Kate wanted to argue that “the universe” didn’t orchestrate anything and it certainly had no “reason” for the timing or trouble. Nothing but coincidence and geography and a series of family events had put them in the same zip code.
She let it go, though. The fact was, the Eli situation was not the biggest thing keeping her up at night, nor was it the reason she’d wanted to have coffee.
She needed to get something off her chest with another mother. As she considered how to share the story, Kate felt the whole weight of the last few weeks press down on her shoulders. She’d been carrying this alone because Emma had begged her to.
A seventeen-year-old’s shame was a sacred and terrible thing, and Kate would do anything to protect her child, includingswallow her own rage and fear and helplessness until she choked on it.
But shewaschoking.
“I have a, um, situation with Emma,” she finally said.
Vivien straightened. “Is she okay?”
“Physically, yes. Emotionally…” Kate sighed. “She was working as a lifeguard at the country club this summer, you know.”
“I do. She was adamant about not joining you in Destin this summer because of the job. I assume it’s over now?”
“Oh, it’s over, but not the way she wanted.” Kate sighed. “She met a boy.”
She watched Vivien’s face shift from concern to careful attention. They were both mothers of beautiful girls. They both knew that “she met a boy” could go in a lot of different directions, and the tone in Kate’s voice left no doubt which one this was.South.
“He was a member’s son. A year older than her. Charming, apparently, in the way that boys who know they’re good-looking are charming.” Kate’s jaw tightened. “He convinced her to send him some…pictures.”
She didn’t have to say what kind. Vivien’s hand went to her mouth. “Oh, Kate.”
“Yeah. Not a nude, but…bad enough. And the jackass shared them.” The words tasted like metal. “He sent them around to all the other kids who work at the club, the other members’ kids. Then somehow one of the pictures ended up in a group chat that half her school is on.”
Vivien closed her eyes for a moment. When she opened them, they were bright with the particular fury that only another mother could summon. “That’s criminal. That’s—she’s a minor, Kate. That is the distribution of?—”
“I know what it is.” Kate’s voice came out harder than she intended. “Believe me, I know. But right now, the legal questions are secondary to the fact that my daughter can barely look at herself in the mirror.”
She paused, remembering Emma’s face when she’d confessed what happened. The way her sweet daughter had curled on the bathroom floor, a shattering, sobbing seventeen-year-old.
“She can’t go anywhere in Ithaca without feeling like everyone’s seen it,” Kate continued, steadier now. “The country club fired her, which is insane. She’s the one who was exploited and she’s the one who lost her job. School starts in September and she’s told me flat out she’s not going back. And honestly, Viv, I don’t know how to make her.”
“What about Jeffrey?”
“Jeffrey found out before I did,” she replied. “Someone at the club called him. And his response was typical of my ex-husband. He completely lost it. Screamed at Emma about judgment and reputation and how could she be so stupid.” She dug her thumbnail into the side of her paper cup. “He didn’t ask if she was okay. He didn’t ask how she was feeling. He went straight to what she’d done wrong and stayed there, and Emma?—”
She had to stop and breathe.
“What happened?” Kate pressed.
“Emma had been spending the summer with him, as you know, so she packed a bag and took an Uber to my house at eleven at night and said she was never going back to her father’s. And when I looked at her face, Viv, I didn’t argue. I just let her cry.”
Vivien gave a sympathetic moan. “She’s seventeen. You remember what we were like at that age.”
“Riding bikes and watching weddings? We didn’t have…pictures on the internet.”
“But it doesn’t change the confusion and mistakes.”
Kate huffed out a breath. “But ours don’t have a permanent record, unless you count your diaries.”
“And if one word about Peter had ended up as public knowledge?” Vivien looked skyward. “Oh, that poor girl. I’m so glad you brought her.”
“She practically flung herself on the plane.”
Vivien smiled. “Good. Now she’s surrounded by people who won’t judge her.”
