As he started up the drive, the smell of yeast gave way to freshly cut grass and flowers in bloom. The peach walls of his family home stood bright and striking, like they’d been dipped in candy. Soft pink blossoms lined the winding drive. A Haywood would’ve recognized them as begonias, but to Kaden they were simply a show of wealth. The only ones he knew by name were the hydrangeas, his mother’s favorite, that crowded the beds in front of the white wrap-around porch in globes of bright blue blooms. Above it all stood the rotunda where her bedroom gave her a sweeping view of the entire Bonner estate.

People moved across the lawn, carrying cases of bourbon as they prepared for the evening’s event. He’d hoped his mother might have changed. Instead, she was making a show of the whole thing. It turned his stomach.

He was walking right into a spider’s web, and the widow wouldn’t give him up easily once she had him in her claws. At least his father was gone. The violence he’d encounter inside would be only one of words, not action.

Kaden pulled his car to a stop by the portico. He turned off the ignition and forced a few deep breaths. Then he shrugged on his jacket despite the heat. He knew that nothing could prepare him for walking up those steps, crossing that porch, and holding his fist up to the door, but he had to try.

Before his knuckles brushed wood, the knob turned. A white woman in a black polo shirt emblazoned with the Bonner’s logo looked up at him.

“Oh, I’m sorry. We’re not expecting guests until this evening. Or are you…” She checked her clipboard. “Samuel? You’re supposed to be wearing the uniform.” She looked past him with a frown. “And staff must park in the lot down by the venue. Someone should’ve explained all this to you.”

“I’m not here to work the party,” he said.

Her eyes widened, and she glanced behind her. “It’s not a party.”

“By the looks of things, I’m not sure what else it could be.”

“It’s a funeral,” the woman said.

He cleared his throat. “I’m here to see Sylvia.”

“Mrs. Bonner isn’t taking visitors before the service.” She tried to edge him away from the door, but Kaden held his ground. “How did you… Was the gate open?”

“Is someone there?” His mother’s voice echoed through the foyer. Dread settled into Kaden’s chest.

He pushed past the young woman and through the open door.

“Excuse me, sir…”