Page 47 of Against the Current

There was so much to talk about. But there wasn’t time till the kids went to bed.

“I can get the kids,” Ryan said. He didn’t want to hang around the house, waiting for Trisha to look at him again.

“Sounds great, honey. Thanks,” Trisha said without turning around.

Ryan got into the car and drove first to the elementary school and then to Nantucket Middle School. As he waited in the pickup line, his head throbbed with the details of the afternoon. The shock of what he’d seen while he’d been driving his mother to Sarah Strong’s, followed by running into Trisha, made him feel as though he was moving through a living nightmare.

Willa was overjoyed to see her father. Buckled up in the front seat, she showed him the crafts she’d made that day and talked about a new friend she’d made at school. More than that, she’d decided to write a letter to her one and only friend out in Chicago, the daughter of Ryan’s ex-colleague, and the thought of her compassion for the world choked Ryan up. Rudy had several things to tell him about his schoolday and new friends, too. And when Gavin got into the car, he joined the festivities, grateful for the youthful energy of his siblings after the hormonal anger of a classic day in middle school.

As he drove, Ryan held the steering wheel with bright white hands and told himself not to cry. Maybe it was all a big misunderstanding.

After the kids scampered inside to say hello to Trisha, Ryan checked his phone to find several messages from his mother. Obviously, she was confused.

MOM: Did Trisha get the birthday present for her friend?

MOM: So funny to run into her like that.

MOM: It’s too bad Sarah Strong wasn’t available. Should we go back next week?

MOM: I hope Quinn calls you back. Let me know when she does.

Ryan took a breath and wrote: So funny to run into Trisha. Yes, I’ll let you know when Quinn calls back. I’ll give Sarah a call tomorrow, too. Even though we failed, it was fun to get off the island together. See you at work tomorrow. Love you.

Ryan gasped for breath, having held it as he’d composed his message.

He couldn’t tell her what he’d seen. He couldn’t tell her what he now suspected.

There were too many coincidences.

That evening, Ryan ate dinner and watched television with his children and helped everyone get ready for bed. Then he went downstairs to find Trisha pretending to be asleep on the sofa. He sat down on the chair nearest her and turned off the television. With his hands on his knees, he spoke very carefully and very slowly. “Why was my grandfather’s red Cadillac parked in front of Sarah Strong’s real estate office?”

Trisha kept her eyes closed, but she put both of her hands on her forehead and groaned. “There’s more than one red Cadillac in the world, Ryan. I’m sure your grandfather’s is long gone. Sold off. Maybe even taken apart, knowing my brothers. They were always eager to destroy beautiful things.”

Ryan’s anger felt like a roiling cloud in his chest. “But why did I see you two blocks away from the car like that? On Martha’s Vineyard?”

Trisha didn’t answer.

“You weren’t buying a present for a friend,” Ryan said. “That was a lie you came up with on the spot.”

Trisha opened her eyes and looked at him. Was she trying to come up with a brand-new lie? Ryan’s tongue felt dry, like a cat’s.

Trisha propped herself up. “What were you doing on Martha’s Vineyard? I thought you were at work.”

“Mom and I had business matters over there.”

Trisha blinked. “I had business matters, too.”

Ryan furrowed his brow, and Trisha imitated his expression back to him.

“What? You know, I’ve always wanted to open my own place,” Trisha said, parroting something she’d said many years ago and never repeated till now. “I always wanted to open a little art shop that sold soup and sandwiches and coffee. Remember?”

Ryan crossed his arms. It still wasn’t adding up. “What does that have to do with Martha’s Vineyard?”

“There are some cute places over there,” she said. “I was scoping them out.”

Ryan didn’t believe her for a second. “Right.”

He swallowed and waited, hoping to smoke her out. But she didn’t say anything else.

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