A Glimpse of the Dream by L. A. Fiore
“Easier said than done.”
“Agreed, but killing her won’t change the outcome, and, as much fun as it would be before, during, and after her death, we’ll still be right where we are now. That said, I’ve a thought.”
“I know that tone. You have a plan?” I felt some of the tension drain from him.
“I do.”
“I’m hungry. Feed me woman,” he said, his hand finding mine. “And then we’ll discuss this plan.”
“Delighted to. I think I saw a few nice juicy worms in the garden.”
He pulled me closer and kissed my head. “Thank you.”
“For what?”
“Being here.”
“My pleasure, Kane Doyle, it truly is. Now, let’s eat. The small wild animal that is my stomach is growling again.”
Kane and I were sitting in the kitchen with the family. We’d briefed them on what had happened at the O’Malleys’ the night before. Mrs. Marks looked about ready to launch. “If she set that fire, so help me, I will use every cent of my money to see her put behind bars.”
“I think we can do that without you needing to spend a cent.” It might not work, my idea, but I wanted to try. If Camille had deliberately set the fire, she needed to be held accountable.
“I’m listening.”
“It’ll be like Clue but better. And we’re going to need a few more players.”
Mrs. Marks’s eyes sparkled. “I’m all ears, dear.”
The best china was set, the silver on the table, and Mrs. Marks was dressed to the nines. Mrs. T had spent the day cooking as Kane, Simon, and I cleaned the house. Everything was in place; we were just waiting for our guest to arrive.
The sound of the bell sent Mr. Clancy to the door with determined strides. He pulled it open for Camille. She didn’t wait to be asked in—she walked in as if it were her home. Pulling her coat off, she handed it to Mr. Clancy without even making eye contact.
“Camille, how lovely that you could make it,” Mrs. Marks said. “Please, let’s go to the drawing room. We’ll have tea there. It’s one of my favorite rooms.”
Standing out of sight, I watched the two head down the hall. Mrs. Marks addressed Camille as they went: “Had I known you had such a love of my home, I would have asked you here more often. There is nothing I like more than talking about Raven’s Peak.”
I followed after them and stood near the entrance once used by the servants. Camille walked around the room, her fingers running over several priceless pieces. What was her endgame? Conning a con artist for works of art she really had nowhere to place seemed so odd, which was why I really believed her goal was Kane—to get close to him and win him over. Had I not returned, would she have succeeded? She took the place across from Mrs. Marks, who was serving the tea. On cue, Kane and Zeus walked into the room from the door exactly opposite to where I was standing.
“Kane.” Surprise and, if I wasn’t mistaken, longing rang in that single word.
“Camille, I didn’t know you were going to be here today.”
“Mrs. Marks invited me for tea.”
“May I join you?”
Mrs. Marks hesitated, then said, “Of course, dear.” Her solicitous reply had me biting down on my lip to keep from laughing; she was really getting into her character. “Will Teagan be joining us as well?”
I saw his eye roll from my place at the door. A little overdone in my opinion, but Camille ate it up. “No,” he said.
Camille perked up.
Mrs. Marks pressed. “You look upset. Everything okay?”
“Yeah, it’s . . . yeah.” Kane would not be winning any awards for his acting.
“Did you and she have a fight?” Mrs. Marks put her hand to her mouth, feigning contrition. “Sorry, I shouldn’t be asking such personal questions in front of company.”
“It’s okay. Camille’s not just company.” He actually got those words out without laughing. Camille, now rather smug, leaned back in her chair and smiled deviously. I wanted to throw up.
“It’s true. Kane and I have grown rather close. Do you want to talk about it, Kane?”
He pulled a hand through his hair before resting his elbows on his knees. “I don’t know, as misguided as Kathy’s actions were, she set that fire out of love for her parents. Tea would have done that for me once upon a time, but I don’t think she would now. She’s different. Her life is different, but I miss that passion. To love someone enough to act so recklessly is remarkable.”
