Chapter 11: No Demonstration

Celia nodded, then asked me to speak to Pippa.

"She's upset," my sister said.

"She's allowed to be," I told her.

Celia looked at the empty space where the silver heart had stood.

"I only mean the tribute," she said.

"Her father was looking forward to it."

Gregory appeared in the doorway without the cardboard heart.

"I wasn't," he told her.

Celia stood with her hands held tightly together.

"You said you liked the idea," she told him.

"You'd already ordered the thing," Gregory said.

For a moment, I could see how long they'd been having this conversation.

Neither needed me to supply the next sentence.

I went inside and found Miles beside the couple's table.

Pippa and Finlay were looking at a video on his phone.

They both looked miserable.

"What happened?" I asked Miles.

"I'm trying to find where the dancing starts," he said.

On the screen, Finlay was explaining something beside an empty stage.

Pippa took the phone out of his hand.

"This is the dancing," she told him.

Miles looked at the screen again.

"Then you're doing an excellent job holding still," he said.

Finlay laughed and put his face into his hands.

Pippa looked at him, surprised.

"I thought you wanted to do it properly," she told Finlay.

"Your mum wanted it," he said.

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