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She can only shake her head tightly, her eyes now trained on Danny, who finds his voice first. He flings Meg a look that conveys both disbelief and despair, and most likely masks much more. It usually does. “No, not the kids.”
“We know their father,” Meg supplies, barely able to speak through the rising dismay threatening to drown her.
“Knew him,” Danny corrects swiftly, while Meg’s throat constricts still further.
Now she’s the one unable to meethisgaze, but when he reaches for her hand, she squeezes, wondering when exactly this morning of protocol shifted out of their control with such devastating thoroughness.
6
MEG
Eleven months prior to Howard search
September 2002
Feather River
One day, it had just been Meg and Danny embarking on their senior year as Feather River High School’s longest-standing couple, and the next, in a torrent of energy and whirlwind charisma that left her dizzy, it was three.
Meg had clocked the new guy on campus twice already—once in the school office, picking up a schedule, and once in calculus, where he’d been seated next to her—and had dismissed his interference in her life in any way. His looks and novelty alone placed his social trajectory eons above her own ordinary orbit. And then she’d exited third period to witness the impossible: serious, studious Danny—herDanny—shouting with unrestrained glee over the din of locker doors crashing shut.
“SilasMatheson? No freaking way!”
She watched as he pushed his way through the rush-hour hallway traffic to lock in to an exuberant embrace with the grinning, entirely overconfident, probably completely self-absorbed new guy. This Silas.
And Silas hugged him back. Actually lifted Danny up off the ground in his enthusiasm, the two of them tumbling into people trying to get to class like exuberant puppies. “What’s up, Boy Scout?” Silas laughed.
Boy Scout?Was that a dig at Danny? Because he was already almost an Eagle Scout. But Danny just said, “It’s beenages. How come I didn’t know you’d be coming to school here?”
Ages?
“’Cause I didn’t know myself, not until last week anyway,” Silas supplied. By this time, Meg had somehow migrated toward them without realizing it, and he stuck his hand out. “Hey. I’m Silas.”
“Megan Tanner,” Meg said cautiously, taking the proffered hand, while Danny said simultaneously, “Meg is my girlfriend.”
Silas gripped her hand with enthusiasm. “Your boy and I go way back.”
Danny jumped in as more people started to gather around, interested to know how Meg and Danny, of all people, knew the cool new kid. Hoping, probably, to be introduced next. “Silas used to spend his summers here,” he said to the hallway at large, “living up on Marble Lake Road with his aunt and uncle. You staying with them again now?”
“Yep.” Silas grinned. “Talked my folks into letting me finish out high school here, instead of dragging me along on yet another mission to save the planet.” For the benefit of everyone else, he explained, “My parents are environmental activists, which is cool and all, until you don’t want to spend your senior year homeschooling on the sidelines of a damming-project protest.”
“Totally,” someone sympathized, and Meg turned to see what amounted to the entire cheer squad behind her, Stephanie Adams and Jessica Howard leading the pack, assuming, just as Meg had, that their social status as most popular in the class gave them priority access.
“How do you know Danny?” Jessica asked.
“Well, he saved my life,” Silas deadpanned, only breaking into a grin when the tension had drawn taut enough for Danny to flush in protest.
“Hardly.” All eyes turned to him, Meg’s most certainly included, so he continued. “I was up at Marble Lake Lodge—”
“For a Boy Scout thing,” Silas said.
“Cub Scouts,” Danny corrected. “It was forever ago. We were, like, ten or something. And Mr.Albright—”
“My uncle Les—”
“Was leading us on a wilderness-badge project, teaching us how to read animal tracks by Marble Lake. Silas tagged along. Mr.Albright was explaining how you can identify different animals, and even know if they were feeding, or nesting, or ...” He trailed off, sensing that he was losing his audience.
“It was totally boring,” Silas interjected, earning a laugh from the cheerleaders, “but then I had an idea.” All eyes turned back to him, except for Meg’s. She was still looking at her boyfriend, whom she’d known since kindergarten. And whom she’d never known to grandstand, or even remain in proximity with anyone who did.
