Daphne walked into her mother’s favorite brunch restaurant on Saturday morning. Maggie’s help really worked wonders to getting Mom to forgive me for missing dinner. I wish all of us siblings had worked together like this in the past. We probably would have gotten in far less trouble if we had.

  She pursed her lips, her hand running over the glittery piece of paper in her pocket. After receiving her killer’s note, Daphne had known there was going to be no way that she could possibly wait to meet up with her mother until after Thanksgiving. I was right, Daphne thought for probably the five hundredth time since she’d opened the glitter bomb. The reason why the killer targeted me was because of my mother.

  Her skin had remained slightly chilled ever since she’d gotten the note. Periodically, she shivered, remembering her killer knew where she lived.

  Still, all of the suffering she’d gone through with her mother suddenly felt justified. I will get to the bottom of this.

  “Welcome,” the hostess said to Daphne as she entered the lobby of the restaurant. “You’re Kimberly Woods’ daughter, right?” she asked. “I can take your coat before you get seated,” she said, offering her hand for Daphne’s jacket.

  “Thanks,” Daphne said, removing her coat and handing it to the hostess.

  Two years ago, after I was here for the st time, I never imagined I’d be coming back to this restaurant. She made her way over to the table her mother was sitting at.

  Daphne smiled at her mother as she pulled out the chair to sit across form her at the four person table. The table was covered in a white tablecloth, and the silverware was wrapped tightly in a white cloth napkin, next to a crystal cup meant for water.

  Daphne bit down on her tongue. She always has loved extravagance, hasn’t she?

  “Daphne,” Kimberly said, a fierce look in her eye. “So gd you could make it.” She handed Daphne a copy of the menu. “I’ve already ordered a round of mimosas for the two of us, but if you want something additional, feel free to order it.”

  Daphne nodded, taking the menu from her mother. “Thank you,” she replied. “That sounds lovely.”

  Perfect. Alcohol might be able to make her even more willing to talk.

  Daphne scanned through the menu, attempting to determine what she might want to eat. She looked up at her mother, who was gring at her.

  Daphne swallowed hard, remembering that she had promised herself that she would remember to apologize to her mother—again—before anything else. I have to be on my toes, she chastised herself. And I’m already making mistakes.

  Daphne bowed her head, putting the menu down on the table in front of her. “I am really sorry about Wednesday night,” she said. “I still feel terrible about missing our time together, and I’m grateful that you were willing to see me this morning despite it.”

  Kimberly let out a huffy breath. “Instead of continuing to apologize to me, you should be thanking Magnolia for defending you. Wednesday is already done and over with.”

  Daphne gave her mother a sharp nod. “I will thank her. Still, I really appreciate your willingness to reschedule.”

  Kimberly waved a hand at Daphne, dismissing her sentence. “I appreciate that you genuinely seem to be trying to make up for st time,” she said.

  Daphne smiled at her mother, not exactly sure how to respond to the statement. If only that were actually true.

  “Two mimosas,” the server said, pcing the drinks down in front of the two women. “Have we decided what we’re going to get to eat?” she asked.

  Daphne picked up the menu, scanning through the options as her mother ordered her own meal. “And for you?” the server prompted her, turning towards Daphne.

  “I’ll have the blueberry pancakes,” Daphne replied with a smile, handing the menu to the server.

  “Perfect!” the server replied brightly. “I’ll get these orders to the kitchen and bring them out when they’re ready.”

  “Thanks,” Daphne replied, attempting to match the server’s energy. Inside, her stomach felt like there was a bowling ball rolling around in it.

  Kimberly ughed a little as Daphne reached for her mimosa. “You’ve loved blueberry pancakes since you were a little kid.”

  Daphne took a big gulp of her mimosa, feeling the alcohol burn down her throat. Her mother scowled at her. “It’s no wonder you can’t find a partner,” her mother stated. “You’re so un-dy like.”

  Daphne did her best to keep a grimace off of her face. “Sorry,” she murmured. “It just tasted really good, so it was hard to stop myself from taking a big drink of it.”

  She swallowed hard, hoping her mother would take the bait. Her mother was only going to be willing to talk to her if she was in a good mood, and there was no better way for Daphne to start her mother’s good mood off, than with compliments of her mother’s favorite beverage at her favorite brunch pce.

  Kimberly grinned, taking a dy like sip of her own mimosa. “This restaurant makes the best mimosas I’ve ever had,” she informed Daphne. “No where else I’ve been to has been able to compare.”

  Some of the tension in Daphne’s chest loosened. It worked. At least, for now.

  “I’m not sure that I’ve ever been able to appreciate the taste of mimosas before,” Daphne admitted to her mother. “The alcohol fvor was always so strong to me in the past.” She smiled, studying her mother’s face carefully, waiting for the best time to unch into her questions.

  Hopefully I can get at least a little bit of information out of her. My working theory for now is that one of the many women Gary was involved with found out about me and took action into her own hands in the past. Daphne’s stomach tightened. But there’s so many pieces to this that I’m missing that I can’t help but feel that’s not quite right. She pursed her lips, responding to a question her mother asked. Hopefully I’ll be able to get enough direction from mother that I’ll be able to narrow in on a list of suspects.

  Daphne continued to schmooze her mother, working her hardest to get her mother into a good enough mood. A second round of mimosas came before their food did, and before long, her mother had a soft smile on, the thing that Daphne knew was her tell for being tipsy.

