Roane nodded but then he looked at Shadow. “Mind you, she loves him almost as much as me. She cried when I told her what happened.”

“Yeah, I got that. By the way, her cupcakes are delicious. Does she work at the bakery?”

“No.” His expression clouded over.

Aha!

I sensed a story.

Letting Roane take a few more bites of his sandwich, I pounced. “What does a cupcake master do if she’s not working for the local bakery and why is she so shy? And why is her accent different from yours?”

He rolled his eyes. “What’s with the twenty questions?”

“Caroline is intriguing. She dresses like my great-grandmother, is of indeterminate age, impossibly adorable, and is a shit-hot baker. I want to know more.”

Instead of laughing at my nosiness, Roane’s gaze darkened when he turned to me. “Caro lives with her aunt on her mum’s side, so Helena’s nothing to do with the Robsons. She’s an uppity bitch from money who got custody of Caro when her parents died in the Boxing Day tsunami in 2004. Caro was only seven years old.

“She was staying with us for Christmas.” His expression was sad. “Mum told me that Caro’s mum, Amelia, was never really meant for motherhood. She was too selfish. Amelia was a bit of a jet-setter and never wanted to take Caro with her, so she got left behind to stay with us or with Helena whenever her parents traveled. Her dad, my uncle Heath, was different from my father. Weaker, I suppose. Gave in to Caro’s mum’s demands all the time. Blinded by his love for her, Mum said. And poor Caro was the one that suffered for it.” He sighed heavily. “Though no one deserves to die how they died.”

I remembered that earthquake and tsunami in Indonesia. I was eighteen at the time, and it was world news for weeks because of its far-reaching effects. It killed almost a quarter of a million people.

“That’s awful.” For Caro’s parents, but also for Caro. To have had such neglectful parents, and then to lose them in such a way.

“Aye. Our nana Robson was still alive at the time, but she wasn’t well enough to take care of Caro. Mum and Dad wanted custody, but Amelia and Heath had made it clear in their will that guardianship was to be granted to Caro’s aunt Helena. She was Caro’s mum’s twin sister, you see.”

There was something hard in his tone, and putting that together with what I’d witnessed in Caro, I felt a little knot in my gut. “I’m guessing she’s not exactly a great guardian.”

Roane met my gaze, and I was surprised by the anger I saw there. “I don’t hate many people, Evie, if at all . . . but I hate that woman.”

I flinched. “Wow. That bad, huh?”