Isador scoffed, "What awitch."
"What?" I turned back tothem.
Delilah's color was still high. "It's nothing," she said, shaking her head and turning toward the opposite end of the hallway Mr. Wallace and Ms. Enders had retreateddown.
"Ms. Enders is so jealous of Delilah, it's not even funny." Isador’s accent grew thicker in herirritation.
"No, she isn't." Delilah rolled hereyes.
"She is," Natalia confirmed with a nod. "You don't see it because you've known her for too long and her and your mom areclose."
"And as for the cotillion," Isador took over, "it's complete and uttertrash."
"Now, that's definitely not true," Delilah said as we turned a corner as a group. Ahead there were double doors leading outside. We headed towards them and I wondered if the guys were tracking me through the house via my phone. I knew they had put a tracking device in it just before we arrived – for emergencies they had assured me. "Ms. Enders spends a lot of money on the ‘end of course’parties."
"I just meant that it's not a real cotillion," Isadorreplied.
I decided it was time to get real information. I was here for a reason and even though these girls were incredibly sweet and had welcomed me with open arms, I needed to remember the goal here. I needed information on Ms. Enders and perhaps the rest of thestaff.
"So, does Ms. Enders normally approach girls and rebuke them like that?" I asked when we reached the doors. Natalia opened the door and held it for the rest of us, shaking her head as she followedbehind.
"It's not like that," Delilah said before Natalia could respond. "Ms. Enders really is nice. She just has to keep a certainimage."
Natalia shook her head again and rolled her eyes. "Don't you think," she began, "that it's a little odd that she never married? How old is sheagain?"
Delilah strained her lips in a frown. "Why does it matter if she's never been married?" She turned andstopped.
Natalia shrugged. "I'm just saying, it's a little odd. She's also surrounded by young women who have the rest of their lives ahead of them and she's a middle-aged lonelywoman."
"Maybe she wants to be alone," Delilah defended. "Have you ever thought aboutthat?"
I stopped and took a moment to take in our surroundings. We were along the side of the villa in the garden that my bedroom overlooked. I glanced up and sure enough, there were several windows on the second floor with one at the very end that had gold curtains. Thick ivy crawled over the rest of the stone walls, up and over the first-floor shutters on either side of the windows and further, towards theroof.
"Why are we out here?" I asked, changing the subject. They had given me enough to think on. A part of me wished that I could write it all down, but even I knew that would looksuspicious.
"We're heading down to the lake," Delilah said and we started walkingagain.
"There's a lakehere?"
We stopped at a steep drop off at the edge of what I thought was the villa's back gardens. It swept down in an incline all the way to where several girls were already laying out, enjoying the sun. My lips parted as I took it all in. The sun shone down on the sparkling lake. It was practically a swimming pool except that it was too large, stretched long enough for there to be a short running track around it. The track stopped in one spot where several girls had laid out towels. Some were even in their swimsuits, splashing around in thewater.
"There aren't any snakes or alligators in the water, right?" Iasked.
All three girls looked at me like I was crazy, and I remembered that there were no alligators in the north. Those were almost strictly a southern creature. I blushed. "Sorry, that wasdumb."
Natalia and Isador shook their heads, laughing. Delilah smiled and put her hand on my arm. "Don't worry about it. I could tell you weren't from New York by youraccent."
"I have anaccent?"
Natalia and Isador turned and headed towards a set of stone stairs that led down to the lake. It made sense, trying to walk down the incline would have been far toodangerous.
Delilah snorted daintily. "Yes, it's sweet though. Southern...almost Charlestonian?" she asked curiously. I panicked as I grasped the iron handrail and descended with the group. But there was no reason for me to panic. Knix was from Charleston, it only made sense that his cousin – I – was as well. That wasbelievable.
"Yea," I said, then I followed it up with, "you have a goodear."
Delilah shrugged. "I like accents. It's why I became friends with these two." She gestured towards the twins who whipped around as they hit the bottomsteps.
"You love us," Natalia said, "just because we'reus."