“Yeah, I think so.”
“Then you’re coming home with me,” she said, trying to contain her out-of-control feelings. On the way to New London, they didn’t talk at all. Lulu tuned the radio to a nineties station with Smashing Pumpkins singing “1979.” I-95 was crowded, and they hit a traffic jam that lasted from Niantic through Waterford.
Back on Bank Street, Lulu stopped before getting into her Range Rover. Kate watched her press her forehead against Sam’s.
“Don’t do that again,” Lulu said. “Any of it. You have to take care of yourself and be strong. And I don’t want you making your aunt worry.”
“Sorry,” Sam mumbled.
Lulu and Kate hugged.
“What was that with Scotty?” Lulu whispered.
“I was going to ask you the same thing,” Kate said.
“She’s drinking more than ever. Is it Beth? Her way of dealing with losing her?”
“I guess,” Kate said. “Or maybe something with Nick?”
“All of the above,” Lulu said. “Remind me never to get married.”
“If you’ll remind me.”
“Later.”
“Yep, later for sure.”
Lulu got into her Range Rover and drove away. Kate disarmed the alarm, and she and Sam climbed the stairs.
“Sam,” she said. “How many times have you done it? Painted those things on the rocks?”
“A couple,” Sam said.
“You and your friends ruined something wonderful. Don’t you care about that?”
Sam shrugged. Kate gritted her teeth. How much of a cry for help was this, and what could Kate do about it?
“Your mother loved Little Beach,” Kate said. “How do you think she’d feel about what you did?”
Sam swallowed hard, looking away, as if she couldn’t meet Kate’s eyes.
“Call your father and tell him you’re staying with me tonight,” Kate said when they’d entered the loft. Popcorn came bounding over, barking to be fed and taken out.
“Can we clean it up?” Sam asked, watching Kate clip the leash onto Popcorn’s collar.
Kate looked at her.
“The paint?” Sam asked. “Can we try to get it off the rocks?”
“I don’t know if it will come off. I don’t know if the chemicals it would take would be bad for the sea.”
“Can we try?” Sam asked, her voice breaking. “For Mom?”
Kate stood still for a minute. If defacing the rocks had been Sam’s way of getting attention, then maybe this was the way she had to ask for help.
“Yes, we can do that,” Kate said. She put her arms around her niece, felt her shoulders shaking. “Come on now, call your dad so he’ll know where you are.”
“He won’t care,” Sam said.
