Page 4 of Trick of Light

After Bethany calmed down, Nick walked her back to the testing room, where Dr. Bob Waterhouse answered questions about the surgery and passed out the required test. Bob Waterhouse gave Bethany a confused smile.

“We were just grabbing some water,” Nick assured him.

“Bethany Sutton,” Dr. Waterhouse said, “I assume you got a lot out of the surgery?”

Bethany glanced at Nick, who gave her a stiff nod. It was best to lie.

“It was extremely informative. Thank you.”

Bethany sat next to Nick and took the test. Because she’d studied so well, she got the best grade in the class despite not watching the surgery at all. There would be other surgeries. There would be other patients. She had to find a way through her horrible memories. She had to guard herself against the past.

After the test, Nick held Bethany back to meet his father properly. When he shook her hand, Dr. Waterhouse said, “It’s rare to meet a woman in the medical field half as driven as you. What’s your secret?”

Bethany’s mouth was dry with alarm. How could she explain that she didn’t feel like a woman? That her sexuality had nothing to do with her career?

But then, Nick touched her lower back gently and said, “I was hoping to bring Bethany to dinner this weekend, Dad. Maybe you can ask her more then.”

His father beamed. “My wife makes the best pot roast in Savannah,” he said. “You’re going to love it.”

Bethany felt swept up in a storm she couldn’t possibly understand. But that evening, wrapped in Nick’s arms as a hard rain churned over the humid Savannah streets, she told herself these changes were far better than therapeutic results.

Maybe she could fall in love, and everything would be okay. Perhaps she could have happy, healthy, and brilliant children one day. Maybe she could blot out the darkness of her past and make space for new light.

Plus, with Nick’s father in her corner, she was sure to prove to him and the rest of the medical community that women were just as good, smart, and precise as men. He couldn’t possibly ignore her.

Chapter Two

Present Day

It wasn’t like Bethany had been gone very long. It certainly hadn’t been long enough for Nick to suggest she’d “abandoned her family.” The words still felt like a smack.

Bethany pulled into the driveway of their exquisite home—a mini mansion with startlingly old trees surrounding it, draped with Savannah moss. The columns along the front and back porches were reminiscent of plantations. However, Bethany knew their home had been built after the Civil War and had not been involved in anything sinister. Updates to the home allowed for a garage door, which pulled up now to allow her to park alongside her husband’s Porsche. They’d lived here for years. Bethany expected herself to grow warm with recognition, especially after the heinous and very long drive from Nantucket Island. But instead, her stomach cramped with dread.

Bethany entered the house through the garage and stood at the kitchen counter for a full minute, listening as the house creaked around her. Ordinarily, it was vibrant with laughter from her three children—the thirteen-year-old twins, Maddie and Tommy, and the ten-year-old, Phoebe. But the television was off. There weren’t half-made snacks strewn across the counter. They weren’t home.

“Nick? Hello?” Bethany called.

No answer.

Bethany opened the fridge to find a half-drank bottle of white wine. She poured herself a glass and sat in the living room, grateful for the air-conditioning, which churned against the July heat. She couldn’t shake a feeling of unreality. This had been her first trip back to Nantucket since the age of eighteen—her first reunion with her sisters, Rebecca and Valerie, her mother, Esme, and her father, Victor Sutton. And for reasons that felt beyond her, they’d all gotten along beautifully.

This year had been hard on the Suttons. Rebecca’s husband, Fred, had died in a car accident in Maine. Esme’s second husband, Larry, had died recently. And Victor and his second wife, the secretary he’d abandoned the family for, were getting divorced.

When Victor had learned of Larry’s death, he’d gone to Maine to recruit Rebecca. He wanted to bring the family back together again. He wanted to heal.

Rebecca had contacted Bethany when they’d arrived on Nantucket. Esme was nowhere to be found, and her beloved Nantucket Book Club was on the verge of monetary collapse.

Bethany had fled Savannah. She’d run from her surgical practice, alienating marriage, and the life she’d built for the past twenty-five years. She’d gone to Nantucket to help out and found tremendous love and hope in the arms of her first nuclear family. It had been surprising and heart-wrenching.

And now that she was back, she was reeling.

Her children didn’t know their grandparents. Her children probably couldn’t point to Nantucket Island on a map. She suddenly ached, wanting to load them up in her car and drive them back for the summer of a lifetime.

She heard a creak on the staircase. Nick appeared at the bottom a few seconds later, his face sallow and grim. He carried several coffee mugs as though he’d been locked up in his office for days, wallowing.

“Hey,” Bethany breathed.

Nick stopped short. “I didn’t hear you come in.”

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