She walked back to the kitchen slowly, rehearsing the speech she’d give, pausing twice to lean on the railing, pressing her hand against her side. She was bending over the dishwasher, unloading the mugs, when a wave of dizziness swept through her, the dull pain in her midsection flaring into agony. The windows and the water all went gray around the edges. No, she thought. Oh, no. Not yet. Please not yet. Ronnie grabbed for the counter, then the dishwasher door, and then the floor came rushing up to meet her. She heard the sound of her body falling, her head thudding against the hardwood, and then the darkness spilled over everything, the black erasing every bit of bright.
Sarah
Owen insisted on walking her to the car, even though Sarah said, “I’ll be fine.” When she arrived at the minivan, she stood on her tiptoes to kiss his cheek. She could see the brilliant blue of his eyes, but also the wrinkles around them; she could see the broadness of his shoulders, but also their weary droop. He was a man, not a prince or a magical escape hatch, the living embodiment of a Plan B. He was just a man, with good parts and bad, like all men （and all women）。
“Goodbye, Owen,” she said gravely. “I hope it all works out. Take care.”
He bowed his head and nodded without making a reply.
Sarah climbed into her minivan and clicked her seat belt into place. She hoped he found a way to purchase his family’s former land; that he could bring his children there for the summer, watch them swim across the pond, and grow up and fall in love.
She plugged her phone into the charger and had gone about fifty yards down the rutted dirt path when it started to buzz with incoming texts, one after another after another, until the buzzing was interrupted by an incoming call.
“Sarah?” Eli’s voice rang out through the car’s speakers. “Where are you?”
“I went for a swim.” A shamed flush spread from the crown of her head down over her throat and her chest. “I’m on my way home. Is everything all right?”
“Well,” Eli began. “Ruby and Gabe have called off the wedding.”
“What?” Sarah blurted. Then, “Oh, thank God.”
“Ruby was missing for a while, but she just came back, with Annette.”
“Annette?” Sarah blinked, and felt surprise, and a stab of rejection that she forced herself to ignore. Eli lowered his voice.
“Annette said that Ruby left Gabe a note, and then she kind of freaked out. She took off without her phone. She was walking down the road when Annette found her. She spent the night at Annette’s hotel.”
Sarah shook her head, stunned at the thought of Ruby doing something so impetuous and irresponsible. “And it didn’t occur to Annette to text us?”
“She didn’t know that Ruby didn’t have her phone. She thought we knew where she was. Or at least that we had a way to get in touch with her.”
Sarah rolled her eyes. “But Ruby’s okay, though? You’re sure?”
“She seems to be. She and Annette are here now. They brought doughnuts.”
“That was thoughtful.”
“Sarah,” Eli said. Sarah waited. A pulse of unease worked its way up her spine. Did he know what she’d been doing? Had he seen something? Had he spotted some text message, overheard some call? Quickly, her fear was replaced by anger: after the way he’d treated her, the way he’d ignored her; after what she’d seen that morning, on the beach, how dare Eli accuse her of anything?
“Come home,” said Eli. “Please. I need to talk to you.”
She swallowed hard and remembered what her mother had said to her, the night before. Marriages can survive a little resentment. Marriages can survive a lot of things.
She braced herself, getting ready for whatever would come next, and told her husband that she was on her way. She drove up Corn Hill, down the curve of the road and turned left into the driveway. Before she’d put the car in Park, Miles and Dexter were racing across the deck, with Lord Farquaad barking and wiggle-bottoming after them, and Eli was running behind the dog.
“What?” asked Sarah, jumping out of the car. “What is it?”
“It’s your mother,” Eli said, his voice low and his expression troubled as the boys came pelting across the driveway.
“Mommy!” shouted Miles.
“Safta fell down!” Dexter said.
* * *
Sarah ran up to the kitchen, with Eli right behind her, telling her he’d already called 911 and that an ambulance was on its way. “Keep the boys outside,” she told him, and ran up to the kitchen, where her mother lay on the floor, with Rosa kneeling beside her, holding Ronnie’s hand, with two fingers on her wrist, monitoring her pulse.