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“All what time?” Valerie asked.
Rebecca counted the days on her fingers. “I’ve been on the island since the day she left.”
Valerie shrugged. “She flew to me. Yeah.”
“To Seattle?” Bethany asked.
Valerie arched one of her eyebrows quizzically. “I haven’t lived in Seattle for years.”
Rebecca and Bethany were quiet, stewing in shame.
After a period of silence, Valerie explained, “I’m in San Francisco now. I moved there for a job.”
“Wow,” Rebecca said because she wasn’t sure what else to say. She turned back to watch the rise and fall of Esme’s chest.
“Why did she come out to see you?” Bethany asked.
Valerie looked uncertain if she wanted to continue. “I don’t know if you ever knew my high school boyfriend, Zach. We broke up after I left the island, and he stayed here, got married, and had kids. Anyway, I hear from him from time to time. It always makes me so nostalgic for the island.”
Rebecca furrowed her brow. She’d left the island before Valerie ever had a boyfriend named Zach. How much of Valerie’s life had she missed?
“Zach reached out to ask if I’d heard about Larry,” Valerie continued. “Although I’d only met him a few times, I couldn’t believe he’d died. And so suddenly! I called Mom for the first time in years. I could already tell on the phone that she wasn’t herself. Something was off about her.” Valerie gestured toward Esme on the couch, who had certainly not seemed mentally well moments before.
“I bought her a ticket to come out to San Francisco with me. I thought we could live there together for a while. The first day or so was tough. She cried a lot and often didn’t make sense. I had to take some time off work, which my employers were not pleased with. But I figured, you know, she was one of the only people in my life for a long time. It was my turn to be with her.”
Bethany and Rebecca exchanged glances. Was Valerie using their mother as an excuse for having lost another job? There was no way to know.
Valerie went on. “But then, Mom started hearing from people back here in Nantucket. She heard that her daughter and ex-husband were hanging around the house, waiting for her? Causing trouble? Asking the police where she was? At first, I didn’t want to believe it. It didn’t make any sense. I didn’t know why either of you would be with Dad—the guy who left us in a lurch after our family’s greatest tragedy? But whatever.”
Rebecca stuttered. She wanted to explain herself.
“I did my best to keep Mom away from her phone, but it wasn’t easy. She’s a grown woman grieving. She has to have a way to call her friends. Unfortunately, her friends operated as hourly gossip columnists. Mom got more and more anxious. I tried to calm her down, to tell her she needed to focus on herself right now and not whatever baloney was happening on Nantucket. But then she started getting emails about another godforsaken Veterans’ Dinner. That reminded her of the stupid Book Club, and her father, and everything she’d ever promised him. So now, we’re here. And she’s exhausted and depressed and almost out of her mind.”
Valerie was livid. Rebecca felt like a kid in the principal’s office. Bethany’s cheeks were pink.
“Valerie…” Rebecca breathed. “We tried to call you.”
Valerie rolled her eyes. “I don’t think you have my number.”
“The one listed on Facebook?” Rebecca asked.
Valerie shook her head. “That hasn’t been my number for years.”
“But you could have reached out to us,” Rebecca insisted. “Especially when you heard that Dad and I were on Nantucket. I was worried sick when Mom was missing.”
“She was never missing,” Valerie shot back. “I was taking care of her.”
“Dad and I came here because we wanted to make sure she was okay, too!” Rebecca quaked with anger and sorrow.
“Yeah. That brings me to the most pressing issue of all,” Valerie sputtered. “Can you explain why you thought coming here with him was a good idea?”
Rebecca blinked at her little sister. How could she possibly translate the size of her own grief? “He came to Maine. He… he told me Mom wasn’t doing well. He told me he wasn’t doing well, either.”
“Oh. Boo-hoo.” Valerie’s nostrils flared. “Victor Sutton had a bad day, and you ran to the rescue? Is that what I’m hearing?”
Rebecca bent her head. Bethany placed her hand on Rebecca’s shoulder. For a long time, the three Sutton sisters were very quiet.
“Did Mom tell you she’s about to lose the Sutton Book Club?” Rebecca asked the floor.