  The server pced their food ptes in front of them. “Enjoy!” she excimed. “Let me know if there is anything else I can get for you, alright dies?”

  Daphne nodded at her. “Thanks so much,” she replied.

  She turned back to her mother, who was already beginning to dig into her food. Kimberly still had the small smile on her face, as if she was genuinely enjoying herself.

  Daphne let out a short breath. I endured it. Now is the time for my questions.

  Daphne picked up her silverware, unrolling it from the napkin, and pcing the napkin on her p. She began to cut into her pancakes, taking a deep breath. “Mom,” she started, meeting her mother’s blue eyes. “I heard something odd about you the other day at work, and I wanted to ask you about it.”

  The words hung in the air between them as Kimberly delicately patted her mouth with her napkin as her eyebrows drew downward. “Was it something bad?” she asked.

  Daphne nodded a little. Her mother scowled as Daphne took her first bite of her food, the blueberries popping and tasting sweet and sour in her mouth.

  “Who was it that said it?” Kimberly demanded.

  Daphne’s heart skipped a beat. I didn’t expect her to ask who said it. She slowed her chewing down as she tried to come up with an excuse.

  Finally, swallowing, Daphne shrugged. “I’m not entirely sure,” she answered. “I was in the restroom when I heard a couple of women talking about it.”

  “Ugh,” Kimberly replied with a heavy breath. “The ones who refuse to show their face are always the most insidious. They’re not bullying you over it, are they?” she asked.

  Daphne shook her head, recognizing her mother’s tactic to steer the conversation away from the content of the rumor. “No, they’re not,” Daphne replied. “But what they said really seemed weird to me, so I wanted to ask you about it.”

  “Whatever they said is probably not true,” Kimberly said, waving her hand at Daphne, implying Daphne should just dismiss the contents of the rumor rather than discuss them.

  “Well, sure,” Daphne agreed with a nod. “You always told me rumors are made by ‘viciously jealous people.’” Kimberly smiled at her words coming out of Daphne’s mouth. “But I wanted to inform you about what I heard in case you need to take legal action against the rumor,” Daphne continued.

  Kimberly’s face was severe. “What kind of rumor was it?” she asked, her voice low.

  Daphne swallowed hard, the killer’s letter in her coat pocket coming to mind. “And you lie. Just like her.”

  I’m not lying to gain something, Daphne reminded herself, attempting to calm her nerves. I’m lying to see if I can figure out the identity of the killer. I’m lying to protect myself. It’s different.

  In spite of her thoughts, Daphne’s stomach was still in a tight knot. Maybe the killer is right about me after all, another part of Daphne whispered in her mind.

  Daphne bit down on her lower lip, looking at her pancakes, and then back up at her mother. “It’s really bad,” she murmured. “Can you promise not to get mad if I repeat it?”

  Kimberly’s eyes narrowed. “I promise not to get mad at you, Daphne,” she said firmly.

  Daphne nodded, knowing her mother meant exactly what she said. “The woman said that you cheated on Dad and had a kid with the person you cheated with…and essentially that one of the kids in our family was not Dad’s.”

  Daphne watched her mother’s face closely. Kimberly paled before her face turned red. She smmed her fist down on the table, causing all of the dishes on the table to rattle. Daphne flinched, unable to stop herself.

  Her eyes turned back on her mother’s face. Kimberly’s eyes were off to the side, and she was not looking at Daphne.

  Something inside Daphne felt like it was shattering. Dad was right. She remembered her father, wan and weak, telling her that he was fairly certain that Kimberly had cheated on him.

  And so is the killer. Daphne’s chest tightened. Whoever the killer is, they are most likely reted to whoever my mother’s affair partner is to know about this.

  “That’s most definitely not true!” Kimberly excimed. Her eyes finally met Daphne’s and she barely, just barely, bit the inside of her lip, just enough for Daphne to notice. “All of the children in our family are your father’s!”

  She’s lying.

  Internally, Daphne was a mess. Her stomach was swirling, making her regret the few bites of pancakes she had managed to get in so far. Her heart ached, and felt as though it was shattering into millions of tiny shards. She wanted nothing more than to close her eyes, and run away with her hands over her ears, screaming.

  The truth is even worse than I could have possibly imagined. She started trying to pull herself together to be able to respond to her mother.

  Not only did she cheat on him, treat him like shit, work him like a horse, while all she did was garden, she literally forced him to raise another man’s child against his knowledge. He loved and provided for that child, whichever one of us it is.

  “I believe you,” Daphne replied, steadying her hand to grab her mimosa and take a sip of it. “I figured it was most certainly a lie.”

  Which one of us could it be? Cy? Maggie? Me? Ollie? Vio? There was not a single one of them that stood out as obviously different from the others, giving Daphne no hints at who it could be.

  Her mother’s breathing in front of her was ragged, but starting to slow down. “I can’t believe that someone had the audacity to make up something so vile,” she said.

  Daphne nodded in agreement. I had no idea you could be such a heinous person.

  “I’m gd I told you then,” Daphne said, putting her mimosa back onto the table. “It at least will give you a chance to get in front of it.”

  Kimberly nodded, stabbing her food with her fork. “Thank you,” she agreed. “Something like that could be devastating for the Kimberly Woods Foundation.” She nodded and then continued. “If you ever hear anyone talking about that ever again, take the time to correct them,” Kimberly instructed her daughter.

  Daphne cut into her own pancakes, her hands still shaking from her new knowledge. “I will,” she promised.