Harper hugged both of them, lingering a bit longer than she normally would. She got in her car and headed toward Charleston, her taillights disappearing down the dark road.
Claire drove Nina to Edisto. The road was empty and dark, the marshes invisible on either side.
Nina was quiet in the passenger seat, but it was a different kind of quiet than Claire had gotten used to over the last year or so. It was the quiet of somebody who was thinking about what had just happened, not what they had lost.
“Claire?”
“Yeah?”
“Thank you for driving to Edisto to get me. You didn’t have to do that. I know it’s way out of your way.”
“It’s not out of the way.”
“It’s forty-five minutes out of the way.”
“Nina.”
“Yeah?”
“It’s never out of the way.”
Nina didn’t say anything else because she didn’t need to.
Claire dropped her off at the cottage on Edisto and watched her walk up the porch steps. Lucia’s bedroom light was on, and Nina waved once from the door. Then Claire drove home.
It was almost one in the morning when she pulled into the driveway in Beaufort.
The house was dark.
Greg was asleep.
She walked inside as quietly as she could, hung up her keys, and stood in the kitchen staring at the napkin on the fridge.
Three signatures.
Three rules.
Month one.
Done.
Her phone buzzed. It was a text from Harper.
For the record, I was incredible up there.
Then Nina responded.
You pointed at a stranger and winked. It was so cringey, as my daughter would say.
Harper:
I was commanding the room. It’s called leadership skills.
Claire:
Good night, you two.
Harper:
