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“Yes,” Gigi says. “And you’re a public figure, so it was all there.”
“Why did you engage with me?” Hollis asks. “You weren’t just watching from afar—you commented on all my posts, you said smart things, you wanted me to notice you. When you weresleeping with my husband.”
“Maybe it was a bit unhinged,” Gigi says. “I wanted you to know me, even though you would never realize who I was. I wanted you to…likeme.”
“It worked!” Hollis says. “Ididlike you. When Matthew died, I waited to hear from you. It took you a week.”
“Yes,” Gigi says. “I wasn’t sure what to do.”
“Then you told me you were there to listen.”
“I was.”
“Iconfidedin you. I told you things I didn’t tell another soul. I thought it was safe because I didn’t know you. You were like a… virtual therapist. I told you Matthew and I quarreled right before he left the house”—Hollis swallows—“and youghostedme! You made me feel like I was to blame for his accident.”
“Oh, Hollis,” Gigi says. “Can I please speak now?”
“No,” Hollis says. “Because I haven’t gotten to the best part. Do you know what the best part is, Gigi Ling?”
Gigi grips the pale suede arms of the club chair. She doesn’t have to stay. She can order another Uber, head to the airport, fly to Boston, New York, or DC and make her way home from there. Outwardly, her life will remain much the same. She’ll cuddle with Mabel, go to Tim and Santi’s for dinner, fly her routes—she might even ask for Europe back. She can leave Hollis and this drama behind.
Except she can’t.
Gigi understandsbestto mean “worst.” “The best part is that you invited me to your Five-Star Weekend on Nantucket and I accepted. And now here we are.”
“You entered my house, you ate my food, drank my wine, slept in the finest of my guest suites—if I’m being honest, I wanted you to have it; you were the one I felt I had to impress—and relaxed on my beach.I made a playlist for you!The smart-woman playlist, because I thought you’d appreciate it.” Hollis stops for a moment; she’s frightening herself. “You met my friends, women I have known for decades. Women who have stood by me, supported me. Women who love me. You took a place among them, but you’re a liar, a cheat, acharlatan.”
“Yes,” Gigi says.
“Why?” Hollis says. “Why did you come?”
That’s the question, isn’t it? Gigi could give many answers:I came for the same reason you invited me—because we hit it off. I came because I wanted to feel closer to Matthew. I came to find out what I could about your marriage. I came because I was inexplicably drawn to the person I betrayed. She could even say:I came because I was lonely.
Gigi didnotcome to Nantucket to reveal her secret—but now that it’s out, there’s something else Hollis needs to know. Something important.
47. Under the Influence II
TheEndeavordelivers the ladies back to Straight Wharf at four o’clock. Caroline expects Hollis to be waiting at the dock with a tray of iced tea and perhaps some homemade gougères as an apology for missing the sail. But her mother is nowhere to be seen. She checks her phone—and there’s an alert of a text from Isaac.
She feels a jolt of adrenaline at seeing his name. Has he realized he’s not in love with Sofia after all, did the picture Caroline posted of herself and Dylan make him jealous, are his feelings for Caroline too strong to be denied?
As long as she doesn’t read the text, the answers to these questions can still be yes.
She calls her mother but she’s shunted straight to voice mail.Fine,she thinks. They’ll take a cab.
Caroline watches the others disembark. All three women seem caught up in their own thoughts.
Tatum is thinking that, at this time tomorrow, she’ll know the answer. She also thinks how excited she is to tell Hollis that Dru-Ann finally apologized.It only took twenty-five years, but now we’re good.More than good. Against all odds, Tatum and Dru-Ann are going to be friends. Because the truth is, Tatum kind oflikesDru-Ann.
Dru-Ann is thinking about how miraculous it is that Phineas Pine, ranked number 127 in the world, has won the British Open. (She went to the head and checked her phone.) This is why Dru-Ann loves sports—competition is fun and exciting and unpredictable. Everyone loves an underdog.
Brooke is thinking how easy it was to tell James she was gay. She tried to tip him when she got off the boat, but he pressed the money back into her hand and said, “You already gave me a gratuity. Thank you for sharing your news with me.”
Honestly, what a cutie.
As Caroline is walking by Provisions, she sees a guy sitting at the café table out front who looks, from behind, like Dylan. When she gets closer, she sees that the chick sitting across from the guy looks like Aubrey. Then she sees the little kid between them with a piece of bacon hanging from his mouth.
Dylan, Aubrey, and Orion are having lunch—or an early dinner before Dylan has to go to work—at Provisions.
