AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“You don’t have to keep doing this. I’ll clean it up later,” Claire assured her. The flowers were the least of her worries. “I’m sorry I asked you to.”
“That’s not it.” Abby turned to look at her mother. In her face, Claire saw so many of her family members—her mother’s kind eyes, Charlotte’s thick but sculpted eyebrows, Kelli’s strong cheekbones. “I just haven’t been totally truthful with you. And I don’t know how to say it.”
Claire felt as though she was falling. It took everything within her to stay upright and be a guiding light to her daughter. But she wanted to scream.
“What is it, honey?”
Abby swallowed and stared at the ground. “Something happened on New Year’s Eve.”
Claire remembered the party through a series of sepia images. She remembered Uncle Wes on one knee, preparing to propose. She remembered Charlotte dancing with Everett. She remembered hugs and kisses, popped champagne, salmon puffs, music, and an entire inn brimming with laughter.
And, of course, Gail was in her mind’s eye, moody, stomping through the party as though she had a vendetta against the entire family. Abby and Rachel had scampered after her, their faces marred with confusion and shock. Claire had brushed it off at the time, calling it a teenager’s impulse. A teenager’s mood.
“A few hours before the party, Gail came into my room and said she needed to tell me something,” Abby began. “She was really pale, and she looked like she’d been crying. I was really busy with something. Like, this is totally not important, but I was texting this guy from school. Someone I have a big crush on. Or had a big crush on before the world ended.” Abby sniffed. “Anyway, Gail started blabbing about something I didn’t understand. She was basically sobbing. I kept asking her to repeat herself. And finally, I got the gist of what she was saying.
“Basically, she was talking about Dad. About how he wasn’t who we thought he was. About how he wants to leave us and doesn’t care about us. Blah, blah, blah. When I figured that out, I totally flipped. I mean, it sounded crazy. Dad? Dad’s always been there for us. He’s always loved us. And I told her she was obviously mistaken. But the second I said that, Gail turned on me. She told me I was naive. And she was really, really angry that I didn’t believe her. She stormed out of my room and avoided me all night.
“By the time the party rolled around, I figured she would be over it. I mean, this wasn’t the first time this has happened between us. Moving in together in college maybe wasn’t the best idea. Because we’ve had some disagreements. We haven’t always seen eye to eye.”
Claire gaped at her with confusion. Her daughters? Fighting throughout the semester? Hadn’t she spoken to them numerous times on the phone? Hadn’t they always indicated they were really happy?
Abby continued. “But she seemed even angrier than all those other times. Rachel and I were chasing her, trying to get her to talk to us, but she refused. She said, ‘I’m done.’” Abby used air quotes, and her hands shook.
“Those were basically the last words she ever said to me. And I can’t help but think it’s all my fault,” Abby rasped. “I pushed her away. I refused to listen. I mean, what she was saying really freaked me out. It didn’t seem real. And it felt like an extension of all these other fights we’d had over the semester. I don’t know. She was so dramatic lately. So different than she was here.”
A feeling of dread stretched over Claire’s chest, pressing against her heart. She gazed at her beautiful daughter, a creature so perfect she could hardly believe she’d once grown her in her body.
What was she saying? What was she alluding to?
“What did Gail mean about your father not caring about us? About him wanting to leave?” Claire rasped.
Abby raised her shoulders. “She never elaborated.”
Claire stumbled back to the front desk of the flower shop, where she stared at the computer screen. What she read there looked like hieroglyphics rather than English.
“I mean, I’ve been too scared to tell you.” Abby scrambled, her voice echoing between Claire’s ears. “Because it’s Dad. And I love Dad. But I just can’t wrap my mind around this. Where did she go? And does it have something to do with what she was saying that night?”
Claire pressed her elbows on the front desk and closed her eyes. That night, Russel planned to return to Martha’s Vineyard from his stint in the city. She’d already sent him photographs of the MISSING flyers, and he’d said: “Great idea. Let’s hang more when I’m back.” Were those the words of a man who had something to hide? Then again, they were just words. They meant nothing.
“Are you going to tell Dad about this?” Abby whispered. She sounded terrified.
“I don’t know. I have to think,” Claire said, surprising herself with how truthful she was. She no longer felt the inclination to lie to protect Abby.
“Is it because you think Dad had something to do with this?”
Claire closed her eyes. The earth beneath her tilted, and she swayed back and forth. From what seemed like a great distance, she heard Abby’s voice, talking to someone else. “Yeah. Can you come pick us up, Aunt Charlotte? Mom’s not feeling well.” After that, she felt hands on her elbows and shoulders. She was guided to the chair in the back, where she sat with her eyes closed and her stomach simmering. She could have thrown up but didn’t. Not long afterward, Charlotte arrived, feigning a smile. She helped Claire back outside, where snow was so thick, falling like a sheet. When Claire looked at her phone in Charlotte’s car, she had another text from Russel.
RUSSEL: I don’t think I’ll make it back tonight. The weather is too bad.
RUSSEL: I’ll try for tomorrow.
Claire breathed a sigh of relief. She wouldn’t have to deal with that problem today. She could shelve it.
Back home, Rachel and Abby went upstairs, and Claire was too exhausted to chase them down and drag them back to the living room. Charlotte poured them glasses of Cab and sat with her on the couch, staring at her intently.
“I hope you know you can tell me anything,” Charlotte said.
Claire rubbed her temples.
