Page 75 of Tears of Ink

I clatter my cup down onto the saucer, and Tabitha, who hasn’t even spoken a word, looks at me in alarm.

“Thank you, but that won’t be necessary.” My chair almost tips again as I push back from the table.

It’s not Jennifer who speaks. It’s evil Granbaroness. “I can assure you it is.”

I begin to walk away. I don’t have to deal with this. I’m not part of their family. Their rules don’t mean anything to me. She speaks louder. “And could we please ask you don’t take Tabitha out into the village without our prior approval?”

I spin on my heel and meet her serene, oddly unlined face. There is no sweet granny in sight here. “She’s eighteen. She can go to the village if she wants.”

“You, my dear, may have been allowed to run wild as a child, but that is not how the Fairclough children behave.”

Children...?

I have nothing to say to this, so I walk from the dining room and along the plush patterned carpets to the outhouses, where I can breathe, sliding my phone out of my pocket.

Faith Hitchin: Ball? Saskia? Are you all still considered minors?

I don’t get a reply until much later. I’m too busy to look anyway before we grab a bite to eat at lunch.

Eli Jones: I was going to mention the ball, I promise.

I stick my tongue out at the phone.

Faith Hitchin: Sure you were

I have another thought.

Faith Hitchin: Does Saskia dress you, too?

Eli Jones: Lol. Only my suits.

Did he just lol me?

Eli Jones: I’ll be home later, we can talk.

Faith Hitchin: I thought this wasn’t your home?

Eli Jones: It’s growing in appeal.

With a grin, I put my phone back in my pocket. I should have asked how his four in the morning emergency went. God, I’m like a selfish teenager who can’t see past herself.

I walk into the studio and look at all the tiny little squares of blue glass we’ve spent the morning cutting. The room is crowded with glass and people, and honestly it’s breaking me out in an unladylike sweat. “Okay, who wants to make a sculpture?”

“I thought we were making windows?” Dylan quips.

“For a doll’s house?” I shake my head in mock dismay.

He shrugs, and everyone else laughs.

“I’ll tell you what we are going to do.” They all lean in, ready to do something other than cut squares out. “We are going to make a sculpture so damn awesome Elijah Fairclough won’t know what’s he’s seeing when he gets home later.”

There are some claps and loud whoops. Tabitha is grinning at me.

“Grab some wire. I’m going to show you how to weave the glass together.”

I have no idea how this is going to turn out. I’ve got no idea if it can even work. Still, with nothing to lose, there’s no harm in trying.

“So what we need to do is to double the wire…”