Chapter Twenty-Two
Thursday, October 8
Isabel looked markedly different from the timid, tired woman who’d engaged with us in conversations about nap schedules and nighttime pumping. She’d always been undeniably lovely, but there had been too many distractions from it: her obvious exhaustion, the shadows on her face, her jumpiness. Now, her face practically glowed, and she looked relaxed in loose jeans and a hooded sweatshirt, a far cry from her usual tailored jumpsuits and cashmere cardigans.
“Surprised?” she asked, sounding almost sheepish.
Kira was stark white and looked like she was going to be sick. Selena’s expression was entirely unreadable, perhaps employing her courtroom-practiced poker face. But I could see that her hands were shaking. My whole body felt numb.
Vanessa walked out balancing a plate of food and two glasses of wine, clutching the tops of the glasses in her fingertips. “Oh great! You guys found each other. So we can get started.” She placed the plate and one of the glasses in front of Isabel, who patted her hand gratefully. Get started?
“Thanks,” Isabel murmured, taking a graceful sip of wine.
I couldn’t have formed words if my life had depended on it, so I was relieved when Selena was the one to speak up and said exactly what I was thinking, which was simply, “What is going on here?”
To her credit, Isabel held Selena’s gaze unflinchingly. “It’s a long story. I’ll get to it all. But let me first say that I am so happy to see you guys. I really am. I feel so connected to you. I know we haven’t known each other for that long, but you were my support system during one of the most challenging times of my life, and I honestly have missed you over this past week. I know this is weird—okay, more than weird—and I’m going to explain everything. But I’m just . . . glad to see you. Truly.” None of us said anything. “And I hope you’re relieved to see me, too. I mean, I’m not dead, so that’s good news, right?” She laughed hopefully.
“So you’re really okay?” Kira’s color had not returned.
“Well, I think I will be. But that all depends on you,” she said, seriousness returning to her tone.
“What do you mean?” I managed to choke out.
“And what are we doing here?” Having shed her poker face, Selena was looking at Vanessa angrily. Vanessa knew something that we all didn’t, after all; she was the one who had brought us here.
“Well, it depends what you mean by ‘here,’” Isabel said quietly, thoughtfully. “Here in Montauk? Or here in this moms’ group? Though I suppose the answers overlap.”
Selena looked at her icily, not appreciating having her question answered with a question.
Registering her annoyance, Isabel quickly began again. “I’ll start from the beginning: the fact is that we all have so much in common, don’t we? We’re all new moms to precious babies. We’re all Upper West Siders. We’re all smart, kind women, too, I’d say. But there’s one more thing that we each share that never came up in any of our meetings.” She paused. “You all know my husband. In the same way.” She took a beat again, slowly turning her gaze to each and every one of us. “And now that we’re gathered together, I’d love if we could talk about why you didn’t tell anyone about Connor’s misdeeds after I went missing, because that was the whole point.” She took a deep, frustrated breath. “And more importantly—let’s discuss how we can make it right.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
Thursday, October 8
For a moment, I was genuinely baffled. Indignant. I’d met Isabel’s husband only twice, and both times had been in the past week since she’d gone missing.
Then the light bulb went off. The guy in the bar bathroom. Slim suit, perfect build, haircut out of a J.Crew catalog. Connor. That was Connor. Of course it was. How hard my brain must have been working to conceal that fact from me when I’d seen him again. Flashes of him came back to me now. His cocky half smile as he slid another shot over to me. His stubble against my cheek as he stood behind me. This explained why I hadn’t liked him from the moment I’d laid eyes on him, or laid eyes on him again, at their house.
Not only had I had an awful experience just like the one Kira had disclosed to me—I’d had it with the same man.
And apparently, Selena and Vanessa had, too.
My instincts about Connor were right; I only wished the same instincts had kicked in sooner, on the night that I’d met him, before I’d let him walk me into that bathroom.