And then there was Abe.
If Jen had to bet, who did she think the video cameras would capture?
Sure, Jen. Scofield winked. It’s just a matter of principle.
MARCH
To: “The Best Book Club in the World”
From: [email protected]
Hello Ladies!!!!
The book: This month, we will go dark and searing with a true crime read, THE MONSTER NEXT DOOR.
“How well do you know your neighbors?”
A husband, a wife living in a quiet town. No one suspected her tragic death could have been a murder until …
Five years later and two states over, the same man is widower-ed （if that wasn’t a word before, ladies, it is now!!!） Horrible luck or has the monster next door left a trail of bodies?
We’re definitely going in like a LION with this MARCH pick, hahahahaha!
The place: Deb Gallegos’s House, 7:30.
PS. Speaking of local monsters, I’m conducting a poll about whether to move our neighborhood St. Paddy’s Day Four Leaf Clover display inside this year … FOR PROTECTION.
Please weigh in!! United we stand.…
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
Annie was on her bed, folding laundry, when Lena called to ask about the dress code for Laurel’s graduation.
“Is a sundress appropriate?” Lena asked.
Annie glanced out her window. The sky and ground were the same dove white, and in between them were giant drifting snowflakes.
“How can you even think about sundresses in this weather?” she said. “It’s casual. I guarantee that whatever you put on, you’ll be the best-dressed there.”
“Does Laurel have a dress yet?”
Annie plucked Hank’s T-shirt from the laundry basket and shook out the wrinkles. “Laurel does not.” She folded the shirt, reached for another.
“Laurel does not what?” Laurel said. Her head poked in Annie’s doorway. She had on her snow jacket and hiking boots.
“Lena asked if you had a graduation dress.”
“Tell her I’m wearing sweats under my gown,” Laurel said, but she was smiling.
“Are you going up to Sierra’s?”
“Abe’s.”
“Again?” This was the second time in a week. “Is your phone charged?”
“Yep. I’ll be home for dinner, byeeeee.”
“She sounds happy,” Lena said. “Lighter.”
“She does.” Annie paused.
“But?”
“Have you met Abe?”
“He’s very handsome.”
“I think he’s on the spectrum.”
“Ah,” Lena said. “I can see that.”
“I mean, the kid has an aide. They pretend he’s a babysitter, but what seventh grader do you know who has a babysitter? I’m not trying to be judgey, it’s great if Laurel has neurodiverse friends, but … what do they have in common? Abe is really into video games and Laurel has been fighting all year to be treated like a grown-up.” Annie paused. “I just don’t get it.”
“For one,” Lena said, “he looks like a teen idol. And she wasn’t into running before this year either. She’s exploring new interests.”
“True.”
“How does she seem, in general?”
“Happier.”
“I would focus on that then. Maybe Abe’s company is just what she needs.”
* * *
Lena could have stayed on the phone with Annie all morning, but Annie had to dash off to the ice rink to drop off Hank at a skating party.
Lena half wished Annie had invited her to tag along. On this quiet Saturday, her house felt suffocating.
She switched on the news for some noise, opened her laptop.
Melanie had for years teased Lena about her shopping problem, and Lena always countered that clothing wasn’t inherently frivolous. Clothing announced who you were, Alma had taught Lena. Lena had even, for a millisecond in her youth, considered a career in fashion.
In another life, maybe she’d be behind a desk, barking orders at scurrying assistants.
It was the quiet, Lena presumed, that kept her mind perpetually tangled in all of these alternate paths: What if there had never been an accident, or what if she and Rachel had left Cottonwood together?
We can’t stay here.
The first time Lena thought it had been during Bryce’s funeral. Two middle-aged men in navy suits had materialized like FBI agents. Lena got a flare of adrenaline before realizing how silly she was being. Only on television did they arrest people at funerals.
Lena still had no idea if the men had been mourners or staff, but they’d helped Lena remove a hysterical Rachel from St. Mary’s and put her into the backseat of Lena’s car.