Page 124 of The Treasure House

“I’m telling people I’m engaged,” Marly said firmly. “I don’t want to cause too much scandal, especially for Virge’s wedding. I’ll go to Oxeye before I start showing. That way people won’t even know…”

Dad gave her a look. Sylvie’s summer house was right next door. How was Marly to keep it a secret from her?

“I just need time to think about what to do,” Marly said desperately.

Dad nodded. His eyes were suspiciously shiny. “You mother would want what’s best for you,” he said.

When he left, Marly sat on the floor and cried.

Marly settled into a lonely life at Oxeye, where she had too much time to think. And all she could think about was Freddie de Marche and her future without him. Sometimes it was all she could do not to pick up the phone and call his base.

Freddie’s next letter came in the depths of winter, when Marly was fat with the baby and even fatter with misery. Dad had forwarded the letter on from Boston. I heard you got engaged, pixie stick. E wrote and told me. I keep thinking about Maine. I’m an idiot, I guess. Anyway, I wish you nothing but the best with the guy who was smart enough not to be an idiot.

Goddamn him. Why couldn’t he rage and beg and do everything in his power to stop her wedding? Not that she was actually getting married. But he thought she was. Marly had cried a tempest over that letter. But then the next one came.

You can’t blame a guy for being confused, he wrote in a scribbled hand. I mean, you were a kid. And then you weren’t a kid. We were friends. So how was I to know what the hell I was feeling? The scribbling got so intense she almost couldn’t make out the words. How come you never told me for keeps was on the table?

Marly looked down at her belly. That was about as for keeps as it got.

Meet me, he wrote. I’ve booked a flight home. I’ll be there on the 17th. Meet me in Oxeye?

Oh God.

I haven’t heard from you. But I wrote to E, and he and Sylvie are happy for me to stay at their place. I’ll be there. Come.

Marly was the size of a whale by then. There was no way she could hide it. She didn’t know if she could bear the look on his face.

I’ve extended my leave to three weeks. Please come, Marly.

The 17th arrived and Marly balked. She couldn’t handle him feeling like he had to marry her.

I’ll wait.

Twenty-Nine

By the time I left the motel, it was late. Suni and Wayne were looking after Flo and reassured me everything was fine when I messaged I’d be even later than planned. Be safe, Suni told me. I was in no shape to go home. I drove to Camden city park, knowing I had to make a choice. The snow kept sheeting, obscuring the harbor. I sat there in my car at the side of the park, cocooned in the obliterating blankets of snow, and cried. I wasn’t thinking of any one moment or any one heartbreak—it was all just an inchoate mass of misery. I felt a deep ache for me, but also for Tina. And for Flo. All the years of my childhood pressed in on me. My heart hurt.

And then I made the phone call. I was shaking so hard I misdialed the number on the first try. That old crawling, sweating feeling was back. The guilt, the shame, the raw terror. Last time I’d turned Tina in, it had been a side effect of writing a school paper. Although, if I was really honest with myself, I’d known exactly what I was doing. I knew I was opening the door on all our secrets. And I knew exactly what my teacher would do when she read about my vacation, abandoned by my junkie mother.

This time I wasn’t even pretending that I didn’t know the consequences of my actions. This time I called the police directly.

“She’s at the motel in Rockport.” I closed my eyes as I gave them the address, wanting to block out the world. My heart was lurching in my chest. It felt like I was having a heart attack. Tina would never forgive me for this. With this one call I was ending our relationship for good. Even though, in reality, our relationship had been severed a long time ago.

“We’ll send someone to the motel now,” the bluntly professional voice on the other end of the line told me. “If we find them using, we’ll take them in,” the officer said calmly. “But you’ll need to come in to make a report if you want to follow up on the violation of your Social Security privacy.”

When I’d hung up, I started sobbing in earnest. I put my forehead against the steering wheel and gave in to it. I felt like she’d died.

My phone buzzed and I tensed, sure it would be Tina and she’d be furious with me.

But it was Jake.

“Hey,” he said when I answered.

“Hey.”

“Are you crying?”

“Are you psychic?”