Pretty Girls Dancing(29)
“Nothing special.” It took Claire a moment to realize that Janie was responding to her question. “I have to work Sunday, and Alyvia’s gone until then. I’ve got a test to study for tonight, and sometime tomorrow I need to watch a documentary on civil liberties for my government paper.”
“Maybe we can go to a movie tomorrow night.” The suggestion was impulsive, and from Janie’s expression, Claire had managed to surprise her daughter. “After all, in a few short months, you’ll be off to college.” Not in California, if Claire had anything to say about it, but in nearby Columbus. Even so, the thought brought a flicker of nerves. Today’s fuzziness aside, she was all too aware that Janie’s presence in the house brought a much-needed focus to Claire’s days. Worries about how her daughter would fare in a different city, on a campus of tens of thousands, were outweighed by the prospect of the yawning emptiness that stretched before Claire with her gone.
“Okay. Sure.”
“I’ll look up what’s showing. You can pick. But nothing too scary.”
A rare smile from her daughter. “As long as it doesn’t have subtitles, I’m good.”
Claire took a small serving of everything and took a bite. Swallowed. “You seem to have survived after-school suspension relatively unscathed.”
A shrug. “It was lame. Humphries is worthless. I couldn’t get anything done because the other guys there were screwing around. So it was a waste of time.”
“Well,” Claire injected a note of false cheer into her voice, “at least it’s over. And that Miller girl got the same consequence, which makes me feel a bit better about the whole thing.”
Janie set her fork on the edge of her plate. And something in her level gaze had Claire’s stomach jittering. “I’ve been wondering . . . remember that envelope I found after Kelsey went missing? Whatever happened to it?”
The words reverberated in her ears, echoing like a Chinese gong. Everything inside Claire went to ice. “Envelope?” she managed, and scooped a tiny bit of rice onto her fork. Guided it to her lips. “I really don’t recall.”
“You don’t recall? I gave it to you, remember? I found it under my mattress two days after she was gone. There was a thousand dollars inside. And pictures. Those pictures of Kelsey.”
Not now, not now, after all this time, not now! “Oh, that envelope,” she tried lamely. “There was some cash . . . it certainly wasn’t a thousand dollars. You were a child. I’m sure it seemed like a lot . . .”
“I thought you didn’t remember? And it was a thousand dollars. I was ten. Old enough to count money.”
That tone, the direct stare were so like David’s that they took Claire’s breath away. At least they would have, if her lungs weren’t already gasping.
“I . . .” She cursed her mental fuzziness. “It was so long ago . . .”
“Do you still have it, then?”
“No.” The sliver of truth calmed her frenzied thoughts. “Of course not. I gave it to the investigators. There was a rumor going around at the time that someone in the area was taking pictures of teenage girls.” Because she couldn’t meet her daughter’s probing gaze, she pretended to eat. But the food had gone to ash in her mouth.
“Did they . . . were they ever able to—”
“Janie, enough!” The lash of her voice had her daughter’s expression closing, but Claire couldn’t think about that now. “They never told us anything. Ever. You were young. We kept you away from it as much as we could, but the agents . . . it was just questions, questions, questions but never any answers.” She was distantly aware that her voice had risen. Was helpless to steady it. “They told us almost nothing. Weeks and months went by, and they gave us so little. And now there’s this new girl. I can’t stop wondering if she was taken by the same person who took Kelsey. And what that means, if he took another one. It means your sister is almost certainly . . .” She choked on the final word, and for one horrible moment, she thought she was going to lose what little she’d managed to eat, right there on her plate.
“Forget it. I shouldn’t have said anything.” Janie got up to come around the table, pressing Claire’s water glass into her hand. Urging it to her lips. “It doesn’t matter. Drink. More,” she demanded when Claire could manage only a tiny sip. She stayed at her side until the glass was half-empty.
Scrambling for some semblance of calm, Claire waved Janie away. “I’m fine. Finish your meal.”
“Jax Martinson let a dog into the school this morning.” Her daughter reseated herself. “A big, goofy-looking thing. It was pretty funny. Templeton was trying to catch it and fell on his butt, and the dog jumped on top of him, licking him like crazy . . .”
Aware of what her daughter was doing, Claire was nonetheless thankful for the change of subject. The story segued into talk of their Thanksgiving plans. With a mental start, Claire realized the holiday was less than three weeks away. They planned to spend it in Colorado skiing, but for the life of her, she couldn’t recall if David had selected a specific location yet. She half listened to Janie chat about bringing Alyvia along—that much she remembered agreeing to—as she searched her memory. Could come up with nothing.
“I’ll probably have to rent stuff once we get to Breckenridge.” Janie pushed her plate away and looked expectantly at Claire. “I mean, I’m sure my skis are okay, but my boots and ski pants were too small when we went last year.”