“Do you mind if I use your bathroom?” Julien asked.
Hannah was happy to take a few moments for herself. While he was gone, she leaned back in her chair, closed her eyes, and listened to the water roll up on the sand. She felt the rocking chair, creaking beneath her, lulling her into a dream-like state. A small part of her fantasized that Julien would leave the house, take her in his arms, and kiss her. She fantasized that he’d tell her that he hadn’t been thinking of anyone but her since they’d met.
But she knew these were childish things to think about. She was no better than Minnie. Actually, she was worse: Minnie had someone who was crazy about her, while all Hannah had was her obsessive story about the Legacy Club. She was pathetic.
When Julien returned, he seemed jittery and anxious, as though he wanted to go. But he sat back down and sipped his wine. He ruffled and fluffed his hair. Hannah ached for something to say, something that would unite them. She wished she could go back to the beginning.
And then, Julien broke the silence to say, “You know, I really could come by later this week to help you repair some stuff. The stairs, for one. And the cabinets look like they’re going to come off the walls.”
Hannah broke into a bigger smile than she’d felt on her face in months, maybe years. “I’d really like that,” she said. “I can pay you. Not much, but some.”
“If you can pay for the materials, I’ll happily take payment in food and wine,” Julien said. “I’m tired of microwave dinners. I’m tired of frozen pizzas!”
Hannah laughed happily. It had been ages since she’d actually liked cooking for someone, as Kendall had been tremendously picky and had always wanted to dine out instead.
“I’d like that,” Hannah said. She held his gaze for a half-second longer than necessary as her head spun.
17
Minnie and Viggo were on Viggo’s sailboat, about a quarter of a mile from the harbor. Viggo was sketching, his head burrowed as he stroked the paper lovingly with his pencil. Minnie had said she wanted to read, or sketch, or maybe write some poetry. But all she could do was gaze across the waves, her heart pounding with fear and recognition. Yesterday had changed the course of her life forever. And she couldn’t yet tell a soul—not even Viggo.
It had begun at the burger restaurant just yesterday, after the last day of school. Suddenly paranoid, she’d thought someone was stalking them, so Viggo had snuck out and taken a secretive photo on his phone of the guy in a baseball hat, hiding behind the van. When Viggo had shown her the photograph, all the blood had drained from her face. But to Viggo, she’d shaken her head with wonder. “Never seen him before in my life,” she’d lied. When she’d glanced back at the van, he’d been gone. “Let’s go to the movies,” she’d said, so they’d run off to the outdoor cinema, where they’d kissed and eaten popcorn, and she’d tried her best to pretend that what she’d seen wasn’t what she’d seen.
“If I see that guy again, I’ll go after him,” Viggo had promised.
She’d laughed. “I’m sure it was all a misunderstanding.”
Viggo had given her a curious look, as though he’d wanted to ask her why she’d changed her tune so quickly. But she hadn’t given him anything else.
Last night, when Viggo had dropped her off at home, she’d said hello to her mother, gone upstairs, and tossed and turned all night. She’d hardly slept a wink. And now, back on Viggo’s boat, she struggled to maintain her smiles, the kisses he expected, and the joy they’d built. She had no idea what to make of it, but one thing was clear—her father was on the island, and he was spying on her.
Viggo looked up from his sketch and smiled. “What’s on your mind?”
“I’m just happy,” Minnie lied. She considered asking Viggo to run away with her, to escape her mother and whatever her father wanted, to build a new life elsewhere. They were sixteen going on thirty, it felt like. They could figure it out. But despite her love for Viggo, she couldn’t shake the feeling that her father had come here for a reason. Maybe he needed her help.
Her heart swelled with love for her father, and how she’d missed him.
Throughout her childhood and into adulthood, Kendall had always been clear with her.Minnie is the smartest and most capable girl in the world. He’d always told her how much smarter she was than her mother. He’d always told her that success was hers if she was brave enough to take it.
“People don’t hand you what you want in this life,” he’d told her. “You have to go out and take it.”
When Kendall had disappeared without a trace more than two months ago, Minnie had plunged into a pit of despair. A part of her had begun to suspect her mother was right, that her fatherwas a criminal and that he’d gone into hiding for that reason. But now he was here, in Nantucket, watching and waiting for her? What did that mean?
“Actually,” Minnie said to Viggo now, as the sailboat shifted beneath them, “I’m starting to feel a little sick.”
Viggo set aside his sketchbook and stood immediately. “Can I get you something? Medicine? Ginger ale?”
“I think I want to go home,” Minnie said tenderly. His face broke with sorrow, so she got up and covered him with kisses. She couldn’t lose him. “We can hang out tomorrow, if you want to. Or the next day.”
But she knew that Viggo had become addicted to her in the way that teenagers so often did with one another. She kissed him long and hard until he finally said, “All right, all right. I’ll take you home. I need to do some stuff for my mom anyway.”
As they sailed back to the harbor, Minnie ached with the feeling that she was betraying herself. Viggo wanted to love her. He wanted to build a life with her. Was her worry about her father going to jeopardize that? Oh, but she needed to figure this out, or else she was going to go absolutely nuts. When they reached the dock, she helped Viggo tie up the boat, then walked to his convertible, where they kissed a bit more before heading to Minnie’s place. Minnie told Viggo that she’d see him soon, and he told her to feel better. Minnie watched him drive away, feeling the distance between them like a knife in her stomach.
She couldn’t lose Viggo so soon after she’d lost Gavin! The world was too cruel.
Inside, she found her mother and a man she’d never seen before, scouting around the kitchen and measuring walls. Minnie guessed he was a contractor, there to fix up a house that seemed less filled with “character” and more filled with “mold and heartbreak” every single day. Hannah looked at herdaughter with surprise, then said, “You’re home earlier than I thought you would be!” But she didn’t seem sad about it.
Minnie wondered if her mother could see the fact of Kendall, written on her face. Hannah’s history as a journalist tended not to work in Minnie’s favor. She seemed always to know what was going on and what Minnie was hiding.
