My mind went back to the boathouse and Loophole, the conspicuously missing yacht. I hated to do it, but I had to ask. “Exactly how are your finances looking?”

She’d been expecting this question. “I have a little money set aside. And I still have my island.”

The way she said it, the multimillion-dollar estate might have been a crisp fifty pulled from a birthday card. “When your son and daughter-in-law passed away, what happened to their fortune?”

“It went to the children, of course.”

“Flynn, Bebe, and Jasper. So Jasper has some savings?”

“Oh, most certainly,” Camilla said. “He’s very careful about his finances. He’ll be absolutely fine.”

Of course he will, I thought. To you, Jasper’s perfect in every way. “Has he ever had to borrow money from anyone? An acquaintance, maybe?”

“Not Jasper. Jasper’s very responsible.”

“What about loaning money to someone else?”

“Not that I know of, no.”

“Earlier,” I said, “what did you mean when you said he deserves better?”

If Abella was sincere, I could guess Camilla’s answer. Jasper had a brute for a brother and his sister was a heartless shrew. Still, the noise of the storm dropped away as I waited for the woman’s response. “It hasn’t been easy for Jasper, growing up with Bebe and Flynn. The age difference has always been a problem. They side against him. Poor Jasper is never included. Oh, he doesn’t let that stop him from doing what he wants—he’s a very determined person—but it often leads to jealousy.”

“Sounds like a lot of siblings I know.”

“It doesn’t help that he’s so accomplished,” she said. “Things come more easily to Jasper than the others, in everything. It puts a strain on their relationship, those three, especially now that they work together.”

“That’s fairly new, isn’t it? Jasper joining the business?”

“He came on to help them last year.”

I returned the phone and my things to my pockets and holstered my gun. Between the burn and the bulky gauze it wasn’t a painless task. “How’s that going?” I asked.

She hesitated. “It’s been a challenge. He has a lot of cleaning up to do. I’m as eager to see the business bounce back as anyone, but it isn’t Jasper’s duty to make things right when he had nothing to do with them going wrong.” Again Camilla paused thoughtfully. “Do you know how old I am? On my next birthday, I’ll be ninety-two. I’ve had a fair amount of life, wouldn’t you say?”

“We should all be so lucky.”

Her laugh was dark. “It isn’t luck that got me here. I worked hard for what I have, and I expect the same exertion from my family. But I’ve learned there’s more to life than padding your bank account. Money comes and money goes. Jasper knows that. It’s why I’m so happy to see him with Abella. She’s lovely, don’t you think?”

“I’m sure she is.”

“Let me tell you something I told Jasper,” she said. “Whatever happens in this life, you have to put your own needs first. There may come a day when you wake up and discover you’ve been pressed into a mold. You’re stuck.”