A Good Marriage(112)
Amanda looked around for Zach, but he’d already slipped out of sight into the throng of couples—tall and short, fat and thin, fashionable, unfashionable, beautiful, ordinary. One nearby twosome exchanged some sharp barbs, but then in an instant seemed to smile and forgive. Soon they were laughing, faces close, a hand on a waist, fingers linked, hips touching. Messy and imperfect, yes, but connected.
Zach was wrong. Human connections were a good thing. They were the only thing that mattered.
Amanda deserved that, didn’t she? A real connection. Love. Zach had rescued her, yes. But she’d made for him a life the past eleven years; she’d given him a son. Her debt had been repaid.
There was really only one solution now—Amanda needed to leave Zach. She’d known that for some time, if she was being honest. She couldn’t even tell him about her dad. How could she protect herself? How could she protect her son? Not only wouldn’t their marriage keep her afloat, she was pretty sure it was the thing that would eventually drag her under.
“Excuse me,” somebody behind Amanda said.
She shifted out of the living room entryway so more newcomers could tumble in and spotted Maude making sangria at the marble island in their glamourous open kitchen. She was smiling, enjoying the party. Or so it seemed. Once Amanda was closer, though, she saw Maude’s lips tremble.
Maude’s face brightened a little when she saw Amanda. But her skin was noticeably clammy when she kissed Amanda on the cheek. “So glad you’re here,” she said mechanically.
“Zach is, too,” Amanda quipped, ashamed that, despite everything, she felt the need to point out this small, sad victory. “I don’t know where he went, but we came in together.”
“Oh.” Maude smiled distractedly. “Great.”
“Yes, it’s a big night,” Amanda said, surprised by the depth of her own hostility. She could hardly contain it anymore. “Zach even deigned to tell me what he does all day.”
“What’s that?” Maude asked. She was focused on cutting up huge hunks of fruit, but with the wrong type of knife so that it was ending up unappetizingly mashed. Amanda wondered if she should offer to take over before Maude cut her own fingers off.
“Something about people and their connections and him being ahead of everyone. Related to logistics, I’m assuming. It doesn’t matter,” Amanda said, realizing now that Zach really hadn’t told her much of anything. “Is Sarah here?”
“Yes, she was just updating me on the school email investigation.” Maude pressed her lips tight as her eyes flooded with tears. She squeezed them shut. “I’m sorry,” she said, wiping at her face. “I, um, I just spoke with Sophia a few minutes ago. I’m trying to hold it together here, but it’s not exactly easy.”
“You spoke with her tonight?” Amanda asked, looking around at the chaos. “In the middle of all this?”
“I know, right?” Maude nodded with grim exasperation. “But they only just got back from their camping trip and into cell phone range thirty minutes ago.”
“Are you—Is she okay?”
“No. She’s not.” Maude’s face was stiff as she sawed at another orange. “It was worse than she … Whoever was threatening to post those pictures if we didn’t pay them also blackmailed Sophia directly. They said they’d post them if she didn’t do more sexual things, live on camera for them. And once she did one thing …” Maude shuddered in disgust.
“Oh, poor Sophia,” Amanda said.
Maude glared off into the distance, the knife gripped in her hand. “She told me she snuck away from the group while they were off on this camping trip and walked out into the ocean. Wanted to keep on walking forever, that’s what she said. She woke up on the beach a couple hours later, by some grace of—” Maude’s voice choked out.
Amanda reached out for Maude, pulling her tight. Amanda didn’t even have time to consider what a person should do in that situation. She was already doing it. Because she was a person and a mother and a friend.
“She’ll be okay,” Amanda said into Maude’s thick curls. Her friend felt so fragile in her arms. “She has parents who love her, no matter what.”
Maude shook her head as the two separated. “The camp has a staff member flying home with her. It was faster than us going down there. And so, right now, my daughter is out there, broken apart. And here I am, at a party in my home with a bunch of drunk people having sex upstairs. Fantastic.”
“Do you want me to help get rid of everyone?” Amanda asked, guiding Maude’s hand down until the knife was safely resting on the counter. “We could tell them you’re sick or something.”
“It’s okay,” she said. “There’s nothing I can do right now anyway. Not until I find the person who is behind this. Sarah told me they think it’s a parent. Whoever it is could be here, right now.” Her eyes scanned the room. “Brooklyn Country Day isn’t that big. Anyway, I’ll let everyone stay for a bit. Then I’ll have Sebe make himself useful and throw them out.”
Amanda stepped closer and put a hand on Maude’s back. “She’s going to be okay. When I was younger I had all sorts of—Well, it doesn’t matter,” Amanda said. “Teenagers are very resilient. You’ll see.”