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Grace didn’t look at us. She pulled her hand from Lee’s and stood up. “I’m not hungry.” She left the room, closing the door softly behind her.
Lee got up, went to the sink, and started to wash up. I watched her and waited for her to turn and look at me, but she didn’t. Her movements were jerky. Something wasn’t right.
“You’re off to work?” she said, still not looking at me.
“Not for a half hour or so. My first job canceled. I can take Grace to school.” I didn’t want Leanne driving on no sleep. “Or... Lee, I can stay home today, if that would be better.” I felt slow and stupid. Maybe I should have already made plans to stay home. I couldn’t just keep on going to work like nothing was wrong, could I?
“No. You go. With the inn closed, we’re going to need the money.”
I thought maybe Grace would fight us more on the issue of going to school, but half an hour later she showed up at the kitchen fully dressed, with her hair combed and her bag packed. By the time she’d said goodbye to Rufus and loaded her school bag into the car, it felt almost like a normal day. In the car she started grumbling about her math teacher. We didn’t see the crowd of press waiting at the end of our driveway until we was almost on top of them—a bunch of journalists and photographers, dressed in winter coats and hats, holding paper coffee cups, standing around at the end of the driveway. We saw cars parked down the road, narrowing it to a single lane. I wanted to turn around and go back to the house, but my instinct was to pretend to Grace that everything was okay. That I knew how to handle the situation.
“Keep your head down,” I said. I had to slow as I approached the end of the driveway. Camera flashes started to go off, and all the shouting kicked off. It was a mess of noise and lights and movement. I kept the car moving forward, but we could hear the shouted questions.
“How are you holding up?”
“Grace! Grace! How do you feel about Nina going missing?”
“Who’s Nina’s real father?”
Someone stood in front of the car, and I hit the brakes, but then someone started shouting Grace’s name over and over again and I put my foot back on the gas. I moved slowly enough that anyone who wanted to could get out of the way, but I didn’t stop to wait for them.
“Dad...” Grace said. Her voice sounded small and frightened. Camera flashes were still going off on either side of the car.
“Keep your head down, Gracey. Don’t look at them.”
The last of the group parted.
“It’ll be all right,” I said, and I wasn’t sure if I was trying to make her feel better or myself. “I guess the story of Nina going missing is getting a whole lot of attention right now. Try your best to ignore it.”
“Jesus, Dad.” Grace didn’t swear, as a rule, but I guess she thought that that idea was pretty stupid. She wasn’t wrong. For a long moment neither of us spoke. I was watching my rearview mirror. There was a car behind us, a black Range Rover, about fifty yards back. I was pretty sure they was following us.
“They won’t be at school, will they?” Grace said.
“Definitely not,” I said. Fuck. What if they followed us to school and piled out after Grace and started taking pictures in front of all the kids? If that happened, she would get back in the car and that would be the end of school for her. I pressed my foot to the gas. Grace shifted in her seat and said nothing. But the Range Rover stayed right with me, and when we got to the school it was just behind me. The drop-off lane was full. The rules of the lane are strict—you can pull in just long enough to drop your kid and their bags, you wave goodbye, and then you’re out of there. There’s no parking allowed, and if you make the mistake of hanging on a little too long, more than one person will lean on their horn to hurry you up. The line was moving slowly. There was no way I could join it. We’d be sitting ducks. I drove straight past.
“Dad?”
“It’s all right, Gracey.”
I drove all the way to the top of the lane and then past it. I drove through the gate and right up to the small parking lot that was near the administration building.
“Dad, you can’t. This is for teachers.” Grace shrank down in her seat as if she was afraid that someone would see her. I reversed quickly into a space.
“I think today we get a free pass, don’t you?”
She shook her head, mutely.
“Well, we’re here now, and the sooner you get out of here and go to class, the smaller the chance that someone will see you and start asking questions.”
That got her out of the car. She took her bag and lunch money, gave me a quick, one-armed hug and a muttered “I love you,” and she disappeared. I went straight to the administration building, asked to see the principal, and waited for twenty minutes before she appeared, looking frazzled, irritated, and vaguely sympathetic, all at once.
“Mr. Fraser. Hello. I’m so glad you came to find me. Come in. Please come in.”
I followed her into her office. Cally Gabriel had been principal when Nina had been at the school. I’d had very little reason to ever speak to her. Nina wasn’t the kind of kid who won prizes at the end of the year. She’d never captained a team or come first in a race. She’d also never gotten in any fights, sent any bullying emails, vaped behind the bike shed, or cheated on any assignments. She was a good kid who flew beneath the radar.
“I was so very sorry to hear about Nina,” Cally said. She crossed to stand behind her desk and indicated with her hand that I should take a seat in front of it. I sat, and then she hovered for a moment, which made me feel on edge. “Of course, all of us here have such fond memories of Nina’s time with us. I’m praying to the good Lord that she’ll be returned to you any day now.”
“Yes,” I said. “Thank you.” I don’t believe, myself. My mother brought me to church and all that, but it just didn’t stick. I don’t mind religion. I’ve known some good people who put God at the center of their lives, and that’s fine. But when people shout about their prayers it makes me wary. Probably because the people I’ve known who talk most about God have always been the people with the least humanity.
