numbers?”
“ ‘Not good’ would be the understatement of all time.”
We’d arrived at the spot where I’d left my dad’s shirt, and I picked it up off the sand. “I don’t know if this will make you feel any better, but my mother has this grand plan that I’ll take over her company one day. But it’s a tech business, and I can barely even figure out how to turn my laptop on and off.”
“Mac or PC?” he asked, so seriously that it took me a second to realize he was joking.
I laughed, but I didn’t get a chance to answer him before a twiggy, spandex-clad figure sprinted up toward us. It was Patience, dressed in fancy workout clothes, complete with wraparound shades and a complicated-looking runner’s watch. She glanced at Quinn with approval.
“I’m so glad you’re making friends, Delia,” she said, pumping her arms to keep her heart rate up while she jogged in place. “Gwyneth and I are going to capoeira later. Do you want to join us?”
“Uh—”
“Capoeira builds muscle tone and is an excellent form of self-defense. And some very important people take this class. We won’t be leaving for another”—she checked her watch—“forty-seven minutes if you’re interested. Quinn, do give myregards to Fiona and tell your father I’ll look forward to seeing him again soon.”
Then she dashed off.
“She’s energetic,” said Quinn.
“That’s one word for it,” I said as I started putting on my cover-up. But I’d forgotten that I’d put my phone in the breast pocket, and it fell out onto the sand as I pulled the shirt over my head. Quinn picked it up and handed it to me.
“Thanks,” I said, brushing off the screen. With a jolt, I saw that I’d missed a call. And the caller ID read “Out of Area.”
Quinn was saying something, but I didn’t really hear him. “Sorry—I, I just need to check this.”
“No problem,” he said as I punched in my password. The automated voice told me that I had one new message, from an unknown number, sent at 8:32 A.M. , and with a duration of fifty-six seconds.
There was a weird rushing noise in my ears, and Quinn and the beach and the ocean seemed to fade away as I waited for the message to play. It felt like the pause lasted forever before a woman’s voice finally began to speak.
But it was the wrong woman.
Delia, honey, it’s Nora. I’m in San Diego, staying at my son’s to help with his new baby, and the little devil keeps getting me up at the most ungodly hours. But since I’m up, I figured I’d take advantage of the time difference and see howyou’re settling in with your aunt. Give me a call when you get a chance, okay, hon?
Then she left her son’s number in California, which I didn’t have stored in my address book and which must have been unlisted to boot. Which was why it had shown up as “Out of Area.”
The disappointment was so intense that it felt like I’d been punched in the stomach. And this time there was no way to stop the prickling in my eyes. The tears were already poised to spill out.
“What is it?” Quinn was asking. “Delia?”
But I didn’t trust myself to speak without completely losing it. All I could do was flee.
Fourteen
I ran blindly toward my grandparents’ house, desperate to be where nobody could see me cry. I drew the line at sobbing in front of near-strangers, especially if they looked like Quinn. I heard him calling out, and I almost crashed into Charley on the stairs leading up from the beach, but I mumbled an excuse and pushed past her. I didn’t stop running until I’d reached the sanctuary of my mother’s old room and the door was safely closed behind me.
As crying fits go, this one was pretty severe. I kept telling myself that nothing had changed—I still knew about the satellite photos, and the first “Out of Area” call was still mysterious. And I tried to reassure myself that I was still going to be able to figure it all out. It was just the collision of a perfect golden
“ ‘Not good’ would be the understatement of all time.”
We’d arrived at the spot where I’d left my dad’s shirt, and I picked it up off the sand. “I don’t know if this will make you feel any better, but my mother has this grand plan that I’ll take over her company one day. But it’s a tech business, and I can barely even figure out how to turn my laptop on and off.”
“Mac or PC?” he asked, so seriously that it took me a second to realize he was joking.
I laughed, but I didn’t get a chance to answer him before a twiggy, spandex-clad figure sprinted up toward us. It was Patience, dressed in fancy workout clothes, complete with wraparound shades and a complicated-looking runner’s watch. She glanced at Quinn with approval.
“I’m so glad you’re making friends, Delia,” she said, pumping her arms to keep her heart rate up while she jogged in place. “Gwyneth and I are going to capoeira later. Do you want to join us?”
“Uh—”
“Capoeira builds muscle tone and is an excellent form of self-defense. And some very important people take this class. We won’t be leaving for another”—she checked her watch—“forty-seven minutes if you’re interested. Quinn, do give myregards to Fiona and tell your father I’ll look forward to seeing him again soon.”
Then she dashed off.
“She’s energetic,” said Quinn.
“That’s one word for it,” I said as I started putting on my cover-up. But I’d forgotten that I’d put my phone in the breast pocket, and it fell out onto the sand as I pulled the shirt over my head. Quinn picked it up and handed it to me.
“Thanks,” I said, brushing off the screen. With a jolt, I saw that I’d missed a call. And the caller ID read “Out of Area.”
Quinn was saying something, but I didn’t really hear him. “Sorry—I, I just need to check this.”
“No problem,” he said as I punched in my password. The automated voice told me that I had one new message, from an unknown number, sent at 8:32 A.M. , and with a duration of fifty-six seconds.
There was a weird rushing noise in my ears, and Quinn and the beach and the ocean seemed to fade away as I waited for the message to play. It felt like the pause lasted forever before a woman’s voice finally began to speak.
But it was the wrong woman.
Delia, honey, it’s Nora. I’m in San Diego, staying at my son’s to help with his new baby, and the little devil keeps getting me up at the most ungodly hours. But since I’m up, I figured I’d take advantage of the time difference and see howyou’re settling in with your aunt. Give me a call when you get a chance, okay, hon?
Then she left her son’s number in California, which I didn’t have stored in my address book and which must have been unlisted to boot. Which was why it had shown up as “Out of Area.”
The disappointment was so intense that it felt like I’d been punched in the stomach. And this time there was no way to stop the prickling in my eyes. The tears were already poised to spill out.
“What is it?” Quinn was asking. “Delia?”
But I didn’t trust myself to speak without completely losing it. All I could do was flee.
Fourteen
I ran blindly toward my grandparents’ house, desperate to be where nobody could see me cry. I drew the line at sobbing in front of near-strangers, especially if they looked like Quinn. I heard him calling out, and I almost crashed into Charley on the stairs leading up from the beach, but I mumbled an excuse and pushed past her. I didn’t stop running until I’d reached the sanctuary of my mother’s old room and the door was safely closed behind me.
As crying fits go, this one was pretty severe. I kept telling myself that nothing had changed—I still knew about the satellite photos, and the first “Out of Area” call was still mysterious. And I tried to reassure myself that I was still going to be able to figure it all out. It was just the collision of a perfect golden
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