How did parents survive their children? It was all so painful. Far, far more painful than growing up herself, Kayla thought, watching her children grow up.
When Kayla got home, Raoul’s red truck was in the driveway, and next to it, a blue-and-white Bronco: Jacob Anderson. Cassidy B. and Luke were in the side yard throwing a Frisbee, the picture of normality. Kayla forced herself to check the backseat. Theo was curled up in the fetal position, sound asleep among the beach towels. The poor kid. But now things were starting to make sense: Theo’s behavior of the last few weeks was due to this mess.
Kayla put down the windows and shut off the engine. She would let Theo sleep.
She stood in the yard watching Cassidy B. and Luke toss the Frisbee. They knew she was watching, and so they tried extra hard. Luke furrowed his brow and concentrated on holding the Frisbee just so before he sent it sailing through the air with a slight wobble. Cassidy B. caught it flat between her palms, a trick. Two children, as Theo had once been a child. And so, Luke and Cassidy B., too, would have to face adulthood and all its dirty surprises. That made Kayla sadder than anything else. She had no power to protect them, just as she’d had no power to protect Theo from Antoinette.
What were you doing, Antoinette? Kayla thought. Sleeping with Theo. Pregnant with his baby.
Kayla couldn’t think of a better reason to disappear.
…
Inside, Raoul, Jacob Anderson, and Val were at the dining table eating nacho chips and drinking Coronas with limes. They stopped talking when Kayla came in. Kayla just stared. She hated them.
“Does anyone know where Theo is?” she asked.
Raoul remained cool, but Val’s face fell. Kayla’s mind flashed back to: Antoinette, why don’t you tell us about your sex life these days? What’s been going on with you? Raoul and Val talking in the front seat of Raoul’s truck. They all knew. Even Jacob Anderson knew, when Kayla saw him at the Tings’, when he almost kissed her. They all knew that her best friend was fucking her son and no one had told her.
“He’s at work, isn’t he?” Raoul said.
“He’s asleep in the Trooper,” Kayla said. “I found him up at Great Point. What do you suppose he was doing there?”
“Kayla-” Raoul stood up.
“Stay away from me!” she said. “You lied to me, Raoul.”
“I didn’t lie,” he said. “It was better that you didn’t know.”
“We didn’t want to hurt you,” Val said.
“You!” Kayla said, pointing at Val. She looked gorgeous, radiant with her adultery, in a sundress of red, crinkled cotton. Her gold chains glinted at her neck. “You lied, too. And what’s worse, Val, is that you’re a woman. You are my female friend. You, I should be able to trust.”
“Kayla, calm down,” Raoul said.
Kayla pulled the pregnancy test out of her purse. “Did you know Antoinette is pregnant?” she said. “Pregnant!”
“I didn’t know until last night,” Raoul said. “Val told me on the way to Antoinette’s house.”
“And who told you?” Kayla asked Val.
Val bowed her head; under the table, she and Jacob Anderson were holding hands. “Antoinette.”
“Antoinette told you? When did she tell you?”
Val shrugged. “Last week. Remember when I told you that we had lunch? Well, it was more than just lunch. Antoinette came into the office to take care of some business. We talked about things, and she told me about Theo, she told me she was pregnant. She signed a new will.”
“She signed a will?” Kayla said. This seemed like important information, something Val might have mentioned the night before. “What did it say?”
“It’s confidential,” Val said.
“I don’t care. I want to know. Did she leave everything to Theo?”
“No,” Val said. “She put everything into a trust.”
“You set up the trust?”
Val twirled her beer bottle by the neck. “I’m the attorney.”
Jacob munched a chip.
“Was she going to keep the baby?” Kayla asked. “Was the trust for the baby?”
“She said she had an appointment for an abortion,” Val said.
“What about the vandalism?” Kayla said. “It was Theo?”
Raoul led Kayla to the table. He opened a beer for her and squeezed a tiny wedge of lime into the top. “Probably,” he said. “You need to try to relax. We’re going to sort through this.”
“We just called the fire department,” Val said. “The divers didn’t find anything.”
The sliding door opened, and Kayla heard a shriek. “Mommy!”
They all turned around. Jennifer was standing in the kitchen, her face bright red.
Kayla did a mother’s scan: no bleeding, no obvious injury to her daughter’s person. Her thoughts zipped to Cassidy and Luke outside, to Theo in the car.
“What’s wrong?” Kayla said. How long had it been since Jennifer had called her Mommy? Three, four years? “Jennifer?”
“A phone call came to the Ogilvys,” Jennifer said, “while I was baby-sitting.”
Ed Ogilvy was the publisher of the Inquirer and Mirror, the island newspaper. More than once, Jennifer had come home with a story before it broke because she had heard it at the Ogilvys’ house.
“What kind of phone call?” Kayla asked, though she feared she knew.
“Someone saying Aunt Antoinette is dead. Someone saying you and Aunt Val killed her.”
“Who said that?” Raoul asked. “Did you get a name?”
Jennifer shook her head so that her long ponytail swayed. “Anonymous.”
“Did Ed Ogilvy hear the message?” Kayla asked.
“Is Aunt Antoinette dead?” Jennifer demanded. “Did you kill her?”
“Jennifer!” Raoul said. “What kind of question is that?”
“The caller said it happened at Great Point last night,” Jennifer said. “He said you made it look like an accident, you and Aunt Val. He said you and Aunt Val were after her money.”
Val snatched her hand from Jacob’s. “Don’t worry,” Val said. “It was my husband who called. And I guarantee you he doesn’t know what he’s talking about.”
“Is Aunt Antoinette dead?” Jennifer asked.
“We don’t know, sweetie,” Kayla said. “She got lost in the water, and they haven’t been able to find her.”
“She’s dead,” a voice said. Luke walked into the kitchen behind Jennifer. Cassidy B. followed him. “Aunt Antoinette is dead.”
“Luke? What makes you say that?” Kayla asked.
“She just is. I know it.” His voice was calm and serious. “Aunt Antoinette drowned.”
Cassidy B. started to cry. Jennifer said, “Mom, what happened up there, exactly?”
Luke said, “I’m telling you…” Suddenly, all three of them were making a commotion-until the sliding glass door opened and Theo walked in. Or a boy who resembled Theo, except this boy was bloodless, lifeless. He’d lost his tan, it seemed, overnight; his hair had lost its color. When Theo stepped into the kitchen, the other kids got quiet. They were still afraid of him.
“Mom?” he said. “Tin going to bed.”
“Okay,” Kayla said.
His brother and sisters cleared the way for him, and he headed past them toward the stairs.
“The poor kid,” Val whispered.
Money, Kayla thought. It couldn’t mend a broken heart. Theo’s or hers.
The phone rang. Jennifer ran to answer it, and in her very adult voice, she said, “May I tell her who’s calling?” A beat passed and she handed Kayla the phone, mouthing, The police.
“Kayla?” It was Paul Henry. “Can you and Valerie come down to the station, please? We have some questions for you.”