“Little rabbit,” Julie said, reaching out one finger but not quite touching Clementine’s twitching nose. At the same time, she glanced nervously over her shoulder. “Don’t want to go in there.”
“In where?” Kate asked.
“Inside the house. Reminds me of Sam’s mom.”
“It’s good to remember people we loved,” Kate said.
“It was strange, very,” Julie said. “Don’t want to go in. I will stay with Clementine.”
“God, Julie,” Isabel said. “Don’t be so annoying! This is about Mrs. Lathrop. We’re thinking about her on her birthday.”
“I will stay with Clementine,” Julie said, scrambling into the car.
“Julie, get out here right now,” Scotty said.
Kate leaned past her, face to face with Julie. The girl who never looked her in the eye suddenly did.
“Are you afraid of something?” Kate asked.
“I don’t like pretend talk. To Sam’s mom.” Her eyes darted to Lulu, then to her mother.
“Did something happen?” Kate asked, alarmed by Julie’s panic. “That makes you feel this way?”
Julie put her hands over her ears. “Stop it, stop. Mommy, no one listening like before, no one listening. Just talk to air, talk-talk.” Again, she looked at Lulu—whether in fear or a sort of pleading for understanding, Kate was unsure.
“Come on, sweetheart,” Scotty said, hugging Julie, “everything is fine.”
“Hey, where’s Sam?” Isabel asked.
Everyone stood still and looked around. Sam wasn’t there.
55
Pete wanted to feel amused to call thishome. It had belonged to the great Mathilda, but he was here now. He sat in the recliner he’d brought from Church Street, making himself at home. He ate a big handful of Georgia peanuts, his favorite kind, from a tin Beth had given him for his last birthday. And today was her birthday. It made him feel terrible.Melancholydidn’t cover it. He couldn’t even enjoy the satisfaction of being in Mathilda’s house.
Kate had forbidden him to stay here, and even Nicola wasn’t very welcoming. That was their problem. He closed his eyes, going over the details for the many-hundredth time, sure that if he could put the pieces together, he would be able to figure out what had happened. He grieved Beth, and screw anyone who thought otherwise. But the events of the year prior, all the fights with Beth and Nicola, could cause him trouble, make him look bad, if they were brought into the open. And he knew the detective still thought he did it.
His back had healed from the scratches, the bite. He hadn’t meant to scare Nicola so badly that day. It had been a week before Beth had died, and Pete had been totally sick of women—of being torn in half. It was a beautiful day in July. Tyler was fussy, didn’t want to take a nap, so they loaded him into the car, went for a ride.
They wound up in the state forest near a waterfall. Tyler had finally fallen asleep in his car seat. Pete and Nicola sat in the front, windows open, listening to birds and the sound of rushing water.
She started in—When are you leaving her? When can we be together?—and he snapped.
“What the hell do you even want with me?” he asked. “All you ever do is complain about what I’m not giving you.”
“Why don’t you realize that it’s what I want to give you that’s killing me?” she said. “Not being able to do everything I want to do for you, for Tyler ...”
He shook his head. “I can’t even remember the last time you kissed me.”
She smiled. She leaned across the console and kissed him the way she used to, the way that used to make him go crazy. Then he felt her hand between his legs. Next thing, they were out of the car. He took off his shirt, laid it on the ground for a blanket, and they made love right there in the open, not caring if anyone came along.
“Is that better?” she asked, smiling up at him.
“Yeah,” he said, rolling off her and smoothing her hair back from her face. She was so beautiful, young and bright eyed. If only they could go back to the way they’d been when they first started. “Can I ask you to be more patient?”
“I’m trying.”
“Doesn’t seem it,” he said. He hadn’t meant it to sound harsh, but she reacted as if he’d slapped her. Her face turned bright red, and her eyes brimmed with tears. “Here they come. Here come the sobs, right on schedule.”
