. That is a beautiful dress you are wearing.”
“Thank you, Yiayia. Mommy bought it for me last year. It was too big then.”
“Your mama, she had wonderful taste. She buy for me this shawl I am wearing today. One of my favorites.”
There was an uncomfortable silence, and Evangelia went on, looking at Evie. “You remember, you and me and your mama, when we would make baklava together? She was good cook.”
“Ma,” Gus said, “maybe we should change the subject.”
“What? The children can’t talk about their mother?”
Piper felt her face get hot. “Of course they can. But maybe we should talk about the things we’re grateful for today. That’s what Thanksgiving is all about. It’s tradition. And since we’re in America, we’ll follow American traditions.”
All eyes were on her, and she feared she’d spoken too rashly, but what the hell. How much was she supposed t
o take from this woman? How dare Evangelia come into Piper’s home and insult her? Piper raised her glass and looked around defiantly. “Here’s to family,” she said, “old and new. Both old and new.”
Leo raised his glass with a smile and looked across the room at her, but his eyes were cold.
46
Joanna
I’ve begun to follow her. She left the house at eleven and drove to the mall in Stamford, a half hour away. She parked near the entrance, and I found a space two rows over, watching as she and Evie got out of the car. My breath caught in my throat when I saw her take Evie’s hand and watched as they swung their clasped hands back and forth while they walked toward the mall entrance. I rested my head on the steering wheel and closed my eyes.
Did this mean Evie was getting close to her and forgetting me? With a feeling of alarm, I opened the car door, grabbed my handbag, and marched to the mall, trying to talk myself out of the fear I felt. It took a bit of walking around before I caught sight of them sitting in the food court. They seemed to be deep in conversation, which meant they didn’t see me, but I was heartbroken that they seemed to be bonding. Evie looked so grown up sitting there, with her shiny brown hair past her shoulders and parted in the middle. She wore a white sweater that I hadn’t seen before, black leggings, and a pair of pink Uggs that I’d picked out for her last year.
She looked like she was enjoying herself, laughing and gesturing with her hands as they talked. Piper, too, looked like she was having a good time, but an image popped into my mind of a smiling Mia in that photograph, and then a deadly spider spinning its web, a web that looks so inviting and enticing until its victim is trapped and fighting for its life. Beside myself, I stood there, trying to decide if I should ignore the court order, run over, and grab Evie away from her. But before I could take a step, I saw Leo and Stelli, hand in hand, heading toward the food court. With a shaking hand, I pulled my sunglasses out of my bag and put them on, kicking myself for not having brought a baseball cap.
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