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He smirked. “I would, Mom, except you just made me delete her number. I don’t have it to block it.”
“Well, block her if she messages you again.”
“If it makes you happy.” He sounded like an adult indulging a batty old lady.
“And you won’t meet her in person.”
“Oh my God.”
“Simon, promise me.”
He looked at me, his eyes narrowed. “Wow, you’re really serious about this, aren’t you?” He waited for my nod and shook his head. “Look, I have no intention of meeting Grace. I really do get that that might look weird, to a certain kind of person. I’m not trying to get myself in more trouble.”
“Okay.”
He stood up and slipped his phone into his back pocket. He came around the couch and gave me a hug. He was so much taller than me. So much broader.
“Thanks for caring, Mom. You’re the best.” He kissed my cheek and left the room. And I sat on the couch and cried.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Andy
When I woke up on Thursday morning, Leanne was gone from the bed. Used to be I was always the first one up, but by Thursday I think Lee had stopped sleeping entirely. I wasn’t sleeping much either, but every time I woke up, she was sitting up in bed, or sitting in the chair near the window, staring out into the darkness, as if she expected Nina to walk up the driveway at any minute.
I got dressed and went downstairs. Lee was in the kitchen. She must have been up for hours, because everything in the room was gleaming. There was a fire burning in the living room fireplace. I could smell coffee and bacon.
“How long have you been awake?” I asked.
She blinked at me, like she didn’t understand the question. Grace came into the room, and Leanne looked at her for a moment like she didn’t recognize her.
“Mom?” Grace said. She sounded scared. Lee shook herself.
“I made bacon and pancakes,” she said.
“Thanks.” Grace sat at the table and Lee put a plate in front of her. Grace picked up her fork. “I’m not going to school.” She said it like it was a statement, but her body tensed up, to see how that statement landed.
“You are,” I said. “You need to go. There’s no point sitting at home. We’ll come and get you if there’s any news.”
Grace dropped her fork and stared at me. “You can’t be serious.”
“I know it’s hard,” I said. “But you’ll be better off at school, with your teachers and classes and your friends, and all the normal high school stuff. If you’re at home with us you’ll be watching the clock all the time.” I looked to Lee for support. She was slow to respond.
“Your dad’s right,” she said, after a delay.
“You don’t get it.”
“What don’t I get?”
Grace shook her head, her face screwed up in frustration. “I can’t concentrate. I’m going to be sitting in class and I’m still going to be watching the clock, only I’ll be at school, with everyone looking at me and talking.”
“People love to talk, Grace,” I said. “You know how I feel about that. Talkers are talkers and doers are doers. If people are talking about you, you just let them go right ahead.”
Grace rolled her eyes. “People aren’t talking about me because I’m a doer, Dad. They’re talking about me because I’m Nina’s sister. And it’s horrible.”
Lee reached out and took her hand. Her eyes met mine over Grace’s shoulder.
“I know it’s hard. Dad knows that too. It’s really hard for all of us. But school is the best place for you to be at the moment. Any day now, Nina will come home, or we’ll find her, and we can all put this behind us. In the meantime, I need to ask you to try to hang in there. Can you do that?”
