“Whywouldn’tthey? Because people in this house keep secrets.”
My stomach knots uncomfortably. “What secrets?”
“Ash and Jillian, for instance. Who knows what was going on there?”
“What else?”
She looks off, pressing her lips together.
“Nothing,” she says finally.
“Keira, look, I know things are really tough. But we need to do our best to get through it. Why don’t you tell me what you need me to do for dinner?”
Before she can, my phone rings from inside the pocket of my capris. Fishing it out, I see to my surprise that Amanda’s name is on the screen, but when I answer, it’s Henry who is on the other end.
“Hey, Hen,” I say. “Everything okay?”
“I tried Dad, but he didn’t pick up.”
“Oh, you know, he’s out for a drive with Grandpa now, and they’re probably on that part of the road where the cell service is bad.”
“Okay. Dad’s not sick, is he?”
“No, no, he’s fine.” As I answer, I realize this isn’t the first time Henry’s sounded worried about us getting sick—and it seems like something might be going on in his little mind. I cross the kitchen, push open the swinging door, and step into the dining room. “Hen, why do you keep asking if we’re sick? Does it have to do with Gee?”
I take his silence as a yes.
“Honey, Gee had a heart attack, which can happen to older people when their hearts aren’t as strong. It’s not something you have to worry about with Dad and me.”
“But did getting sick make Gee’s heart less strong?”
“What do you mean, Hen?”
“You know, getting sick, throwing up.”
Unease ripples through me.
“Why do you think Gee was throwing up?”
“She told me she was. She told me that day.”
26
In my mind, I hear a sudden echo of the question Henry asked when I first told him that his grandmother was ill.Is she throwing up?he’d said. I should have asked what he meant.
“That’s actually very helpful to know, honey,” I say. “Where did you see Gee that day—in the kitchen?”
“Um, no. She was in the office.”
“The office?”
“Grandpa’s office. Where his desk is.”
“Oh, right,” I say, realizing he means the study. “What was Gee doing in there, do you know?”
“Sitting. And looking at a book.”
“And she said she’d been sick?”
