Since She Went Away(52)
“Will you walk Ian out, honey?” Jenna asked.
“Sure.”
She watched them disappear toward the front of the house. And when they were out of sight she had no choice but to throw back the rest of the wine.
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
Jared closed the door. On Ursula’s dad.
Ursula’s dad just walked out the door of their house. Right after Jared had seen Ursula in the park.
And had he really seen what he thought he saw in the kitchen? When he came through the entryway after calling out for his mom, it looked as though the two of them had been holding hands or something. Holding hands? His mom and Ursula’s dad?
Jared walked slowly to the kitchen, trying to process all of it.
And he tried to process what he’d learned at Tabitha’s house. If Tabitha wasn’t in the house, and it didn’t look as though anybody else was, where had they gone? Were they gone for good?
He smelled the pizza as he approached the kitchen. When he walked out there again, his mom was staring into space, the glass of wine in her hand empty. She must have drained it while he walked Ian to the door.
“Mom?”
“Are you hungry?” she asked. “There’s plenty.”
“I’m sorry about running out before. I just had to know what was going on.”
“Running out? Oh, yeah. You really shouldn’t do that, but I understand.”
She still looked as if her mind was somewhere else, which only added to his belief that something more was going on with Ian than met the eye. But he wasn’t sure he could ask her about it.
Jared went to the refrigerator and grabbed a can of Coke. Then he sat at the table, pulling on the metal tab, hearing the liquid pfft as it opened. He grabbed for the pizza and took a bite, his hunger surprising him. He’d spent the whole week worrying about Tabitha, and when he worried that way, which was rare, he didn’t like to eat. Maybe it was the Stanley’s, but Jared’s appetite roared back as he sat at the table across from his mom.
While he chewed, she rose and poured herself more wine.
“Do you want to hear what I found out? About Tabitha?”
“Sure,” she said. “Did you talk to her?”
“The house was dark, and no one answered. The neighbor told me he hadn’t seen them, but that maybe her dad got in an argument with some guy in a suit earlier. Bizarre, isn’t it?”
His mom stood with the bottle of wine still in her hand. “What’s her dad like? You’ve met him, haven’t you?”
“Briefly. I guess.”
She put the cork back in the wine. “You guess?”
“I mean I’ve seen him. I don’t really know him.”
“And nothing about her mom?”
“She doesn’t talk about her. Never. And I don’t push. I figure someday I’ll get the story.”
His mom closed the refrigerator again and came back to the table with her wine. She seemed more focused on him, whatever fog she’d been swimming in when he first came home having lifted.
“This is all strange. I think maybe you need to stay away from that house for now,” she said. “You don’t know what’s going on. And if she asked for space, you need to give it to her. You don’t want to come across like a weird, desperate guy.”
Her words stung. A weird, desperate guy.
“Jesus, Mom. Thanks.”
“I’m not trying to put you down,” she said. “You’re young. It’s your first love. It’s easy to let your emotions get the best of you.”
Her words sank in while he chewed another piece. She seemed to be speaking from hard-won experience. And he knew on some level she was right. He’d been dating Tabitha for what? Three weeks or so? And what did he think was going to happen? They would stay together and get married? Have kids and grow old? But it wasn’t just about the relationship. He sensed something wrong, not with Tabitha but with her life. And she might be in danger or distress. Could he just stand by while who knew what happened to her?
“I think there’s something I need to tell you.” He swallowed. “I ran into Ursula in the park tonight. That’s why it was kind of weird that her dad was here when I got back.”
“What about running into Ursula?” she asked.
“Her friends started mouthing off about you. How you were the cause of what happened to Celia.”
“Have they done that before?” she asked.
“It happens from time to time. Just stuff they say in the halls at school when I pass by.”
“Are you serious? Do you want me to call the school and ask them to stop it?”
“Mom, easy. I can handle it.”
“It sounds like bullying to me.”
“Not everything is bullying, Mom. Well, I guess when Ursula tried to pummel that girl back in November, that was kind of bullying.”
“Her mother had just disappeared.”
“Sure, Mom, I get it. Well, here’s the thing, and you’re not going to like it,” Jared said. “They started mouthing off, and I got mad. So I told them the truth. I told them that I was the one who made you late that night. And why.”
For a moment, his mom remained calm, and Jared thought—hoped—it would be one of the many times she took bad news in stride, let it roll off her back like nothing. He hoped the wine would make a difference as well. Maybe the wine combined with the end of a long week would keep her mellow.