IWAKE TO THE SOUND OF RAIN, LIGHT BUT RESOLUTE, LIKE IT’Sdetermined to last the whole day. Throwing off the top sheet, I realize I’d been having a dream about Jamie’s rescue dog. I sink back down on the mattress and squeeze my eyes shut, trying to summon it once more. The dog didn’t really look like Maverick, but I was sure in the dream that it was him standing in my kitchen in New York, watching me intently with mournful eyes and his head cocked to the side. It seemed as if there was something he wanted to communicate, but I didn’t have a clue what it was.
By the time I finish breakfast, it’s only eight o’clock, and I still have a little time to kill before heading to the garden center. I decide to call Ava. She’s an early riser and probably won’t mind, and I want to ask her about Percy. We’ve been texting over the last day or so, but this will be the first time we’ve spoken since the lunch at her house that ended so awkwardly.
“Kiki, hi,” she says warmly after picking up. “I was planning to callyouthis morning, just to check in. How are you?”
“Getting by,” I say. “There are times when I’m busy working and I’ll forget what’s happened and then it hits me like a sledgehammer.”
“Oh, Kiki, I’m so sorry.”
“How about you?”
“I’ve experienced the same weird disconnect you’ve had atmoments, but I’m trying to engage with life again, working on the library fundraiser, assisting Vic with his book launch.... Speaking of Vic, I keep coming back to what he said at lunch the other day. I hope you can forgive him for speaking to you that way.”
“Of course,” I say. Though that doesn’t change how much his comment stung.
“He’s just been thrown so badly by Jamie’s death and that it happened here—and keeps asking himself if he could have said or done something to prevent it.”
So she and Vic have obviously accepted the suicide theory.
“Has he been able to keep up the promotion for his new book?”
“He’s been giving it his best shot—recording podcasts and preparing for a talk tomorrow night at the Harvard Book Store. Dan, his agent—who you remember from the party—is coming for moral support. He’ll spend the night here, and then the three of us will drive to Boston right after breakfast.”
“I’m glad you have someone going with you.”
“Me too, and the change of scenery should do us both good.”
I take a moment to choose my words.
“Ava, I know Vic doesn’t want to dwell on what happened to Jamie, but I hope you won’t mind if I ask you one more question for my peace of mind. What do you know about Percy West, the woman who was at the party? I hear Jamie disinvited her, but she showed up anyway.”
“Yes, that’s all true. Jamie was embarrassed and worried that it might be awkward for me, but other than pouting the whole night, she didn’t cause any problems.”
Other than possibly killing Jamie.
“Do you know anything about her?”
“Only that he hadn’t known her very long. Kiki, I hope you’re notletting this woman get under your skin. She obviously meant nothing to Jamie.”
She clearly hasn’t suspected why I’m probing, and this isn’t the moment to explain.
“Don’t worry, I’m not. I’ve just found it helpful to piece together Jamie’s last few days,” I tell her, then change the subject. “Will you have any time for us to get together once you’re back from Boston?”
“You’ll be here still?”
“Yes, for at least a few more days.”
“Oh,” she says, sounding surprised.
“Being out of the city has been good for me, and though it might seem odd, staying in an area Jamie loved so much has been helpful, too.”
“You need to do what’s best for you. But... there’s something I should tell you.”
My heart skitters. “Okay.”
I hear the faint squeak of a chair, and she asks me to hold while she closes her office door. Obviously so there’s no chance of being overheard.
“It’s about Drew and Heather,” she says after a few seconds. “According to Vic, they found out that you were in the area, and they expressed some confusion—or maybe the right word isdiscomfort.”
