Page 30 of Fever Dream

“No.Well, sort of.I don’t know.”

“Who suggested you take the trip?”

“Charles.A colleague of his had a cabin.He thought it would be good to get away.”

“So it was last minute?”

Very.“It sort of just popped up, the invitation.Charles thought it was a good idea.”

“You told your father-in-law that he was adamant.”

Charles had been adamant.Frantic almost.“He was very excited about taking Toby fishing.”

“It’s a long drive to the mountains with three young children, including a newborn.”

“It would have been, yes.”

“But you didn’t go.You didn’t take the trip.”

He knows this.“No.Phillip got sick.”

“Had he been sick before?Before that night, when you took him to the hospital.”

“No.”

“Your mother-in-law said he cried a lot.”

She would say that.“He had colic.”

“Is that what you think caused your nervous condition?”

“I don’t know.”

“Your neighbors told the police they believe you were suffering the baby blues.”

“Idle gossip means nothing to me.”

“You mentioned that Charles’s work had really picked up pace.Was that the reason he was so intent on taking a vacation?”

“I can't say what Charles was thinking.”

“You can't say?Or won't?”

“I can’t.”

“Your neighbors, one of them saw Charles talking to someone in a car.Not long before he went missing.”

I remember it well.I had been helping Toby with his homework at the kitchen table.Sometimes I can still feel his warm hand on my shoulder, pulling me toward him.Charles was outside with Eleanor, playing in the driveway.I heard the car pull up, and I looked outside.

Charles met me at the screen door.“Grace, I've got to go meet with that guy this evening, the one I told you about.I’m sorry.I won’t be here to help with the bedtime routine.”

I remember being surprised, but I think it was because he had mentioned this meeting before, and then it had been thrown to the wayside, forgotten.It happened all the time, especially with young children, so I brushed it off.

“What guy?”

“The guy that wants to buy the house.”

“We’re not selling the house?”