A Room With A View

Chapter Fifty - Elena

November 23, Thursday

Elena stood frozen, her hand still raised as if to knock again.

"What?"

Gordon's face twisted. "Agatha's dead."

Sybil's fingers slipped into Elena's other hand, clutching it tightly.

Elena blinked. She didn't know what else to do. Or rather, what to do first. She was acutely aware of Sybil breathing right next to her, and Elena's first raw familial instinct was to protect her little sister from this.

But Sybil wasn't the one she needed to protect.

"Where's Joshua?"

Gordon flinched at Elena's question, as if her words had been too loud.

"He's...gone," he said.

Elena finally lowered her right hand, letting her bag slip off her wrist and fall to the floor.

"What do you mean he's gone? Gone where?"

"He and Neil left. They didn't tell me where. Neil said they needed to talk and think things through."

Elena nodded. She could understand this. Joshua had never been one to face an emotional issue head-on. But it hurt that he wasn't there waiting for her. Elena wanted to pull him tight and smooth his hair against his head, like she would with one of the--

"Where are the twins?" she asked, stepping into the apartment. Sybil followed behind her, still gripping Elena's hand.

Gordon quickly moved aside to give Elena and Sybil more room in the small hallway. "I went through all the numbers on the list," he said, "but the only person home was Elizabeth. The twins are with her."

Elizabeth. Well, at least the boys would enjoy playing with her dog. Elena would wait to pick them up until she'd managed to speak with Joshua.

"Do they know?" she asked.

Gordon shook his head. "I think they know Joshua's upset, but they don't know why."

Elena chewed her lower lip. She felt Sybil withdraw her hand and bend to pick up Elena's bag. She carried it into the kitchen, leaving Elena alone with Gordon.

The door was still open. Elena pushed it closed.

"Joshua's upset?" she asked carefully.

It was no secret why Gordon had never met Agatha Newman, but Elena still felt as if she needed to tread carefully. She didn't want to hurt her brother-in-law's feelings, especially today, when even Elena didn't know how she felt about Agatha's death. Death. Dead. It was so final.

"I don't know," Gordon said, sighing heavily. "He was stone-faced when Phineas was here--"

"Phineas was here?"

Gordon frowned, then seemed to remember that Elena had just walked through the door. "Yes. He was the one who delivered the news. Apparently Agatha hadn't been answering her calls regarding packages for a few days, so a member of the staff went to check on her and..."

"Found her," Elena finished for him. She hoped Agatha had been in bed asleep and had passed on peacefully. She was at least owed that much.

"Okay." Elena rocked back and forth on the balls of her feet. She just felt so helpless.

"You said Joshua was stone-faced? Did he say anything?"

Gordon shook his head. "No. I think he and Neil just needed to process."

Elena felt guilty. She should have asked about Neil. If anything, he might be taking it harder than Joshua. After all, to Elena's understanding, Neil and his mother hadn't spoken to one another in seven years.