There were no bad men. It was just her and Cam and the endless ocean, and everything was whole and good and safe.
“What’s in the picnic bag?” she asked.
“Lots of good stuff,” Cam answered. “Some of Market Basket’s finest, if you want to know the truth.” (Market Basketdidhave an excellent cheese selection.) “But I don’t care so much about the picnic anymore,” he added. His voice was husky. He was backlit by the setting sun.
She sat down on the blanket, and then she thought better of it and lay all the way down. Cam sat beside her and rested one of his hands on her stomach.
“Neither do I,” she whispered. “In fact, I don’t even know what Market Basket bag you’re talking about.”
And then he was kissing her, and kissing her, and kissing her.
63.
Sherri
Rebecca mentioned Brooke’s end-of-summer party casually. They had iced coffees from Soufflés and they were walking on the boardwalk after dropping the girls at nature camp. They would be sleeping overnight in Maudslay, and be collected at two the following day. Sherri had major reservations about letting Katie sleep outside in the woods—how easy it would be for someone to grab her from a tent!—but Katie had begged and begged and begged.
The day was sumptuous, the air plump and ripe, the river glistening as though it had just been hand-scrubbed. The marina was chock-full; there were boats from Key West and Camden, Maine; from Charleston, South Carolina; from South Padre Island. There was a long line outside the bathrooms at the harbormaster’s hut, and happy, tail-wagging dogs coming off the rail trail.
Rebecca was talking about what she was going to wear. She’d worn her favorite off-the-shoulder dress two years ago to the same party and she couldn’t wear that again. She wished she could borrow from Alexa but Alexa was so tiny. She stopped and leaned against the railing, resting her iced coffee cup on the flat surface of a post.
“This feels awkward,” said Sherri finally. “But I don’t know anything about this party.” She fixed her gaze on the far side ofthe river, where she could see the big waterfront houses on Ring’s Island.
“Wait,what?” Rebecca said, turning to her. “Are you kidding me? I just assumed—I’m so sorry. I thought she had invited you. She should have invited you! Are you sure she didn’t? It was an actual paper invitation, not Paperless Post or Evite. Are you sure you didn’t just toss it out with the junk mail?”
Sherri was sure. They didn’t get much mail yet: she would have noticed an invitation. “Don’t give it a second thought,” she said. She was cringing from embarrassment for herself, but also for her friend. “I promise, Rebecca, I don’t care at all. I don’t even go to parties!” (In reality she cared a lot. She felt the sting strongly. If Sherri was out, was Katie out too? This now made at least three exclusions between the two of them. What about the lunch table? The lockers? They couldn’t start over again, anywhere else. Theyhadto make it work here.)
“How dare she!” Rebecca’s face was tight with righteous indignation. “I mean. You’ve been to Brooke’s house. You were at Esther’s birthday dinner, back in the beginning of the summer! You were on the pontoon!”
“I was only on the pontoon as your plus one,” Sherri reminded her.
“But you live here now, and Katie is friends with all their daughters. This is just so stupid. I swear, sometimes I just don’t understand these people.”
“Really, I promise, it doesn’t matter. I don’t care about that kind of stuff. I don’t have anything to wear to a party anyway.”
Rebecca was leaning on the railing of the boardwalk, thinking. Sherri watched as a little white terrier licked at a forgotten piece of ice cream cone. “You know what, though?” Rebecca said, suddenly and conspiratorially. “You should come anyway. That’ll show them. They’re far too polite to say anything if you just show up!”
“Oh, I could never do that,” said Sherri. “I’d feel so awkward.” She made a face to demonstrate the awkwardness she’d feel, showing up uninvited. Desperate.
“Well, in case you change your mind,” said Rebecca, winking like an emoji. “You’ve been to Brooke’s house, so you know where it is. And it starts at seven. Honestly, there’ll be so many people there that I doubt anyone’s checking the guest list. And they’ll all be wasted by seven forty-five anyway. This party is insane. Legendary. You should come just to see the scene, if for no other reason.”
“By seven o’clock I’ll be in my pajamas, watching Netflix,” said Sherri. “You can bank on that. I heardRussian Dollis good. Have you seen it?”
Rebecca hadn’t.
But even as Sherri asked the question, something was licking up at her: a little flame of her former self. She wasn’t going to stay home and watchRussian Doll. No way. Not this time. She’d had enough.
64.
The Squad
Gina to Tammy:Who is Rebecca bringing?
Tammy to Gina:Sherri? She brought her on the boat.
Gina to Tammy:Isn’t Sherri invited already?
Tammy to Gina:??
