Halley was the one who told me the Earthshine factory was haunted by the seven women who died there in the fire that nearly destroyed the building back in 1910. She said when the factory is quiet at night, you could still hear their voices. They wanted revenge.
“On who?”
“Who do you think?” she said.
“Your family?” Halley nodded. It was no secret she was the black sheep. She claimed she wasn’t atrueTuttle, and we all knew what she meant. “What do they say?” I asked.
“Boo!”
Sometimes when Halley laughed too hard, tears streamed down her face and she lost her breath, and I’d say: “Breathe! Breathe!” like I was begging for her life.
Her demeanor was serious now. She’d pulled her hair up into a bun. You could see her face better that way, the bulbs of her cheeks, herpenetrating eyes, intense even when she didn’t mean to be. “I’ve been fired.”
“You can’t be fired. Your dad is chairman of the board.”
“Tell that to Bertie.”
“What happened?”
She stood and turned toward me. Her lips parted like she was about to speak. She wore a long gray sweater and rooted through her woven purse until she found what she was looking for: an orange medicine vial. I shot her a look.
“Prescription. To settle my stomach,” she said. “Geez, what is it with everyone?”
“We just worry about you is all,” I said. I grabbed the bottle from her and checked for her name, then handed it back. “What happened this time?” Like Stella, Halley’s job had many lives, on and off like even her most serious relationships. They always hired her back. She was Bertie’s only grandchild, and Bertie staked her whole career on helping women.
Now Halley shuffled through a box of her effects on my vanity. I could tell something else was on her mind. “We need to talk,” she said. Her eyes roamed the room like they were trying to fix themselves to a stationary object.
“About that?” I asked. She handed the newspaper to me. “The lawsuit?”
“Shhh,” Halley said. I noticed then how red rimmed her eyelids were, how little rivers of veins were mapped on the whites of her eyes. She’d taken something, and not just a prescription to settle her stomach. “Not here. They’re probably listening.”
“They? Halley… You sound like1984.”
She grabbed my hand and intertwined our fingers. When we held hands in public, we often elicited looks from strangers—remember, this was still the 1980s. But Halley and I were close like this. “My dad didn’t even call me this time. I had to hear it from some smarmy executive. The one who smells like sardines. Come with me. I’m meetingmy dad at the country club. We can talk on the way. It’s important. It’s about…” She nodded toward theInquisitorstill tucked beneath her arm.
“I’ve got to get back to set,” I said. “Elliot would kill me.”
“Please. Have dinner with us. It’ll be easier with you there. He likes you better.”
“Not true,” I said.
Halley squeezed my hand. Her palms were clammy. “Come on. He attended every show of yours in college. He gave you away at your wedding,” she said. I managed to free my hand. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to bring that up. Have you talked to Wyatt lately?”
“I need to get back. I’m buried alive, you know. It takes a while.”
“Meet me there.”
“Celeste just missed saving my life.”
“Please. We can talk after. It can’t wait.”
“It’s hard on Celeste.”
“That rich bitch.”
We laughed.
“See you there,” I said, and Halley left.
