Page 29 of Vineyard Winds

Claire did know. Gail was obsessive when it came to reading. Ever since she’d learned, she’d been up to her ears in different stories, frequently packing an entire backpack of books for vacation.

“Anyway, Tiff and I got bored with all the book talk and left them to it for a while,” Abby said. “And when I got back to check on her, they were making out.”

Claire’s stomach curdled. In her mind, twenty-three might as well have been one hundred years older than Gail’s eighteen. Maybe Nathan Rodgers was a predator?

But no. Gail was eighteen. She was in college. She was remarkably intelligent for her age, and she’d probably read more books than Claire had—an embarrassing fact that also left Claire giddy with pride for her daughter. She was probably more than Nathan’s academic equal.

“Did she go home with him?” Claire asked in a small voice.

Abby shook her head. “No way! I wouldn’t let her. But she was really angry with me about that. All the way home, she told me she’d never felt this way. That she’d finally met someone. That she finally understood all that ‘love stuff’ she’d read about in books.” Abby shook her head. “I figured he wouldn’t call her after that. That’s what guys do, right? They get tired of you quickly. But Nathan texted her the next day and asked what she was up to. Gail went out to dinner with him and started hanging out with him all the time. Like, all the time, Mom. And it looked like they were headed toward happily ever after.”

Abby stuttered and wrapped her hand around her neck. “I mean, I wasn’t really pleased about this. I hardly saw Gail for a couple of months. And I really missed her, you know. And I admit. I was a little bit jealous. Gail swept into college and got an older boyfriend like that.” Abby snapped her fingers. “And I was just going on terrible dates with nineteen-year-olds with pimples and pizza breath. When Gail was around, I picked fights with her. I told her that Nathan wasn’t right for her. And I told her that he’d get bored with her because he knew so many older women and stuff.”

Abby’s cheeks were as white as the snow that swirled outside. “I’m not proud of any of this. And I totally see how I created a rift between Gail and me. It was so bizarre to fight with her. We’d never really done it before, and I think we both said some things we can’t take back.” Abby hung her head. “Especially now.”

Claire’s heart felt bruised. This was too much information at once. She felt as though she’d pull back the curtain on her daughters’ lives and seen more than she’d planned for.

“Anyway, I assumed Nathan and Gail broke up in early December,” Abby said. “I never saw him around the dorms anymore, and Gail spent more and more time at home. Things were actually good between us for the first time in a while. I decided not to ask about Nathan. I wanted to pretend he didn’t exist.”

Abby planted her palm on her forehead and looked out the window. She looked far older than her eighteen years, as though time and grief had crept up and aged her considerably. She needed her other half.

“I don’t understand, Abby,” Claire whispered. “Why didn’t you ever mention Nathan? Gail’s been missing for over a week, and he never came up. Not once.”

Abby flinched and dropped her chin. She looked as though she wanted to fold her arms and limbs up and hide herself away.

“Gail is still my best friend. My twin,” she said carefully. “She didn’t want to tell you guys about Nathan, and I wanted to respect that. Besides, like I said, I thought they were broken up. I was so grateful not to have to think about him anymore.”

“Are you sure that’s everything?” Claire asked, sounding accusatory.

“That’s all I can remember about Nathan.”

“Did you ever go to his house? Do you know where he lives?”

Abby shook her head. “Somewhere off campus. But I never went there with Gail.”

Claire searched her gut for some sense that Abby had omitted anything. She’d already trickled her facts slowly, revealing the story to be an onion. After a deep well of silence, Abby forced her eyes back to her mother.

“Did you ask Dad about what Gail said?”

Claire hesitated before she shook her head. She felt like a coward.

“Good,” Abby breathed. Relief flowed through her face.

Claire wasn’t sure what Abby meant by that. Before she could ask, Rachel hurried down the hallway to find her, her hair flowing out behind her. Abby looked at Rachel as though she were a lifeline.

“There you are,” Rachel said.

Abby’s eyes begged for release. Claire tilted her head, and Abby burst from the sunroom chair, grabbed Rachel’s hand, and headed upstairs. As they went, Abby’s whisper echoed through the stairwell, filling Rachel in on Nathan Rodgers. Claire felt tremendously tired, as though her arms and legs were filled with lead.

Before she returned to her mother in the kitchen, Claire got up the nerve to call the university and inquire about Nathan Rodgers. But the woman who answered could give her very little information. “I can’t give you any details about Nathan, other than the fact that he no longer attends the University of Massachusetts,” she said. “He dropped out in December.”

“Right before finals?” Claire asked, perplexed.

“It’s possible he wasn’t prepared or thought he would fail anyway,” the woman said breezily. “These kids drop out for all kinds of reasons.”

Claire had hit a wall. She thanked the woman and hung up.

ChapterFourteen

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