Right on cue, Simon walked into the room. Now, unlike Kane, Simon should win an award. He stopped suddenly, his eyes growing wide before narrowing. His voice was the perfect blend of surprise and scorn.
“Well, isn’t this a picture. What the hell is she doing here?” He was improvising, so Simon.
“I invited her for tea.” Mrs. Marks was holding her own, her distain coming across loud and clear. “It is my house, after all.”
“Thought you had better taste than that, Mrs. Marks. Where’s Teagan?”
“She’s not here.” This came from Camille, who was clearly not happy with Simon’s interruption.
Simon stared at Camille as if her head were sprouting a plant. “You figured that out all on your own, that’s surprising.”
I bit down on my lip so hard I drew blood; Kane was turning an unhealthy shade of red and Mrs. Marks was grinning behind her teacup. Stay on script, Simon. Moving from my spot, I waited a beat or two before I entered.
“Hey, Simon . . .” Taking a cue from Simon, I widened my eyes. “Camille, here again?”
She snarled, her lips curling up to bare her teeth. “Teagan.”
“Looking to the steal the silver?” I asked sweetly.
“Hardly.”
“Kane, don’t you look comfortable. Am I interrupting?”
“Nope, just friends having tea,” he said.
“Friends now, really? That’s a surprise. I thought you found her tedious, at least that’s what you said the other night.”
Kane’s head lowered, and Camille looked like she wanted to kill me. I moved on. “Did you enjoy the O’Malleys’ party? I did. I learned something interesting. Is it true you flunked out of Yale? It’s a real shame that Daddy greased some palms for nothing.”
“How dare you?”
“We know you didn’t get in based on your brains, I mean, seriously. A person only needs to talk to you to know you aren’t Ivy League material.”
“You think you’re so great, but you’re nothing.”
“I disagree. Unlike you, I managed to stay in college, even graduated with honors. I own my own business, I’m engaged to him, and I live in this fabulous house. All the things you wanted. In fact, I’m living your dream. That must sting a bit.”
Steam was coming from her ears, and she looked about ready to scratch my eyes out. “He should have been mine. He liked me until you showed up.”
“He defected awfully quickly, so he couldn’t have liked you very much.”
“You bitch.”
“Maybe, but I’m only speaking what I see. Speaking of which, where’s Sleazy? I mean, Dimitri. Now, he’s more your speed. So what was the plan? He steals things from here, but how were you planning on paying for them? You’ve got no money.” Looking her from head to toe I added, “And if you’re bartering for the items with your assets, Sleazy’s getting the short end of the stick.”
She launched to her feet, and I honestly believed she would have attacked me if Simon hadn’t placed himself between us.
Her next words were hissed. “So smug, but I sure as hell had a big influence in your world, no matter what you think.”
I turned cold at the venom in her words, but this was what I wanted, so I acted blasé and confused. “What do you mean by that?”
“I didn’t get the dream, but neither did you.”
My skin crawled at how callously she offered that tidbit. “Like you had anything to do with that.”
Her eyes turned to Kane. “I only ever wanted you, Kane.
“I’m hearing an awful lot of whining and jealousy, but that’s a far cry from having any control over Kane’s and my lives. Delusional much, Camille?”
“I set that fire. Set it to get Kane there.” She turned imploringly to Kane. “I had that passion, not Kathy.”
Fury burned through me. Simon held me back from attacking. My gaze moved to Kane, who stood, his body rigid with rage, then to Mrs. Marks, who was fisting her hands in her lap. “You set the fire intentionally?” I asked.
“I wanted him . . . I couldn’t have him . . .”
“So you set a fire?”
Her gaze looked a bit wild, and she turned it on Kane. “You didn’t want me. I had to make you understand.”
“Understand what?” Ominous was the only word to describe Kane’s voice.
“I always get what I want.”
