Page 84 of The Identicals
“Where’s Franklin?” she asks.
“Whoa!” Richie says. He turns on her with a venom that Tabitha doesn’t understand. What has she ever done tohim?Why couldn’t he be nicer? Why couldn’t he be happy that Franklin has found someone? “I don’t appreciate being touched like that.”
“Sorry,” Tabitha says. But she’s not sorry! She is so frustrated and soconfusedthat she would like to take Richie’s shovel and hit him over the head with it. “Do you know where Franklin is?”
“I haven’t seen him since last night,” Richie says. “He got a phone call and left in the middle of dinner.”
“What?” Tabitha says. This isn’t what she expected to hear. Phone call from whom? From Harper? Or someone else? “Is everything okay?”
“You’re asking the wrong guy the wrong questions,” Richie says. He checks his watch. “We’re finishing up now and heading back to America on the five o’clock boat. I’d really like that check.”
Tabitha glares at him for a second. He wants his check, and Tabitha wants answers. Who called Franklin? What happened? Where is he?You’re asking the wrong guy the wrong questions.She would like to take Richie’s spade and use it to bury him alive.
She should be counting her blessings, however. Richie is leaving.
“The check will be on the counter,” she says.
Richie leaves, the Paulos leave—and finally Tad packs up to leave. Tabitha forces herself to put a coat of Made in the Suede on the walls of the formerly lavender room, but after that she is wiped out, so she sits on the back steps and watches the sprinkler water Billy’s newly landscaped backyard. There has been no word from Franklin. He’s gone. Tabitha thinks about sending an angry text or leaving an infuriated voice mail; he is, after all, her general contractor, and he simply skipped a day of work without notice. But Tabitha doesn’t care about him as her contractor. She cares about Franklin, her lover. She wants to blame Richie for this mess, but she knows, somehow, that it’s her own fault. She should never have told him about Julian. Their new relationship was too fragile to hold the heavy weight of that story.
“I’m going,” Tad says. He gets to the bottom step then turns around. “Will you be okay?”
Tabitha laughs, although nothing is funny. “Will I be okay?”
“I noticed you didn’t eat today,” Tad says. “I’m going to the Wolf’s Den for pizza. Why don’t you come with me?”
It’s nice of him to offer, but Tabitha is in no shape to socialize or venture out in public. Her stomach is in knots; she can’t imagine eating ever again.
“Where is he?” she asks Tad. “Richie said he got a phone call last night and just up and left. And no one has seen him since.”
Tad nods. “If I had to guess…” He lets out a stream of air.
“What?” Tabitha says. She doesn’t know Franklin well enough to even venture a guess. What would she guess? That Franklin is married, his wife has been away, and she returned earlier than expected, possibly with their four children in tow?
“I would say it’s a family matter,” Tad says.
Tabitha gasps, even as her suspicions are confirmed. “Is it my sister?”
“No,” Tad says. “I’m talking about Franklin’s family. His parents,hissister.”
“His parents?” Tabitha asks. “His sister?”
Tad raises a hand. “I’ve said more than I should have already,” he says. “Have a good night.”
Tabitha sits on the steps until dark, then she wanders inside. Will Franklin stay away another night? Apparently he will. She takes another Ambien, only one.
She wakes up at one thirty-five in the morning with an idea. The phone book is back on the mantel next to the urn containing Billy’s ashes. The Vineyard and Nantucket are probably the only communities left in America where phone books are indispensable—boat schedules, restaurant menus, addresses.
Addresses.
A check ofPhelpsoffers the following:
Phelps, Albert and Lydia, 35 Edgartown Bay Road, ET
Phelps, Franklin, 10 Grovedale Road, OB
Phelps, Sadie, the Upper Crust, 9111 Edgartown–West Tisbury Road, VH
Sadie is the sister, Tabitha realizes. Sadie, not Charlotte. But what is the Upper Crust? She feels like she should know, but she’s drawing a blank. She really only cares about Franklin. She plugs 10 Grovedale Road into her phone. A blue dot appears in Maps, and she climbs into her car.
