Since she seemed the most sympathetic to my situation of the three elders, I called Allegra Moss to say Connor and I would be coming back to Jerome over the weekend, and we had some important matters to discuss.
“Yes, I imagine you do,” she said in her sweet voice, one that always sounded as if it had a hidden undercurrent of laughter in it.
“And — I want to bring Connor’s cousin Lucas with us.”
Silence for a second or two. Then she asked, “Whatever for?”
“Because what I have to say concerns both our families, and — well, Lucas is sort of the clan elder for the Wilcoxes. He’s been an enormous help to Connor and me. So I want him there when we all sit down to talk.”
“Margot and Bryce won’t like it,” she warned me.
“They don’t have to like it,” I said, my tone curt. “They just have to
