“Okay,” Claire whispers back. She puts a finger to her lips and nods conspiratorially.
They wind their way through the store, Claire creeping after Louisa like Pink Panther after the Inspector. Louisa loses her briefly to a display of children’s pajamas and has to backtrack.
“Can I get some?” Claire asks when Louisa appears next to her.
“You have a thousand pairs of pajamas, Claire.” Louisa’s heart is thumping and she can’t feel her toes—two sure signs that she’s nervous.
“I don’t have these,” says Claire. The pajamas come in a set. The shirt says,I Lobster You Very Muchwith a giant lobster forming a heart with its claws. The pants are dotted with smaller lobsters.
“Later, maybe. On our way out.”
“Promise?”
“I said maybe.”
“Please? Can you just promise?”
“Okay, yes. Fine. I promise.”
Then, between the clothing section and the grocery section, Louisa spots Kristie—she is crouching down beside a cardboard box, sliding a box cutter along the tape. There’s the flowering vine on her arm. Kristie stands, turns, registers their presence. She looks from Claire to Louisa and back again. Louisa watches the recognition cross her face.
“Hi,” says Louisa. She isso nervous! “Kristie. I’m Louisa. McLean. Fitzgerald McLean.”
“I know,” says Kristie. Here are the eyes: blue, with a dark rim around them. “I know who you are.” A long pause takes shape, giving Louisa time to study Kristie more closely. Her hair is a few shades lighter than Louisa’s; her skin is darker. Louisa envies her that. She looks like she takes a tan, although she is not tan now. Kristie is taller and curvier.
“Hi,” says Claire. She sticks out her hand the way Louisa has taught her to do when meeting an adult and says, “I’m Claire. Nice to meet you.” This makes Louisa so proud she momentarily forgets her nerves.
“Nice to meet you too, Claire,” says Kristie. They shake. “I like your boots.”
“Thank you.” Claire chews her lip and looks at Kristie. “I like your tattoos.”
“Thanks.”
Then Claire says, “Are you the love child?”
“Claire!” says Louisa sharply.
Claire says, “Okay, okay!” She holds her hands up in surrender and says, “Can I go look at the board games?”
“Yes. Just stay where you can hear me if I call for you. And don’t talk to strangers.”
After Claire goes Louisa and Kristie stare at each other. Louisa knows the responsibility to talk is on her, but her voice box feels suddenly frozen.
“How’d you know I’d be here?” Kristie asks.
“We stopped at Archer’s first, and the manager said you didn’t work there anymore. Short guy, dark hair, goatee?”
“Fernando,” says Kristie. She makes a face.
“And one of the servers said she kept in touch with you and knew you’d gotten a job here.”
“Natalie,” says Kristie. “Natalie is nice. Fernando is a prick.”
Louisa hears a kid screaming somewhere she can’t see. Over the loudspeaker she learns that someone named Curtis needs to go to checkout four. An old lady toddles by, leaning heavily on her cart, which is full of beach towels.
“Natalie says hi,” says Louisa. “And, here.” She holds out the envelope with the check to Kristie, and Kristie takes it.
“What is this?”
