Rochelle’s ferry was due in ninety minutes.
“Relax,” said Johanna. “They know how to drive.”
“Perfect,” Sally said, with extravagant sarcasm.
“Could you come out and talk with me for a bit?”
Johanna meant the full-court press: more coffee on the back porch, in Adirondack chairs painted gray to match the ubiquitous gray of Vineyard shingles and relentlessly uncomfortable to sit on. The porch overlooked the beach she had just steamed up and back, trying—and failing—to exhaust her nerves.
“What is it?” she asked. She had sixty minutes to reclaim her car and pick up her roommate before Armageddon. “I had some things I wanted to do later. I mean, if I get my car back.”
“I thought you and I might take Phoebe over to the carousel,” said our mother. “We talked about that, didn’t we? On the phone?”
“Sure,” Sally nodded. “But not today.”
“Why not? I can come with you on your errands. Give us a bit of girl time. Do you need anything for school? There are a couple of new shops in Edgartown.”
Sally winced. It had been a full year since the last time Johanna had tried to take her shopping. “Mom, no.”
“Well, there are some antique stores. I’d be glad to buy you something nice for your room. I love that you’re getting interested in beautiful things.”
“That’s okay. The place I’m living in is furnished.” （Like Historic Deerfield, she nearly added.） “But maybe tomorrow?”
By tomorrow, who knew whether anyone in her family would still be speaking to her. The thought of it filled her with a kind of horrified giddiness.
“Maybe. Also, I need you to come and sign some papers. There’s an attorney in Edgartown who works with our firm in the city. I just need for you to sign them while you’re on the island. Lewyn took care of this back in the spring.”
Sally looked at Johanna. “What kind of papers?”
“Well, guardianship for your sister, in case anything happens, God forbid.”
She felt, suddenly, very cold. “That’s what you want? Me?”
Johanna nodded, but she seemed reluctant to look Sally in the eye. “Yes, of course. Who else?”
“Well, you might have asked. I mean, I wouldn’t choose me to take care of anyone.”
“This is not anyone. This is your sister.”
She could be anyone, Sally thought. “What about Uncle Bruce and Aunt Debbie?”
“What about them? They barely know her. They even asked me not to bring her to Passover last spring. They said they weren’t set up for a baby. You’re her sister. Harrison and Lewyn are her brothers.”
“And you want all three of us to take care of her? That’s insane, Mom.”
“Well, it’s not desirable,” our mother said tersely, “but these aren’t things you leave to chance. You can’t do that with a baby. You have to dot the i’s and cross the t’s. I don’t know why I’m always the only one thinking ahead. The rest of you just waltz along without ever once considering our family. Just sign the fucking papers, Sally. For me.”
Sally looked at her. This Johanna was not the same Johanna she had left behind, only a year before.
“Mom? Are you okay?”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” said our mother.
“Just tell me, why the urgency to do this now? You aren’t planning to hand over our sister and disappear, are you?”