In that minute, Mr. Bowen, Mr. Lawson, and the sheriff came walking into the room. Shock kept Camille from speaking. She stared at her father as if confused as to why he was there. Pain shone in her expression, so I guessed there was still someone who she actually cared about.
“Daddy, what are you doing here?”
“I always knew you were selfish and spoiled, but this? I don’t have words.”
“You’re under arrest, Camille Bowen, for arson,” the sheriff said. It grated that we could only get Camille on arson due to the time that had lapsed since the fire, but Mr. Lawson explained that arson was without a statute of limitations and, in Maine, was punishable by up to thirty years in jail. He was certain that if we got her to admit to starting the fire with the intent to cause harm to another, the prosecutor would push for, and win, the maximum sentence.
“What?” Her confusion turned to panic. “What are you talking about?”
I answered her. “You intentionally set a fire to harm Kane, a fire that almost killed him. You should be tried for attempted murder, in my opinion. You cost him his sight and caused the burns that he spent years recovering from. Did you honestly believe you were going to get away with that?”
“But . . .”
Mr. Clancy arrived at that moment to show the sheriff and Camille to the door, Mrs. Marks following, after talking to Mr. Bowen and Mr. Lawson. Simon stepped up to me as I reached for Kane’s hand.
“Well, I don’t even have words. I can’t believe she did it, can’t believe she confessed,” Simon said. His attention turned to Kane and me. “She really didn’t get that what she did was wrong. That is seriously fucked up.”
Simon wasn’t wrong. “You can say that again, but what I don’t understand is if she was after Kane all along then what was the point of the whole blackmailing ruse with Mr. Sleazy? It’s not like she needed access to Raven’s Peak, she’s been making herself at home here for years.”
“No idea.” Simon replied, but Kane remained silent.
Squeezing his hand, I asked, “You okay?”
“She’s a fucking bitch. I want a few minutes with her.”
“The sheriff agreed to it, right?” I understood where he was coming from.
“Yeah.”
“What are you going to say to her?”
“I don’t know, but something will come.”
Kane
Camille was being transported to Portland. Before she left, I had a few words to say to her, and then I intended to put her out of my mind forever. She had been brought into the visitor room of the local jail, just her and me. Zeus was with me. He helped me to find the chair.
I wished I could see her in that moment, wished I could see the expression on her face. Though I suspected it wouldn’t be as contrite as it should be, just belligerent.
“Come to gloat?” She sounded just like the spoiled child she was.
“Gloat? Have you noticed I’m blind?”
“I didn’t mean for that to happen. I thought you’d get wounded, but I never imagined you’d get trapped.”
“You fucking set a building on fire when there were people in it. It wasn’t just me you put at risk, not even just Kathy and the others—you put yourself in danger.”
“Well, I clearly didn’t think it all the way through.” She sounded dismissive, like that was of no matter.
Rage burned through me. If I’d had my sight, I would have likely reached across the table and strangled her with my bare hands. “Didn’t think it through?”
Standing up, I lifted my shirt and heard her gasp. “You did this! You intentionally did this. Have you any idea the pain associated with burns like this, the months of agony, the years of recovery, the surgeries where they take skin from other parts of your body to graft? I lived in hell for years because you didn’t fucking think it all the way through.”
Still no tears, but something sounding like remorse came through now. “I had no idea.”
“You stole nine years of my life, and not only did you make me live through hell, you put Tea through hell as well, when I attempted to protect her from the nightmare you caused. I love Tea, you know just how much I do, and yet you can sit there with barely any remorse in your voice. As if it’s all a big misunderstanding. Understand this, Camille, I’ve already been called as a witness. I fully intend to show them what you’ve just seen. Dimitri is testifying. Kathy is as well. You’re going away for a long fucking time. And once I walk out this door, I’ll forget all about you, because I have a life, a family, and Tea waiting for me. And you, you’ll be here miserable and alone. You brought that on yourself.
