Page 32 of All These Beautiful Strangers

“Look, you or I can give my father a call if you really want,” I said, and I reached into my purse and held up my phone for emphasis. “But he’s in Aruba on business and I can tell you he’s not going to be very happy to be bothered.” I pulled up my father in my contacts and hovered my thumb over the “call” button.

My father wasn’t in Aruba. It was Sunday and he was either at home in the city or on the golf course with my grandfather. But I really didn’t want to explain to him why I was at the lake house.

“No, no, that’s all right,” the man said, scratching the back of his neck again. “Just be sure you lock up when you leave. It will be my ass on the line if you leave a door unlocked and someone gets in here.”

“Will do,” Greyson said.

After Mr. Martin left, Greyson and I combed the house methodically, room by room, but it was impossible to search every nook and cranny. When it started to get dark out, we agreed it was time to leave.

“I’ll drop you off on my way out of town,” I said.

“Thanks,” Greyson said.

I paused. I had never gotten to have that conversation with Claire.

“Actually, I’m kind of hungry,” I said. I glanced sidelong at him. “Do you think Claire would mind if I stayed for dinner?”

“The more the merrier,” Greyson said, leaning forward to adjust the air-conditioning. “And lucky you, Sunday night is sloppy joe night.”

“Oh boy,” I said.

At dinner, Nolan, the youngest, recounted jumping off the high board at the community pool, and Ryder grunted one-word answers any time he was asked a question. When we were done eating, I stayed to help Claire with the dishes as Greyson took Nolan upstairs for his bath and Ryder ambled away to play video games in his room.

“So, what were you and Greyson up to today?” Claire asked as she filled the sink with hot water. Steam peeled off the edges of the sink. “Please tell me he didn’t hold you captive in the den watching football all day.”

“No,” I said. “We were out, mostly. He took me to Mandy’s Ice Cream Parlor on Third. We took a little walk around the park.”

Shit. Was Mandy’s still there? I hadn’t been there since I was . . . like, seven. I peeked a glance at Claire to see if my lie had landed. She was nodding and reaching for the soap.

“Thanks,” Claire said. “For getting Greyson out of the house for a bit, getting his mind off things. He really needed that.”

Getting Greyson out of the house? Getting his mind off things? What, did Greyson not have friends or something? I mean, I guess it wasn’t that surprising. He was kind of obnoxious even if he was sort of cute.

“Um, yeah, sure,” I said.

“And I wanted to thank you for coming to your grandparents’ party for your mom the other night,” Claire said. “I know it meant a lot to them to have you there.”

“Yeah,” I said. “It was . . . nice . . . to be there. To be a part of it.”

“Hand me that plate, will you?” Claire asked, and I handed her the first dirty plate off the stack on the counter.

“Claire, speaking of my mother,” I said.

“Yeah?”

“Well, I was wondering . . .” I hesitated. “I don’t know, it’s just that, from everything you told me the other night about my mother, she seemed like a free spirit. Do you think maybe she got tired of being tied down? Maybe she wanted to make a clean break, you know? It’s not impossible, right? Do you think that’s why she left?”

Claire was quiet for a moment as she scrubbed the plate with soapy water. Then she set it down in the sink and turned off the running faucet. She turned to face me, her hands still red and wet from the hot water.

“Your mother didn’t leave you and Seraphina, Charlotte,” she said. “I knew your mother better than anyone and she would never have done something like that.”

“So she never mentioned leaving?” I asked. “Like even hypothetically? She never wanted something different?”

Claire chewed on her bottom lip as if she were having some internal debate.

“Claire,” I said. “Please.”

She sighed and looked at me. “Your mother always tried to keep this from you and Seraphina, but she and your father used to fight.”