And then, she remembered, the next morning, Danny had called back. “Diana, are you sure about this?”
“Sure I’m sure!” she’d said. The two-carat square-cut diamond Hal had given her was sparkling on her finger, sending rainbow spangles against the wall as it caught the light. She couldn’t stop looking at it.
“It’s just… you’re still a baby. And Hal was…” His voice had trailed off. “Hal’s got kind of a history.”
“I know. He told me. He quit drinking when he turned thirty, though. I don’t think I have anything to worry about.”
No, you’re wrong, Danny could have said. He could have told her the whole ugly truth, could have explained what he’d meant by kind of a history. Instead, he’d said something like I just want what’s best for you, and If you’re happy, then I’m happy, and Daisy had ended the call, eager to get back to work on her registry, to tear out pages featuring possible dresses from the bridal magazines she’d bought and plan the menu for her wedding-night dinner.
“You told me he had a history,” Daisy said. “Isn’t that right?” Danny had barely mumbled his confirmation when Daisy continued. “Did you ever think that maybe you could have been a little more explicit? Like, maybe said, ‘Oh, by the way, he raped a girl when he was eighteen’？”
“Would you have listened?” Danny asked heavily.
“Of course! Of course I would have listened!” Daisy shouted. “My God, Danny. What would Dad think of you? He would have been so disappointed. He wouldn’t have cared that you’re gay, he would have loved you, no matter what, but if he found out that you didn’t look out for me, that you let this happen to me…”
“You didn’t want to hear it. You made that very clear. And anyhow, that wasn’t the end of it. I kept trying.”
“No, you didn’t!” Daisy was trembling with fury. She wanted to tear her clothes, she wanted to scream, she wanted to hit something. She’d never in her life imagined feeling so furious, so betrayed. “You never said another word about it!”
“No,” Danny said, very quietly. “Not to you. To Mom.”
* * *
Daisy’s legs felt like planks of wood, solid and unbending. Somehow, she got them to carry her into the bedroom. Lester stared at her unhappily as she pulled her suitcase out from its shelf in the closet and began to fill it with what she’d need for the weekend, pulling out handfuls of underwear and stacks of Tshirts without even a glance. She found a duffel bag for Beatrice. Then she took out her phone and punched in a number from her contact list.
“The Melville School. This is Crystal Johnson. How can I help you?”
“Crystal? It’s Daisy Shoemaker.”
“Daisy!” Crystal said cheerfully. “Everything okay?”
“I need to take Beatrice out of school for the rest of the week.” Lowering her voice, even though the house was still empty, Daisy said, “My mom hasn’t been well. We’re going to head up to New Jersey to see her.”
“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that! Well, it’s no problem.” Crystal laughed. “I swear, it’s like a ghost town here already. Half the kids took off early for Memorial Day. A bunch of the teachers, too. But I’ll be sure to let her advisor know.”
“Thank you. And, listen, this is a little delicate. But if Hal calls, looking for Bea, can you just tell him she’s with me? And that we’ll see him on the Cape this weekend?” The lies were flying out of her mouth, one after another, like a flock of birds she’d kept penned up behind her lips. “It’s kind of a mess. Hal thinks I’ve been doing too much for my mom, and that my brothers aren’t pitching in enough, and I promised him the next time she asked, I’d tell her no, and I did, but then my mom called me herself, and she was pretty insistent that I’m the one who has to help. So we’ll swing by her place on our way up, and Hal doesn’t need to know.”
“I gotcha.” The warmth in Crystal’s voice made Daisy’s eyes sting. “Family drama. Believe me, I completely understand. If he calls, I’ll just let him know that Beatrice is with you.”
“Thank you,” she murmured. She imagined that Hannah was with her, watching, following along as she made one last pass through the bathroom, gathering sunscreen, toothpaste, and soap. She called the pet hotel where Lester occasionally stayed, and made a reservation for a week, with some extra daily one-on-one time, because she felt terrible about leaving him.