“It’s almost time for dinner,” she reminds me. “You don’t want to be late.”
“No,” I mutter, getting up and walking to the dresser.
A part of me wants to spray the perfume Dexter gave me. It would make me feel closer to him, a thought that is equally frightening as it is sexy. I toy with the idea, but my hands have a mind of their own, picking up the bottle and spraying the scent on my bare skin.
“Is that Lily Anna’s perfume?” Minnie asks, and I nod, showing her the bottle.
“Dexter gave it to me.”
She bites her bottom lip, hesitating before she says, “I want to show you something.”
“What is it?”
She takes my hand wordlessly, leading me to the corner of my room. She points to the baroque-print metallic wallpaper.
“Look at it closely.”
I narrow my eyes, not sure what she’s getting at, but examine the wallpaper nonetheless.
It takes me a second to see them, but the faint lines are definitely there. It looks like there used to be a door leading out of the room there.
“What’s through there?” I wonder out loud.
“It is… well, it was, Miss Lily Anna’s walk-in wardrobe,” Minnie admits. “Your father had it sealed off after her death. But… I have the key.”
She pulls out a small silver key and motions to the tiny hole in the wall. I take a step back, allowing her to open the secret door. A vast space appears behind it. Everything is covered in dust.
“It’s just as it used to be,” Minnie whispers. “I don’t think anyone’s been there… not for months, maybe years.”
I walk inside the room, admiring the rows upon rows of expensive clothes, the drawers laden with my namesake’s designer lingerie, and the pots and pans of makeup, creams and countless bottles of La Pausa.
“You can’t tell anyone I showed you this,” Minnie insists.
“I won’t,” I whisper, squeezing her hand. “Thank you, Minnie.”
She puts the key in my hand, closing my fingers over the metal.
“Hide it well. They’ll take it from you if they find out you have it.”
I nod, glancing at the wardrobe one last time before leaving the room with Minnie, and locking it behind us.
I can use this to my advantage. If my intuition is right, and the people of Eden Falls are really more lenient with me when I act like Lily Anna, they’ll be even nicer if I start dressing like her. Subtle touches – maybe a peek of her bra, her designer scarf tied around my neck. I’ll make it work for me. I’ll make Lily Anna’s memory serve my goals.
Minnie doesn’t say another word, but instead walks me down to the dining room, and for once, I’m not late. I sit down wordlessly. Bryony and my siblings are already there, and my father saunters into the room a moment later. Thankfully, Minnie has already left. I don’t think I could handle seeing them together again. Not after what I saw in my father’s study.
The first course is set in front of us at the table, and my father makes a face like he’s smelled something unpleasant.
“What is that?” he mutters, his gaze wondering to me. “That scent?”
I fight the urge to roll my eyes and shrug instead. The next second, I yelp when he grabs my hand and brings the wrist up to his nostrils. He smells my skin and I recoil from his touch the second he releases his firm grip.
“That’s Lily Anna’s perfume,” he says.
“I know,” I nod. “Dexter wanted me to wear it.”
“I…” For once in his life, my father appears to be lost for words. “Alright, I suppose that’s okay.”
We start with the food, and throughout dinner, I notice my father watching me. He’s nicer to me, too, not snapping as often and treating me like an actual member of the family, not some stray cat.