“We didn’t try Evelyn’s,” Rex said to Joe.
“She isn’t there,” Stephen said.
The men didn’t ask how he knew that.
The room was starting to close in on her.
“Out of here, all of you. Please,” Maddie said. “Rex, you and Joe should go to Evelyn’s. And anywhere else you can think of in Chilmark. Rafe and I will check Lisa’s. And find out if she knows where Nancy might hide in Menemsha.” She turned to her father. “Dad? Do you mind staying here? Grandma was living here. Maybe she’ll come back.”
He hesitated, then nodded. Perhaps he’d decided to let bygones be bygones, too.
“It’s after eleven,” Rex said. “Shouldn’t we have a little something to eat and get a good night’s sleep? Then pick this up in the morning?”
Maddie glared at him. “No. We don’t need more food. For all we know, my grandmother has hopped the last boat to the mainland. The longer we wait, the trail will get colder.” She knew she sounded like one of the old black-and-white movies that her father liked streaming when he was not watching game shows.
Rafe spoke up first. “I’m hungry again, Mom. I like Rex’s idea better.”
Her father and Joe muttered and nodded.
Then her father said, “I’ll tell you what, Maddie. In the morning, I’ll stay here in case Nancy comes back. In the meantime, you can get some rest and keep your foot elevated, like you’re supposed to do. I don’t want you to have to go back to the hospital.”
Maddie didn’t often contradict his wishes. Before she had the chance to, Rex stepped up again.
“And Joe and I will go to Evelyn’s in the morning. And we’ll comb all of Chilmark. You and Rafe can go to Lisa’s and wherever else you want. Maybe if we’re less tired, we can outsmart your grandmother.”
If he was trying to make a joke, it wasn’t funny.
“If it’s any help,” Joe said, “Nancy’s only been off-island once since your mother’s funeral. And that was for cataract surgery, which she only agreed to have because she could barely see. I brought her. She was cantankerous the whole time. And I doubt she hopped a boat now, because she’d have no idea where to go.”
Maddie finally agreed. “I hate being outvoted. But okay. Please make these starving men a snack, Rex. And I’ll go to sleep.”
Rex retreated to the kitchen and pots and pans started to clatter. Twenty minutes later, he announced that eggs Benedict and asparagus with freshly made hollandaise sauce were ready. If the man hadn’t participated in this ridiculousness, she definitely might start to like him too much.
Maddie, however, could not settle down. Maybe it was her concussed brain. Or she still was in shock. She got up and meandered into the living room, listening, for another hour or so, to more useless chatter. Then Rex directed her father to take the main bedroom; he offered Joe the sofa while he tossed blankets and pillows on the living room floor for Rafe and for him.
With the men all relatively tucked in, she retreated to bed for what she hoped would be the last time that day. However, two hours later, she was still awake, trying to imagine what it would be like to see Grandma Nancy again. What if Maddie wasn’t how her grandmother had imagined? What if she was too bookish, too quiet, or not pretty enough? Would Grandma be sorry she’d gone to all this trouble only to be disappointed?
The longer Maddie brooded, the more upset she became. What was most confusing was the fire. Even if it was due to frayed wiring, it sure picked a bizarre time to spark.
Then Maddie remembered feeling as if someone had been watching her. Had it been Grandma? When Maddie was in the hospital, could her grandmother have thought Maddie had left the island? That she hadn’t wanted to stay because the cottage was too old and rundown?
And where on earth was the woman? Other than being smoke-filled, the bedrooms apparently hadn’t been damaged. Was she actually there, hiding in a closet or under one of the beds? Had she set the fire because she thought Maddie had left and she had nothing left to live for?
It seemed preposterous, but so did the whole situation.
Then an odd shudder started to rumble inside her, like when lava began to shift before a volcano erupted. She pulled the covers more closely around her and closed her eyes tightly. And in that instant, her fuzzy brain kicked into its long-awaited gear. And Maddie knew exactly where Grandma Nancy was.
She wasn’t going to wait until morning to find out if she was right.
Slowly, quietly, Maddie peeled back the quilt and swung her legs off the bed, still wearing the same clothes she’d been wearing for days, not counting the hours she’d been in a hospital johnny. She didn’t care about the wrinkles. She slipped her sandal on her left foot; then, helped by the crutches, she heaved herself upright. But as she stood by the bedroom door, she knew she could not pull this stunt off by herself, not in her compromised condition.
She considered going back to bed.
But the thought of waiting until after sunrise gave her agita. And she knew there was at least one person who’d be on her side.
* * *
As the moonlight glowed softly through the windows, Rafe stirred under his makeshift bed. Then he rolled onto his side, looked up at his mother, and rubbed his eyes. She put her finger to her mouth to stop him from speaking.
