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“Good plan.” She pointed toward the window. Outside, it had started to snow again. “I’m not sure I’m built for this snow. We didn’t get as much in the city.” She dropped to her chair, and I felt like I had passed a test. “Andrew tells me you grew up here.”
I sat on the edge of her guest chair, still on alert. “What else did he say?”
“You’re not a fan of Pendleton 88.”
I felt like I was having a conversation with Dana or my aunt, like Elizabeth was purposefully trying to push my buttons. “I hear the macaroni and cheese is good.”
“That’s all my daughter will eat. We’ll have to try it.”
My mouth went dry the way it always did when I met someone new and the conversation veered to children.How old is she? What’s her name? Do you have others?They were all questions I knew I should ask but didn’t because then I would be expected to answer them myself.
“I have two. How many kids do you have?” she said.
Her assumption made me feel vulnerable. After all, what married woman my age didn’t have children? “None.” It was barely a whisper. I rubbed my hands on my thighs as a way to comfort myself. I was tooembarrassed to look at her, so I stared out the window. A dusting of snow covered the pine trees. Seeing the beauty of the white on green reminded me why I loved living here despite the frigid winters. “That would make a beautiful picture for the cover.” I pointed at the window.
“We’re putting Hank on the cover of the next issue. I’m introducing a new service. We’ll write an article for anyone who commits to four full-page ads a year. Hank’s the pilot, since we owe him a piece.” She stared at me as if she expected me to react. I kept the temper tantrum going on inside my head silent and focused on being still. “Today’s my kids’ first day with the new nanny. Hallie’s four, and Danvers is six months.”
Her eyes glazed over. If I knew her better, I would have reached across the desk to squeeze her hand. It couldn’t be easy moving to a new state and leaving your children with a stranger. Elizabeth reached into a messenger bag resting on the corner of her desk. I expected her to pull out photographs of her kids. Instead, she took out a small notebook. She looked at me again, all traces of the vulnerability she had shown a second before gone. “How’s the article on his restaurant coming along?”
I rocked back and forth. “I haven’t been able to pin him down for an interview yet.” I was getting good at lying. I hadn’t even bothered to call him.
“I’ll set it up. We’ll talk to him together,” she said. “I should meet him, considering that he’s one of our biggest advertisers and isn’t happy.”
Chapter 17
The overpowering scent of garlic assaulted me as soon as I walked into Aunt Izzie’s house. Kyle hadn’t responded to the group text or my messages, but I hoped he had let my aunt know he wouldn’t be here tonight.
As I slipped out of my coat, she stood at the top of the staircase with her arms folded across her chest, watching me. “Where have you been?” Her annoyed tone made it seem as if I were hours late instead of a mere ten minutes.
I held up a bakery box. “I stopped to get dessert.”
Dana’s head popped out of the kitchen doorway. She mouthed words behind Aunt Izzie’s back, trying to convey a silent message. Whatever my sister was trying to tell me, I couldn’t figure it out. She became desperate, making exaggerated movements with her lips and pointing at my aunt, but still I had no idea what she wanted me to know.
Aunt Izzie looked over her shoulder at Dana. Dana reshaped her wide-open mouth into a broad smile. “There better be cannoli in that box,” she said.
Aunt Izzie’s eyes flickered from Dana toward me and back. She knew something was going on.
“You’ll have to wait until after dinner to find out,” I said as I reached the top of the staircase. Aunt Izzie blocked my path, her expression still stern.
“I’m sorry I was late.”
“Why isn’t Kyle with you?” she asked.
“Hockey practice.” The words fell from my mouth without my even thinking about them, and they were a perfect excuse. Still, my face burned with shame. I didn’t want to be good at lying.
Behind Aunt Izzie, Dana slid her index finger across her throat.
“Nicole, I saw him at the grocery store this afternoon.”
I swallowed hard, picturing Kyle in the frozen-food aisle, his shopping cart filled with TV dinners, Cape Cod Café pizzas, and Oreos. Right away, Aunt Izzie would have known something wasn’t right. Had he told her that he’d left me? Had he told her why?
“What did he say?” I stared down at the hardwood.Please don’t have told her that I stole from our retirement fund.
Aunt Izzie placed a hand on her hip. I braced myself for a lecture about lying.My sister raised you better than that.
“That he wouldn’t be here for dinner. The two of you were separated and you could explain why.”
Separated? Is that what we are?My legs wobbled, and I reached for the banister to steady myself.
