Page 41 of Bluebell Tides

Ruth shifted to look at her weary daughter, who had big bags under her eyes. “I had help,” she said. “Dina and Kelly and Reese.”

“They told me they didn’t help as much as you give them credit for,” Sloane said.

Ruth laughed and shook her head. “I couldn’t have done it without them.”

Sloane sipped her tea, her eyes on her son. “I keep thinking about Jimmy. Like, should I tell him Kellen’s here?”

“It’s up to you,” Ruth said.

“You didn’t tell my father when I was born, I guess.”

“No. I didn’t.” Ruth swallowed the lump in her throat. “But I didn’t want him to be in our lives.”

Sloane nodded. “I talked to him a bit. When I was in Bluebell, I could tell he didn’t know what to say to me, so he just started to brag about anything he could think of. About his job. About his wife, CeeCee. About his other children. It turned me off.”

Ruth laughed. “He wasn’t like that as much, not when we were younger. I imagine living in Bluebell Cove, surrounded by the people in his family, did something to him.”

“I think he wanted me to tell you how well he’s done without you,” Sloane said.

Ruth remembered how, when Quentin had learned she was pregnant, he’d come to the door and begged her to be with him. But he’d been out of his mind. Maybe he still was.

“It all worked out the way it was supposed to,” she said gently.

Because they had one another. Ruth and Sloane and baby Kellen. What else could they possibly need?

That first year was tough but manageable. Ruth and Sloane took every opportunity to celebrate, throwing mini-parties with Dina and her family whenever anything of note happened. When Kellen took his first steps, they popped champagne. When Kellen finally slept through the night a few days in a row, allowing them more space and time to think, they cooked an elaborate Thai dish. When Sloane finally went back to university, attending Columbia—a full year after Kellen was born—they threw a bigger party, inviting many of Sloane’s high school friends.

At the party, Ruth and Dina sat on the sofa, plates of cake balanced on their thighs. They watched as Sloane laughed and joked with a guy friend, a guy Ruth had always secretly hoped would become Sloane’s boyfriend one day. Now, Ruth understood that she couldn’t hope for anything in her daughter’s life. All she could hope for was that her daughter loved and loved well.

“He’s cute,” Dina said under her breath.

“She has plenty of time,” Ruth said.

“And what about you?” Dina asked.

“When are you going to stop asking me about my love life?” Ruth laughed.

Dina rolled her eyes. “I’ll stop asking when you finally take a chance. Put yourself out there. There are so many dating apps these days. There are so many ways to meet people.”

“I have enough people,” Ruth said.

Dina gave her a look that meant, give me a break.

That first year back in school was rocky. Sloane spent long hours at the library, trying to make up for lost time, while Ruth stayed at home with Kellen. Eventually, they got Kellen a good spot at a daycare near their apartment, which gave both Ruth and Sloane more time for their university studies and writing projects. Ruth took fewer travel writing jobs, if only to keep things stable at home. “This is a season of our lives,” she told Dina over the phone when Dina suggested that Ruth was putting her career aside too much for her family. “We’ll get through it, just like we’ve gotten through everything else.”

And then, everything changed.

It was October, three weeks after Kellen’s second birthday. Daycare was closed because too many kids had various illnesses, and all the staff was out sick. Ruth was at home, watching Kellen and making notes for her upcoming article. Kellen played with blocks on the floor. Out the window, Ruth could see the treetops of Manhattan, lined with red. Sloane was supposed to be coming home soon. She’d said that she’d pick up Mexican food.

But seven turned to eight, and Sloane was still not home. This wasn’t like her. Ruth texted her, trying to find her. When she finally called Sloane to see what was going on, a voice she didn’t recognize answered. “Hello? Who am I speaking with?” the male voice asked.

Ruth bristled. For reasons that would never be clear, she immediately thought the voice belonged to one of the Caldwecks. She assumed that one of them had whisked into their Manhattan lives and taken Sloane away again. How had they gotten to her? How did their manipulation run so deep?

But of course, the voice did not actually belong to a Caldweck.

The voice belonged to a nurse at the very hospital where Kellen had been born.

During the hazy hours, weeks, and months after that fateful day, Ruth tried to make sense of a world that would do this to her. She tried to understand.