Read Online Set the Night on Fire by Libby Fischer Hellmann - Free Book Online

should wait for the insurance report.”
    “Too bad. Travel is a tonic for me. But I suppose it’s different for everyone.” She scavenged through the bread basket, surfacing with a soft Italian roll. She broke it in two, buttered half, and popped it in her mouth.
    Lila leaned back. “Aunt Valerie, do . . .”
    “Val, darling. Val.”
    “Sorry. Val, do you ever feel . . . well . . . that . . . you’re . . . well . . . just treading water while you figure out where you’re supposed to be?”
    Her aunt stopped chewing and gazed at Lila. Lila couldn’t tell if she’d hit the bull’s eye or said something so ludicrous Aunt Valerie was struggling to find a courteous response.
    “I don’t see life that way, darling,” Val finally said.
    “How do you see it?”
    She finished chewing, taking her time. She folded her hands. “Life is a grand adventure,” she said. “And I’m the captain, first mate, and boiler room operator all rolled into one. You better believe I know where I’m going.”
    Funny how traits run in families. When he wasn’t feeling sorry for himself, Danny was that way, too.
    “Don’t be too hard on yourself,” Val went on. “You’ve suffered a horrific loss. Of course you’re off balance. You’ll bounce back.”
    Lila fought an achy feeling in the back of her throat. “You lost a brother.”
    Her aunt smiled. “Yes, but I’m closer to the end than the beginning. You’re still at an age where it’s a shock to confront death.” She pointed her finger upwards. “He and I are becoming more acquainted every day.” She picked up her wine glass. “Although we’re both taking our time, mind you.” She paused. “And, frankly, your father and I were never that close.”
    “Why not?”
    “Different people. Different goals. For example, I could never have built a business the way he did. Or raised the two of you.”
    “Gramum helped.”
    Val rolled her eyes. “That too. Living with our mother.” She shook her head. “Your father is . . . was a saint.”
    Lila cocked her head. Val was talking to her like she was an adult. She liked that. Maybe her father and grandmother had been the tiniest bit unfair. Despite the melodrama, her aunt wasn’t as superficial or as foolish as they’d led her to believe. Still, Lila gathered her courage before asking the next question. She’d asked it before, but it still felt like venturing out on a high dive. “Did you know my mother?”
    Val gazed at her for a moment, then took another sip of wine. She set her glass down carefully. “I never met her.”
    “How come?”
    “She and your father . . . didn’t live nearby. And they were . . . well, involved in other things.”
    “What other things?”
    “I told you . . . I wasn’t around.”
    Something in Val’s words sounded scripted to Lila. She propped her elbows on the table. “Val, why is . . . was . . . everyone so stingy with information about my mother? Gramum never mentioned her, and Daddy never said anything unless I forced the subject. Why didn’t anyone want me to know about her?”
    Val tightened her lips, the same way Gramum used to do. “Your father . . . and your mother . . . er . . . got together during a . . .” she seemed to choose the word carefully, “. . . a turbulent time.”
    “Dammit, Val. What is this wall of bullshit?”
    Val studied her. Lila had the feeling she was coming to a decision. Then Val leaned back. “Your father never told you about that part of his life?”
    “What are you talking about?”
    Val sighed. “For the record, you should know I never agreed with his decision. I thought you and Danny should have been told.”
    Lila had a sense that Val’s next words might change her life. “Told what?”
    “Casey . . . your father . . . dropped out of college. After his freshman year.”
    “Dad dropped out? But he went to night school. At DePaul.”
    Val made a brushing aside gesture. “After you two were