All Dressed in White (Under Suspicion #2)(14)

“Awesome. And will Alex be there?” Timmy asked. “I bet he’d try the slide with me.”

Sometimes Laurie worried how excited Timmy was about Alex being part of their lives. She’d made a point of not rushing their relationship, but of course earlier in the day, her mind had leapt to the same place as Timmy’s, picturing herself with Alex on the beach.

“Yes,” she said, “Alex is an important part of the show. I’ve checked with him. He’s ready to go. And Grace and Jerry will be there, too,” she added.

“Grace is probably chartering a private plane for all her shoes,” Leo said.

“I wouldn’t be surprised.”

Two hours later, as Laurie cleared the dishes from the table, a text message from Jerry came in. He was still at the office and had contact information for everyone they wanted for the show. Can’t wait to get started! he said.


His college-aged obsession was proving handy already. As Laurie thought about the various people she needed for the production, she worried that the groom and his new wife were absolutely essential. No matter what Sandra had promised, they were also both lawyers, which might make them reluctant to cooperate.

Fortunately, Laurie knew an excellent attorney who could be extremely persuasive. She sent a quick text to Alex, who was the guest of honor at a trial skills conference in Boston for the weekend: Any chance you have some time Monday night? It might take a couple of hours. It’s about the show. And please bring your car. I hope we get to meet with one or two of the participants.

His response was immediate: I always have time for you.

She replied, I’ll call Monday morning with details. Good night, Alex.

Smiling, she plugged her phone into the charger.





16





“Organized chaos” was the term often used by Kate Fulton when she was getting her four kids settled for the evening. The three-year-old twins, Ellen and Jared, had finished their bath and were in their pajamas, watching a Barney video in the family room. Tonight was a good night. Their singing along with one of the jingles meant they weren’t fighting.

After several reminders, Jane had finally gone to her room to read before bed. Now that she was ten, she had announced she should be allowed to stay up later than eight o’clock. “All of my friends go to bed later than that,” she had protested. Kate had agreed to consider the request.

Eight-year-old Ryan was her easier one. He always had a sweet and sunny disposition. But he was also the most accident prone as the recently applied cast on his arm attested. He had fallen off his new bike while trying to steer with no hands.

Normally the noise of her household before bedtime would have been oddly comforting. Tonight, though, all she wanted was silence. She had too many other sounds in her head.

Three days ago she had been shocked to receive a phone call from Sandra Pierce. Kate hadn’t heard from her since the second anniversary of Amanda’s disappearance. Then tonight before dinner, Sandra had called again for the third time since, saying that the producer of Under Suspicion was excited about the prospect of featuring Amanda’s case. And then right on the heels, Laurie Moran, the producer, had called to explain what participation in the program would involve.

Sandra had offered to pay for all the expenses, so Kate could bring Bill and the kids. If that didn’t work, she had said, she would pay for a sitter to stay at the house while Kate was away. My mother will be happy to stay with them, Kate had told her, but I’ll accept your offer to pay for a sitter to help.

She got up from the table. The twins had begun to bicker. “Upstairs now, all of you,” she said firmly.

? ? ?

The Home Depot store was conducting its annual inventory. As the manager, Bill was still there and would be until some ungodly hour.

Twenty minutes later, the dishwasher on and her four children settled, Kate sat quietly in the den over a second cup of coffee. If this production did happen, how would she feel down at the Grand Victoria again?

She remembered how out of place she had felt last time. Amanda and Charlotte and Meghan had seemed so sophisticated. So very New York. She had felt like a dowdy housewife next to them.

I’ve loved Bill since I was thirteen years old, she thought. But sometimes I wonder how it would have been if I’d given myself a few years after college to live in New York and date other people, have some breathing room.

She took another sip of coffee.

I never thought I’d go back to Palm Beach, she thought. Five years ago, I committed the worst mistake of my entire life there. No one must ever know. Please, God, she pleaded silently, please don’t let anyone know.





17





Walter Pierce opened an email from his daughter, Charlotte. Hope you love these as much as we do!

We. She meant her team up there in New York City. Ten years ago, any new product would have been presented to him in this office, right here at the factory, overlooking the production floor—pencil sketches on paper. He would have been the one to decide whether it was right for Ladyform.

Now he opened files on a computer. With the click of a mouse, he could review a digitized version from all angles. And a bunch of people whose names he couldn’t remember had already expressed their approval.

He clicked through images of what used to be called a sweatshirt but was now known as a “hoodie.” This one’s sleeves were equipped with built-in mittens that could be slipped off with a flick of the wrist.