He said nothing for a long moment.
And then, finally, just, “I love you, Nicole.”
When all else failed, there was always this last mantra in the box. Even if he meant it.
“I love you too, Dad.” Then she hung up.
Nic went back to the bed, under the covers. Her father’s words lying right there beside her.
She unlocked her phone again and sent a reply to Evan.
I’m fine. Don’t be worried.
Where r u?
At the Inn.
And then, something strange.
The one with the fence?
What fence?
Nic got up and walked back to the window. She couldn’t see a fence.
Dad said he saw it when he was out searching for Mom. He said it was creepy. He said they had to stop when they got to it. IDK.
Nic stared at the woods. They went on forever.
U ok?
I guess.
She wondered then what he really thought about their mother. Was it easier for him to believe she’d left them? Was he relieved that she was gone? They had never talked about it. They texted, mostly, about everyday things. Nic asked him about football. She’dpromised to make it to watch the playoffs, though being there without their mother was an emotional hurdle she wasn’t sure she could clear.
Dad wants me to come home.
The reply came quickly, and without a hint of the banter that was normally part of their conversation.
No. You have to find her.
And there was the answer to her question. She wasn’t alone.
She replied,Promise.
7
Day two
Istand with Alice by the window in the living room. She doesn’t understand why I’ve run to watch the man drive away.
Drive away with my purse inside.
The truck kicks up dirt from the driveway. It’s dented in the back. A taillight is broken.
“Do you know what happened to his truck?” Alice asks me.
I don’t care about the truck. I am thinking about my purse, and now the fence—the one that attaches to the gate at the end of the driveway. The gate that is chained shut. The fence with the coils of barbed wire.
