Page 45 of The Identicals
“I won’t get a kick out of it,” Harper says. “It’s mylife,Rooster.”
“Everyone knows you were having an affair with Dr. Zimmer,” Rooster says. “That was last week’s news. This week’s news is that you’re also sleeping with the messed-up surfer on Chappy.”
Harper groans. “Brendan Donegal? He’s afriendof mine, Rooster. I’m still allowed to have friends, right?”
“I’m your friend,” Rooster says. “That’s why I’m telling you this.”
“You’re not my friend, Rooster. You’re my boss. And you’re not my boss, you’re my ex-boss.”
“Then guess what I heard? I heard that Sadie ZimmerleftDr. Zimmer.”
Harper bites her tongue.Sadie left?This is something Harper hasn’t considered: instead of Reed leaving Sadie, Sadie might leave Reed.
“But then I heard she didn’t leave,heleft. Dr. Zimmer took a leave of absence from the hospital.”
A leave of absence from the hospital?Harper thinks. She closes her eyes.
“ThenI heard that you were gone and nobody knew where you went and no one knew where Dr. Zimmer went, so people are thinking the two of you are on the lam somewhere, like inNatural Born Killers,except not murdering anyone. Or maybe you are leaving bodies in your wake. Nothing would surprise me at this point, Harper, because the stories keep piling up like cars in a highway crash. So anyway, I’m glad you answered your phone. I have your final paycheck. Where would you like me to send it?”
She says nothing. There’s no doubt in her mind that Reed’s “leave of absence” was forced upon him by Adam Greenfield; there’s no way Reed would ever abandon his patients of his own volition. But he left theVineyard?Where is he? Is he out in America looking for her?
“Harper?” Rooster says.
“I’m here,” Harper says.
“Where’s here?” Rooster says. “Where do you want me to send your check?”
She hates that people are now talking about her and Brendan. She shudders at the thought of Mrs. Donegal somehow hearing the rumor.
“Harper?” Rooster says.
She doesn’t want to tell Rooster where she is. The check is for six hundred and thirty-two dollars or thereabouts, too much to ignore, but she doesn’t want anyone to know she’s on Nantucket. She doesn’t want Sadie finding out, or Drew, or Drew’s aunties, or anyone else. Nantucket is, in so many ways, the perfect place to hide right in plain sight.
“Send it to my PO box,” Harper says. “Number 1888, Vineyard Haven.”
“So you’re here, then?” Rooster asks. “You’re on island?”
Before she can confirm or deny, there’s a beeping noise. It’s her call waiting. The number is unfamiliar, but underneath the number it says:Nantucket, MA.Harper disconnects Rooster without explanation, without good-bye. Let him think she’s in a place with poor reception—the Andes Mountains, the Yukon. It’s the only way.
“Hello?” Harper says.
“Ms. Frost?” a man’s voice says. “This is Dr. Bentz. I’m the principal at Nantucket High School. I’m going to need you to come in right away.”
AINSLEY
Ms. Kerr doesn’t contact the classroom over the intercom. Instead she and Dr. Bentz show up at the door of Ainsley’s American history classin person.
“Ainsley,” Ms. Kerr says. “Come with us, please.”
A murmur goes through the classroom, and Dr. Bentz offers a game-show-host smile. “Don’t let us interrupt your learning about Prohibition,” he says. “It was put in place for a reason.”
Ainsley grabs her bag and slips past Dr. Bentz into the hallway.
Gathered in Dr. Bentz’s office are Emma and her father, Dutch; Candace, Stephanie, and Stu Beasley; and Tabitha. No, not Tabitha—Aunt Harper. Ainsley burps and tastes the eggs Harper made her for breakfast.
She tries to catch Emma’s eye. They are close enough as friends to be able to agree upon a strategy without speaking. But Emma’s face is cast down at the table. Dutch looks pissed. His shaved head is ruddy with aggravation, and his tattooed arms are locked across his chest. Candace looks wounded, her parents solemn. Only Aunt Harper appears sanguine. When she sees Ainsley, she offers a shrug—she has no idea why they are here—and a consoling smile.
The smile brings tears to Ainsley’s eyes.
