Page 45 of The Lady on Esplanade
Her light brown eyes considered me, taking in my reddened face and noticing the way I stammered my explanation.I imagined my constant feelings of guilt stemmed from my mother making me lie tothe police and her various dealers once I was old enough to talk.Even when I was telling the truth, saying that I had no idea where she was, I still felt like a liar.
“What did the fortune teller say?”
“That Beau should ask his mom where to find Buddy.”
“Sounds pretty simple to me,” Sam said.“But Beau doesn’t see it that way.”
“I think she’s right.Adele is still here for some reason, and my best guess is that it’s because she wants to reunite Buddy with his family.And if Madame Zoe is right, Beau needs to find his father before others who mean Buddy harm do.I have no idea if we should take that with a grain of salt, but that’s what she said.Regardless, I think Beau’s reluctance to ask for help from his mother has more to do with his anger at both of his parents for deserting him than with anything else.It doesn’t take a therapist to see that Beau needs closure.Even if that means confronting his father—assuming he’s still alive—and finding out why he’s never come back home.”
“Fear of rejection, then?”Sam asked.
“I hadn’t thought of that, but yeah.That makes sense.”
“Either way, in typical Beau fashion, he’s being stubborn and just needs a little push in the right direction.From the right people.”
We smiled at each other, and I thought once again how Sam and I could be very good friends.Except for that one thing that started with the letter B and ended in the letter U.
“Exactly,” I said.“And I can’t help but think that Sunny might have a trump card up her sleeve to move this all along.”
Sam grinned.“I was thinking the same thing.She was too young when she was taken, so nobody has any idea if she’s inherited any psychic abilities.It’s not out of the realm of possibility.”She pressed her lips together, her eyes narrowing.“We need to come up with a plan,” she said.“Do you have a few minutes to plot out our next moves?We have to hurry, since I don’t know when Beau will be back—but he’ll text first.”
“Sure,” I said, feeling annoying tendrils of doubt accompanied by a fleeting memory of Melanie and Jack telling me about the importance of learning from my mistakes.
“Great.Come on,” she said, heading into the living room area, which was furnished with tasteful finds from Pottery Barn and Restoration Hardware.She worked in PR and communications for the Ritz-Carlton downtown and apparently made more money than I did with my graduate degree in historic preservation.
I sat down on a brown leather sectional with throw pillows that probably cost more than the couch in my apartment.Technically they did, since that couch had been inherited when I signed the lease.
Sam pulled a notepad and pen from the drawer of a floor-to-ceiling bookcase and sat down next to me.I again noticed her gnawed fingernails—her only imperfection.It made her easier to like.She put the number one inside a circle at the top of the page, and next to it she wroteCall Sunny.
“I can do that,” she said.“She already knows me, so it won’t seem weird.We’ll have to make up some story—like, Mimi is really sick and wants to see her one last time?”
“Well, that escalated quickly.That seems a little…drastic.Plus, all she has to do is call Mimi and we’re busted.Maybe something more subtle, like her mom’s best friend has moved back to New Orleans and wants to meet her?”
“That’s pretty lame.All she’d have to do is talk to her on the phone.”
I stared down at the almost-blank page as Sam tapped the pen against her leg.In my head I turned over and discarded scenario after scenario, looking up only when I realized that Sam had stopped tapping and was watching me.Our eyes met, and I felt a tremor of unease.“What?”
“Have you spoken with Michael lately?”
I stood.“Nope, nope, nope.I see where you’re going with this, but no.Not going to happen.”
She stood, too.“I’m not asking you to rekindle your romance.I’m just asking you to use your history with him to solicit his help.Sunny said they’re sharing an apartment in New York, since they’re still basically siblings.She still goes by Felicity Hebert.He owes you, right?And he owes the Ryans.It should be an easy yes for him.He’s probably been trying to come up with a way to make it right.And here’s his chance.”
I thought about the Michael Hebert I’d fallen in love with, before either of us had known about his family’s involvement in Sunny’s kidnapping, or that the girl he’d called his sister and who had been renamed Felicity wasn’t related to him at all.And before I’d known that he was pursuing a relationship with me only because his uncle had told him to.
I sat down, cushioned in the buttery-soft leather of the couch.“Please don’t make me do this.Anything but that.”
Plopping down next to me, she said, “Sure.Just give me a better idea.”
We both stared at the notepad for a long time before Sam lined out the words she’d just written and wrote next to themCALL MICHAEL.After placing the pen and notepad on an antique captain’s chest being used as a coffee table, she turned to me.Gently, she said, “I don’t think Beau’s the only person who needs closure.”
When I didn’t argue, she stood.“It’s getting late.Beau should be home any minute.He probably forgot to text me.I’ll call you tomorrow to talk about the rest of the plan.”With a conciliatory smile, she said, “I’ve got a batch of homemade pralines in the kitchen.Why don’t I wrap some up for you to take with you?”
“Is that like the nurse handing me a lollipop before giving me a shot?”
“Pretty much.”
I waited while she placed the pralines on a paper plate and tucked them in with foil.Handing the plate to me, she said, “Hey, did I miss anything at dinner last night?I’ll probably run into Camille andHenry at some point, since they’re living here now, and I want to be prepared.I’ve asked Beau, and he’s described them with adjectives like ‘nice’ and ‘normal.’ ” She rolled her eyes.
