6 - Pages of Sin

than I did.
    And speaking of Derek, he had called the night before to let me know he would be heading home after a brief stopover in London. I was relieved and happy and a little thrilled that he now considered our place his home, no matter how temporary. I told him a bit about the mystery we were dealing with in Dharma and admitted that I could have used his help. Derek laughed and said it sounded as though Mom and I had figured things out quite nicely. He was right, of course, but it would have been a lot more interesting if he could have been here with me tonight.
    There was a sudden hush and I turned to watch Byron walk into the room with Robson. They spoke quietly for a few seconds; then Byron glanced around. His eyes widened when he noticed Elaine standing against the opposite wall. “You stayed in town, Lainey?”
    I could see her hands shaking but she held her shoulders high. “Of course.”
    “I’m . . . glad.”
    Before Byron could say another word, Marjorie rushed to her sister’s side and threw her arm around Elaine’s shoulders. “I’m glad, too. We should be a family again. Wanda would have wanted it that way.”
    I felt rather than saw my mother’s eyebrows shoot up at that comment. If Wanda had seen those documents hidden away in those books—and how could she not have seen them?—I doubt she’d be dancing a jig at this family love fest.
    Byron set his wine glass on the nearest table and walked deliberately toward his sisters-in-law, his gaze glued to theirs. Time seemed to slow down with each step he took. It was riveting.
    Mom and I looked at each other and I knew we were thinking the same thing: Would we have a replay of the passionate smooch from the other day? Would Byron dare to kiss Elaine in front of Marjorie? Or would he kiss them both? But how? Would he grab one sister, then the other? Who would he grab first? Or would it be a two-sister double smooch?
    Okay, Mom wasn’t thinking any of those things. That was my imagination running wild. Still, my money was on a two-sister double smooch-a-rama.
    We should have had a betting pool going, I thought as Byron grabbed them both in a double-hug-cheek-to-cheek kiss, followed by a more ardent kiss on the lips for each of them. Wow.
    The embraces were interrupted by a sharp gasp as Marjorie pointed at the stack of books resting on the ornate antique console against the far wall. “Where did those books come from?”
    “I brought them here.” I moved casually toward the books, keeping an eye on the sisters as I walked. “We found them in Wanda’s living room. They’re a pretty set, aren’t they? Or they will be when I finish restoring them.”
    Marjorie’s eyes bugged out in shock and her lips trembled. “But they’re mine. I’ve looked all over for them.”
    “We found them easily,” Mom said brightly, not bothering to mention that we’d found most of them when they bounced off my head.
    Marjorie flipped her hair back as she approached me. “I should be grateful to Wanda for keeping every little thing our family’s ever owned. But the books belong to me so I’ll take them off your hands now.”
    “I don’t think so,” I said, obstructing her access to them. “Why did you give them to Wanda?”
    “I didn’t give them to her,” she explained patiently. “I merely asked her to store my things for me when I went on an expedition a few years ago. I never got around to asking for them back.” But she swallowed nervously as she fiddled with her earring, so I figured she was lying.
    Before I could accuse her of anything else, she threw her hands up in the air. “Fine! I gave them to her. I gave her a lot of stuff. She liked to read. What else did she have to do, stuck in that house of hers all day long?”
    “Ah, but you gave her more than books to read, didn’t you, Marjorie?” Byron said, smiling at Elaine as he spoke.
    Marjorie pierced him with a look. “What if I did? Like I said, she didn’t have anything better to do with her time.”
    Elaine frowned as she took a step forward. “What else did you give her, Marjorie?”
    “Nothing,” Marjorie said, her eyes widening and eyelashes batting in a futile attempt to look innocent. Sadly, that ship had sailed years ago.
    Apparently, Byron was no longer in the mood to let her get away with it. Turning to Elaine, he spelled it out for her. “It’s time you learned the truth. Wanda wrote Marjorie’s travel memoirs for her.”
    Marjorie groaned. “I was going to