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Dru-Ann winks at Joey. “I’ll take the purple dress and the camisole.”
“Outstanding,” Joey says.
The Gucci influencer is still holding up her phone. Now, it seems, she’s filming Dru-Ann. “We know who you are,” she says.
“You disrespected our girl Posey,” Laura Ingalls says. “As well as the fifty-three million other Americans who suffer from mental illness.”
Dru-Ann nearly drops her champagne. Talk about an ambush. She’s pretty sure these two wouldn’t know a nine-iron from a curling iron—and yet Posey Wofford is their “girl”? Dru-Ann wants to snatch the phone out of Gucci’s hands and smash it. Then she wonders if maybe this is her chance. These women are influencers; they might have hundreds of thousands of followers apiece. They can help her get the word out.
“I’m sure you ladies want the inside scoop,” Dru-Ann says. “Which is that Posey Wofford was faking ‘mental illness’”—here, Dru-Ann uses air quotes—“so that she could duck out of her commitment at the Dow Invitational.”
Gucci drops the phone and gives Dru-Ann a withering look. “If you think I’m going to amplify that garbage, think again.”
“I know mental-health struggles are real,” Dru-Ann says. “I was speaking out onbehalfof the fifty-three million Americans who suffer. Posey Wofford was using the excuse because it was convenient for her.”
“Come on, Bex,” Laura Ingalls says. “Let’s go.”
Gucci follows Laura Ingalls out the door, but before she leaves, she turns around. “You were my hero, you know. I watchThrow Like a Girl,I read your pieces inThe Cut,I found you smart and insightful, arole model,until I saw that video. It was such a disappointment.Youare such a disappointment.” Gucci’s polished facade cracks open for one instant, and Dru-Ann glimpses her authenticity. This woman, Bex, looked up to Dru-Ann and feels that Dru-Ann has let her down. It is, frankly, sobering.
Maybe Dru-Ann should just issue the apology and be done with it.
But the fact remains that Posey’s mental state is just fine.
“I know it seems that things are one way,” Dru-Ann says. “But trust me, they’re the opposite. You have to believe me”—blood is pulsing in her ears, and she’s nauseated from the champagne; she came to Nantucket to lie low, but news of her disgrace is everywhere, even here—“Posey Wofford is the one who’s a disappointment.”
“Say less,” Laura Ingalls snaps.
Gucci’s expression hardens back into an impenetrable mask. “Girl, bye,” she says, and they walk out, shutting the door firmly behind them.
There’s a beat of incredibly awkward silence, then Joey relieves Dru-Ann of her empty champagne flute and whisks the amethyst dress out of the changing room. “I’ll just wrap this up,” he says. “What did you decide about the jacket?” Joey already knows what Dru-Ann will say; being uncomfortable makes people spend more money. His commission is going up!
“I’ll take it,” she says.
23. Rye Toast
Hollis trails Tatum down Centre Street like someone who has readEspionage for Dummies.She stays five or six paces behind, and when Tatum turns onto India Street, Hollis turns onto India Street. When Tatum weaves through the crowd of people waiting outside Black-Eyed Susan’s, Hollis follows—but people are annoyed only at Hollis. “We’ve beenwaiting!”
Tatum scans the restaurant—it’s bustling as always and smells richly of coffee, butter, vanilla, and bacon—until she sees Kyle and Jack at a four-top with two empty seats next to them. She grabs Kyle by the hair at the back of his head and plants a juicy kiss on his cheek, then slides down next to him.
“I think I was being followed,” she says.
“Really?” Kyle says. “By whom?”
A second later, Hollis plops down in the seat across from Tatum. “Surprise!”
“No surprise here,” Tatum says. “I saw your reflection in the window of Don Freedman’s gallery.”
“No surprise here,” Jack says with a wink. “I always knew you’d come back to me.”
“Oho!” Kyle says. “He went there!”
Hollis laughs. The headache she’s had all morning is suddenly gone. “It’s just breakfast,” she says.
Kyle raises his mug. “The band is back together.”
It’s good, it’s fine, it’s innocent,Hollis thinks. This is the perfect time to catch up with Jack. Kyle and Tatum make this seem normal—she’s visiting with old friends. But does she feel normal? No, she does not. Jack Finigan is here, and Hollis can’t ignore the fizzing inside of her.
Tatum wants to tell Jack to run for the hills. Kyle wants to tell Jack (and possibly did the night before) to get some action andthenrun for the hills.
