The High Season(46)
She knew a lot but she didn’t know Daniel. If Lark told Daniel how they met, how Doe had lost her shoes, Daniel might forget about the caterers and wonder.
She never backed out of things, though. Never out of fear.
“Sure,” Doe said.
From: Lucas Clay To: Doe Callender Wassup beautiful
From: Doe Callender To: Lucas Clay
Zzz just waking up From: Lucas
To: Doe
Sorry about the other day I was an asshole From: Doe
To: Lucas
No argument here
From: Lucas
To: Doe
u know I’ll make it up to you I’m good at that…just us. You like the sound of that From: Doe
To: Lucas
Maybe, my weekend is crazy busy From: Lucas
To: Doe
Yah mine too
…
Btw do u know Jem fm the farm stand From: Doe
To: Lucas
sure, Ruthie’s daughter you know that From: Lucas
To: Doe
how old is she exactly From: Doe
To: Lucas
15 i think
From: Lucas
To: Doe
looks older
From: Doe
To: Lucas
She’s in high school dude From: Lucas
To: Doe
My friend Hale was asking guess I’ll tell him no From: Doe
To: Lucas
wld be wise
it’s a crime you know From: Lucas
To: Doe
Ya soooooo unfair considering how tasteee From: Doe
To: Lucas
Gross
From: Lucas
To: Doe
lol
25
RUTHIE WOKE UP the next morning with a headache so thunderous she knew it was payback. She was now the kind of person who disgraced herself at parties. This was humiliating, but there was something pleasurable about being that person, too.
It had the quality of a dream, the lilac tree, Helen’s ghost face in the dusk, Lucas talking about painting a Peter Clay like it was a joke, a big joke, that’s what it had been, she was sure.
She took three aspirin with a tall glass of water. She opened the refrigerator and hung on the door. Then she sank to the floor.
She heard footsteps behind her. “Mom?”
“Are you talking to me again?”
“Oh. I guess so. Why are you on the floor?”
“Just wondering if we have…a drink thing with caffeine.”
Jem sank to the floor next to her. They leaned together in the refrigerator chill. “Are you okay?”
“Bad day yesterday. Bad worse worst terrible day. But I’m okay,” Ruthie said. “Oh, shit, I lied. I’m not. I was mean to someone who was trying to be nice to me.”
“Daddy?”
“No, not Daddy. Someone I used to know.”
“Well, you know what you always told me when I was a kid.”
“No.”
“If you say ‘I’m sorry’ with sorry in your heart, you’ll be okay.”
“What a sanctimonious ass.”
“What?”
“By the way, I quit yesterday. Or maybe I was fired. I’m still not sure.”
“Quit the Belfry?”
“It was a you-can’t-fire-me-I-quit scenario, I think.”
“But…you love it there. And everyone loves you.”
“Do you know what Mindy said? That I serve at the pleasure of the board. She used the word pleasure. Like she was fucking Queen Elizabeth. I mean, not literally fucking Queen Elizabeth. That’s Philip’s job. I wish I could stop cursing. Shit.”
“But what about Carole? And Helen? And…everyone! They can’t just fire you! It must be a mistake. They’ll ask you back.”
Remembering the lilac tree, Ruthie shook her head. “I think the die is cast.”
“But it will be okay, right? I mean, what are you going to do?”
“It will be okay, sweetie.” Ruthie wiped her nose on the hem of her T-shirt. “I just need some time. And coffee.”
“I’ll make you coffee.”
“You are the best of the best of the best of daughters.”
Jem sprang up. Ruthie shut the refrigerator but stayed on the floor, hugging her knees. Jem found a pod and stuck it in the coffee machine. “What does Daddy say?”
“I haven’t told him yet. He’s, uh. Kind of hard to track down these days.”
“Yeah, I know.” Jem banged down a coffee cup.
“What?” Ruthie leaned back against the fridge. Her head felt as though it was being jackhammered apart.
“Everything this summer is so weird. It’s like this house is a portal and we all walked through. Like we’re trying on being rich, and it just doesn’t fit.”
“I know,” Ruthie said. She had gone back to the main house and left the watch on top of Carole’s dresser. She couldn’t see tossing it into Verity’s box again. Yet it sat there, at the front of her brain, like an obstacle obstructing a clear view.
Next to her on the floor, Jem’s phone dinged. Ruthie glanced at the text hovering on the screen. “What’s the Mayflower thing?”
“What Mayflower thing?”
Ruthie pointed to the text. It was from Saffy.