She, Beth, Lulu, and Scotty had started doing it when they were in their teens. It had seemed grown-up and forbidden, and it had always appealed to her rule-breaking side. She felt the water on her body, but it wasn’t at all sensuous, and she wondered if it was for other people. She knew she was missing something but didn’t dwell on it.
For Kate, the best part of swimming without clothes was freedom. She was part of the ocean. It came close to the abandon she felt while flying. As her arms and legs moved water around her and kept her afloat, she started to let go of the claustrophobia of being at the prison, the unexpected sorrow she’d felt for her father. The rush of Long Island Sound’s waves hitting the shore took away the clang of the doors.
“Ahhh,” Lulu said, sidestroking in from the breakwater.
“This was the right idea,” Kate said.
“I figured you needed it. I know I did.”
They swam to shallow water, walked onto the beach, and slipped back into their clothes. The fabric stuck to their damp skin, but it quickly dried in the cool twilight breeze. They sat on the hard-packed sand. With the sun down, flies had stopped buzzing around clumps of seaweed along the tide line. She listened to the waves slapping the shore. Above, the first stars had started to appear in the violet sky.
The Compass Rose had sat here a million times. They had skinny-dipped, picnicked, searched for moonstones and sea glass. In the last blue light, Kate and Beth would walk along the damp sand at the very edge, watching for the moonstones’ glimmer. They would fill their pockets with the tiny, perfectly smooth ovals of feldspar. Kate always intended to make jewelry with them, but they were so beautiful by themselves, she kept them in a glass jar instead. They never gleamed as magically at home, though. It was never the same as seeing them in the sand, brushed by waves, collecting them with her sister.
“Are you still mad at me?” Lulu asked.
“About what?”
“Not telling you about Beth and Jed.”
In the peace of the moment, Kate had almost forgotten.
“No. More at myself.”
“Why?”
“Because I’m obviously a hard-assed, judgmental witch, or Beth would have told me herself. Or you would have, or Scotty,” Kate said, half hoping Lulu would say she was wrong.
“What did your father say about him?” Lulu asked. The question instead of a direct response confirmed Kate’s statement and pierced her heart.
“He had no idea that Jed and Beth were involved. He introduced her to him, though.”
“Did he know where Jed might be?”
“Some vague ideas, but not really. Just that he’s from Rhode Island and is a talented artist, but I already knew that part.”
The sound of voices, excited and raucous, came from the direction of the path. It was dark now and hard to see, but Kate could tell it was kids. They were too far away to recognize, but Kate heard the clink of bottles as if they were drinking a toast. Then rattles that sounded as if they were all shaking maracas.
“Spray paint,” Lulu said, jumping up. “Hey, stop!” she called as she and Kate started toward the group.
The kids scattered, but Kate ran toward one and grabbed her arm. In the starlight, Kate locked eyes with her niece.
“Sam,” she said.
Sam didn’t reply. She lowered her gaze. In her right hand, she held a paint can. In her other, she gripped a half-empty bottle of Heineken. Lulu had cornered Isabel Waterston, and they came toward Kate and Sam.
“You did this?” Kate asked, pointing at the rocks.
Still no answer from Sam.
“It’s art—better than bare rocks,” Isabel said, slurring her words.
“Okay, you’ve been drinking, no point in talking about it. Come on; we’re going home,” Kate said, glancing at Sam, feeling both angry and scared, not knowing quite how to handle her being drunk.
The four of them walked through the path. Kate had been here so often she had no problem making her way in the dark, but for the sake of the girls, she turned on the light on her iPhone. When they got back to Hubbard’s Point, they headed toward a cottage on the boat basin.
Scotty, Nick, and Julie were sitting on the screened porch. Nick was reading, and Scotty and Julie were playing Scrabble. At the sight of Isabel, Scotty and Nick stood. Julie bolted into the house. Kate noticed she’d stopped in the living room, crept back to peek around the door.
“They were graffitiing the rocks,” Kate said, looking straight at Sam, worried out of her mind at what was going on with her.