“Oh, and as a parting gift . . .” I pulled the Polaroids from my pocket and tossed them on the table. “So you don’t feel as if you’ve walked away empty-handed. Here are some pictures of Raven’s Peak. Hang them on the wall in your jail cell—that is as close as you’ll ever get again.”
I knew Tea was waiting for me as soon as I stepped out onto the sidewalk; I smelled her, felt her. She sounded unsure when she asked, “How did it go? You okay?”
“Absolutely. Let’s go for a walk on the beach.”
“Sounds perfect.”
We started down the street, Tea pressed up against my side, letting me feel her words before she said them.
“I never liked Camille, not from the first day I saw her talking to you outside of school. I hated her.”
“What day?”
“My first day of school—you took me for ice cream, but before, you were talking to her. It’s why I started to leave. I didn’t want you to feel like you had to hang with me.”
“That’s why? I wondered. I was only talking to her while I waited for you. I saw you come out of the school, watched you walk away, and realized my plan backfired.”
“We were so young,” she said.
“Yep.”
“I love you as much now as I did then—more.”
“You better.” But I tucked her closer and held on to those words for the entire walk home.
Teagan
Simon peppered the man next to him on the flight to Boston with questions about where he got his shoes. It was amazing to me how he could befriend anyone. He just had the kind of personality people were drawn to. Zeus was lying on the floor at our feet, his head resting on a pillow I’d brought just for him.
Mr. Lawson had called before we left with the answer to the mystery regarding the role Mr. Sleazy had played in Camille’s game. It was out of spite—she never intended to buy the pieces Mr. Sleazy planned to steal, she just didn’t want Kane to have them. And I suspected she forced her father to believe the lie about Kathy setting the fire so that the focus, or guilt, never shifted to her. Like I had said countless times before, Camille was a vile bitch but not a very clever one. Her own stupidity had ensnarled her and it helped that Mr. Sleazy had cut a deal for a lesser sentence by coming clean about the entire sordid mess. Of course he still had to deal with his parents and t
Kane had been quiet since we’d left Raven’s Peak a few hours before. I knew he was nervous. I couldn’t blame him, remembering the terror I felt the day I’d pretended to be blind. It meant so much to me that Kane made the trip despite his fears. I had so many places I wanted to show him. The tour was for me too, since I had decided not to return to Boston.
Simon and I had talked, and he knew my home was with Kane. When Kane returned to Raven’s Peak, I intended to be with him. I’d start the legwork for space for our second store, since Simon and I were definitely going to move into phase two. He’d take care of adjusting our Boston store, bringing our employees, Christy and Matt, up to speed on their new roles as managers. When he was comfortable that everything in Boston was good, he’d join me in Maine. I liked that he wanted to be there too. It wasn’t just for the store either. He liked it there, the people and the town.
“What are you thinking about?” Kane’s voice pulled me from my thoughts.
“How much I can’t wait to start my life with you.”
His grin was adorable. “I thought we already had.”
“I mean officially. I want to move into our house. I want us to work on setting up the inn, but before that, I want to share Boston with you. I can’t wait to show you the Harborwalk and the Commons. We can go to the harbor and check out the Constitution, which is docked there.” Leaning into him, I touched my mouth to his. “Thank you for coming.”
“I like hearing you happy.”
“I like you.”
Getting out of the crowded Logan International Airport had been a bit overwhelming. Zeus was incredible, guiding Kane easily through the bodies. Once Simon and I had grabbed our bags, we headed out for a cab. As I settled in the cab, I took a deep breath. In truth, getting through the airport was the part that had scared me the most. Kane was quiet again, his face turned toward the window. I wondered what he was thinking. This was his first trip outside Blue Hill since he’d lost his sight. Later, when we were in bed, I’d try to get it out of him.
“Sunshine left us some baked goods as a welcome home.” Simon supplied that lovely little tidbit.