“No deal.” I glanced at Noah, who turned his palms face up. “She lived here. I’m trying to find out more about her past.”
Her eyes narrowed. “While you justhappento be here on Nantucket, and you justhappenedto get a catering gig here?”
“Yes?”
“You’re awful at lying,” Noah murmured to me.
“Wow,” Shira said. “Devious. And here I thought you were just another summer girl.”
I raised my brows at Noah. “Just another summer girl?”
Shira looked at her cousin, too. “But what I want to know is, why is Grandma mad and Grandpa freaked?”
Apparently her question was less alarming, since Noah answered it. “Grandpa and Abigail’s grandma had an affair.”
“It wasn’t anaffair,” I said. “He wasn’t married to your grandmother yet.”
“They were engaged.”
“They were dating.”
“Seriously?” Shira’s head swiveled back and forth. “What, like sixty years ago?”
“Yeah,” Noah and I said.
“Yet Grandma’s still salty.” Shira tilted her head. “I’m impressed by her tenacity.”
“Probably because it surpasses even yours.” Noah met my gaze, his own filled with determination. “If Grandma knows everything, there’s no point trying to keep you hidden. So what the hell. Let’s talk to my grandfather.”
I stared at him, surprised and a little alarmed by the reckless glint in his eyes. This didn’t seem like him, given how he spent so muchtime trying to keep his family patched together. “Are you sure now’s the right time?”
“Why not?” He stood upright, decisive and driven, and strode out of the room.
Startled, Shira and I looked at each other. Then I ran after Noah, grabbing his arm before he reached the stairs. My heart pounded. “Noah. Maybe we should think this through. Slow down a bit.”
“Why? I’vebeenslowing things down—I’ve kept you from talking to my grandparents—and for what? I thought I was protecting the family, keeping any waves from being made—protecting my grandmother,keeping her from getting hurt. But she knows, so what’s the point? And I’m sick of trying to keep anything even-keeled and smoothed over.” He sounded furious. “I’ve been doing it long enough. So let’s get answers.”
“Right. Only—this seems a little confrontational?”
“Well, I’m feeling confrontational.” He gave me his full attention, a muscle in his jaw pulsing. “My grandmother has dealt with my grandfather’s shit for decades. He’s been difficult and distant and put the company first every time. Why’d she put up with it? I thought they were in love. I thought it was because you commit to family. But what, he didn’t even love her? He loved someone else he didn’t bother to stay with? He cheated on my grandma for years, and wouldn’t even have stopped if your grandmother didn’t decide to. What the fuck.”
I stared at him, heart in my throat.He was angry on his grandmother’s behalf. I hadn’t realizedhowangry beforehand. And now, since he knewsheknew, he didn’t have to be quiet. He could yell at his grandfather. Noah believed in promises and commitment, and his grandfather hadn’t followed through on his vows. “Noah, I get it. I do. But let’s wait until everyone’s in a better mood—”
“I’m sick of waiting, sick of behaving. You want answers. So do I. Let’s get them.”
It was difficult to stop a boulder rolling down a hill. So we went. We went down the stairs, past the paintings, past the abandoned dining room. The house had eaten the adults.
Noah pushed open the door of his grandfather’s study, the same study we’d met in, only now Edward Barbanel sat behind the desk. The velvet curtains around the window alcove had been opened, and warm moonlight spilled into the room. The elderly man leaned back in his leather chair, eyes closed, but they opened when we entered.
“Grandpa.” Noah strode right up to the desk. “Did you date Ruth Goldman?”
Edward looked right at me, face blank. “She lived with us for a time.”
“We have the letters.”
Edward’s brows rose. “Letters?”
“Letters you wrote her.”
