I stare at her, shocked by the revelation. I also note the emphasis she put on USC. What could she mean by that?
“So...?”
“Let’s just bide our time for the moment, shall we?” She scoots her stool back so that it makes a scraping sound on the wooden floor. “Now, why don’t we go see some magic?”
Claire and I watch with the others. Thank god for the show. Because other than Henry’s instructions and the “oohs” and “aahs” from the crowd when he completes each trick, no one is saying a word.
“Okay, Hen, let’s save a few for the rest of the week,” Gabe tells him eventually.
The performer takes his leave, accepting a final round of applause, before Gabe ushers him upstairs, with me tagging along.
After tucking Henry into bed, we return downstairs, bid the others good night, and set off on the path to the cottage. It’s wet and shiny from the rain and glows here and there where the toadstool-shaped fixtures along the way reflect light onto the flagstone.
“You going to bed?” Gabe asks once we’re inside the cottage.
“Yeah, guess so,” I say and start to head up the stairs. “I’m pretty tired.”
I’m still rattled, too, not only from the engagement drama, but also from what Keira revealed about the loan. I want to ask Gabe about it, but that’s a discussion best tabled until the morning.
“Me, too,” he says, following me up.
After quickly stripping off his clothes, he slides into bed and looks up at me. “You ended up speaking to my mom, I noticed. Did she say anything of note?”
Because of my promise to butt out, I’m hardly going to tell him we talked about Hannah, and besides, Claire said it was “between us.”
“No, nothing in particular,” I say, slipping into bed next to him. “But like I said earlier, she didn’t look thrilled.”
“Well, you know my mom. There’s nothing she can’t handle.”
Based on how annoyed Gabe seemed earlier, I’m surprised when he moves closer and snuggles up to me. Within a couple of minutes, I hear his breathing deepen.
I try to will myself to sleep, but my mind refuses to quiet. It would have been wrong to betray his mother’s confidence,and yet I’m uncomfortable hiding something from Gabe. But given how unwilling he is to accept the truth about Hannah and consider the impact she’s going to have on Nick, I’m not sure I’d get through to him anyway.
I keep circling back to my conversation with Claire. She claimed to have Hannah’s number, but what does that mean exactly? Has she discovered more about Hannah than I already know myself?Our littleUSCgraduate, she’d said. Could she mean that Hannah lied about going there?
Finally, too exhausted to ruminate any further, I drift off to sleep. But then I’m awake again, stirring as I feel Gabe slipping back into bed.
“Everything okay?” I mumble.
“Yeah, I was just getting some water.”
I’m thirsty, too, I realize, and head down to the kitchen a minute later, where the clock tells me it’s 1:30A.M.As I’m filling a glass with ice water, I jerk in surprise at a movement I hear on the other side of the front door.
I tiptoe into the sitting room and stare at the wooden door. Someone or something is clearly out there, scuffing the ground. It could be deer, or a raccoon. Or the darncoywolf.
And then a different sound, a light but frantic rapping on the door.
Holding my breath, I inch toward it.
“Who’s there?” I call out.
Silence.
“Who’sthere?” I repeat, but this time louder.
“Daddy,” a voice calls, almost a wail. “Daddy, please let me in. Pleeeease.”
I fling open the door, and there, standing in the dark,is Henry in his Spider-Man pajamas, his face streaked with tears.
