A Stranger on the Beach(24)

“Hi, sweetheart,” I said. “I was about to call you.”

I heard soft snuffling on the other end of the line, and my stomach dropped.

“Oh, baby,” I said. “Hannah. Honey, please, don’t cry.”

“Mom? How could you do this?”

I paused. Was she taking Jason’s side, when he was the one who cheated?

“Me? What did I do?” I asked.

“How could you not tell me, Mom?” she said, her voice rising in grief.

“Oh. Well, I was working up to telling you.”

“If you guys split, it’s like my whole life was a lie.”

“This has nothing to do with you. It’s about Dad and me.”

“Were you purposely staying together until I left home? That makes me feel lied to.”

“No. Nothing like that.”

“Why didn’t you tell me you were having problems?”

“I didn’t know, until the party.”

“You were going to let him leave the country, and not even tell me?”

“Leave the country? What are you talking about?”

“He said he’s going away on business for a while.”

“But—out of the country? Where?”

Hell, no. Not with my money, he wasn’t.

“I don’t know. Mexico or something? He’s coming here tonight to say goodbye to me.”

Mexico? I needed to see a lawyer, immediately.

“He’s coming to your dorm?”

“No. I don’t want to talk in front of my roommate. We’re going to a restaurant.”

“Which restaurant?”

“Why does that matter?”

“Hannah, I’m coming to that dinner,” I said.

“You’re not invited. He doesn’t want to talk to you.”

“He’s not allowed to decide that.”

She paused. “I mean, I think he is.”

I know that all the parenting books say don’t air your dirty laundry with your kids. Well, screw that. Jason betrayed me. Hannah deserved to know what sort of man her father was, so she could make an informed decision about whose side to take. Otherwise, she’d automatically take his side. I knew their relationship, and I could predict that with certainty.

“Hannah, listen to me. Your dad is treating me very badly. He’s cheating on me, and he refuses to see me or answer my calls. And he’s cut off all the bank accounts,” I said.

There was silence at the end of the line.

“Hannah?”

“I can’t believe he’d do that.”

“Well, he did.”

“What did you do to him?”

“Whose side are you on?”

But it was obvious. Hannah had always been a Daddy’s girl. It hurt me terribly, since I was the one who sacrificed everything for her, but I’d never been able to compete with their bond.

“I’m not on anybody’s side. It’s not about sides,” she said, but she was wrong. Or lying. Hannah knew it was about sides, and she was taking Jason’s.

“Did you know he brought his girlfriend to the party at the beach house? I bet he didn’t tell you that, huh? She’s a real piece of work, too, so slutty—”

“Mom, stop. I don’t want to hear it. I don’t even believe you.”

“You have to let me come to this dinner, Hannah.”

“Stop it. Can’t you see how awful this is for me? Dad isn’t acting crazy like this.”

“No, because he’s the one who left. He’s the guilty party. Don’t you see—”

“I have to go.”

“Hannah—”

“Goodbye, Mom.”

The phone said CALL ENDED. I stared at it, shell-shocked. My own daughter had hung up on me. And there it was. The ugly truth. Not only had Jason taken my money. He was taking my daughter, too.

There was a knock on the window. I looked up to see Aidan standing in the pouring rain, holding a bedraggled umbrella. He motioned to me to come inside. Insane as it was, I opened the door. I was hurting so badly from the phone call with Hannah. And Aidan was the only person in my life right now who seemed to want my company. Nothing so terrible had really happened in the cave. I didn’t actually know what he would have done if those surfers hadn’t showed up. If I kept saying no, he probably would’ve backed off.

As I watched, a middle-aged woman stepped out of the apartment next to his, letting out a scraggly-looking dog. The dog ran over and lifted his leg at the dumpster, while the woman retreated inside the metal screen door.

What was I so worried about? Aidan had neighbors. The walls in a place like this were paper-thin. If he tried to hurt me, I would scream. Nothing bad could happen.

I was wrong about that, too.





18


Aidan’s apartment was as bad inside as the outside foretold. A single room with a tiny kitchenette, it was shabby to the point of being squalid. But he took my coat like a gentleman. A coffeemaker perked cheerily on the kitchen counter.

“I know what you’re thinking,” he said. “This apartment is a dump. The thing is, I don’t spend much time here. It’s just a place to crash. I got all my money tied up in investments.”