a deer in the road on his way back to the city, the car on the verge of going into a ditch, a close call that had him severely rattled. Until news of Maggie’s death started to emerge. Charlie, who was young and in love with Rory, and had once hoped Rory would leave Maggie for her, began to grow alarmed. When she started asking questions, Rory’s father paid her to keep quiet and then slammed her with a nondisclosure agreement so steep it guaranteed she’d stay that way.
For years, she’d tried to leave it behind her, until the rumors of Rory’s run for Senate surfaced. Charlie was no longer a scared twenty-year-old. Like many, she’d grown tired of watching powerful men never being held accountable, boys will be boys evolving into an impenetrable armor, shielding them from blame.
The media had a field day. Revisiting the summer Maggie Moretti died, reprinting old articles with updated information, interviewing her friends again, this time adding in Charlie and her relationship with Rory, which overlapped the one he had with Maggie by several months. Everyone wanting to know more about the love triangle, to look into every corner and see something new. To be the outlet that got the newest morsel to dish out via Twitter.
I’ve tried to stay out of the spotlight, but Kate Lane was right. My first week back, I’d made the cover of People, my face turned in three-quarter profile, my hair returned to its original shade, and the headline “Resurrected.”
While most people were sympathetic, having harbored doubts about Rory’s involvement in Maggie’s death for years, there were others who attacked me viciously, questioning my character, calling me a gold digger, a vindictive wife bent on destroying all the Cook family had built. Blaming me for the fact that the Cook Family Foundation was now under investigation by the New York Attorney General for allegations of misuse of charitable assets and improper self-dealing.
Through the LLC documents, my attorneys have been able to shield me from legal jeopardy, and I’m free to leave the state. New York isn’t home anymore. I can’t wait to get back to California and away from this circus.
I enter my office, where stacks of boxes line the walls. Armed with a very specific list and a limited window of time fiercely negotiated by my attorneys, I’m here to get what belongs to me. My clothes. My jewelry. My personal items. My gaze falls on the photograph of my mother and Violet on the wall, and this time I lift it off its hook and place it with the other things I’m taking with me. I let my eyes linger on my sister’s smile, the way the dimple creases her left cheek, the way the sun shines through her hair as it blows in the wind, making it look like spun gold. The memories feel sweet when they come, instead of the sharp ache I’ve been running from for so many years.
I pick up a small statue, six inches tall, an original Rodin that Rory bought last year, and think of how much money I could get if I sold it. But it’s not on my list. Aside from my own things, all our joint assets are locked down, though really there’s very little I want or need in my new life in Berkeley.
Kelly had helped me find an apartment. I’d called her a few days after my CNN interview, after I’d met with my attorneys and begun the long process of unraveling everything I’d done.
By that time, I was leading the news on every network and cable news show. “Holy shit, Eva,” she’d said, and then caught herself. “Sorry. I guess I should call you Claire.”
I smiled and sat down on the bed in the hotel room my attorneys were paying for, exhausted from hours of depositions. We were only going to be there for a few more days, and then I’d have to return to New York to finish up. I imagined her on campus somewhere, her backpack heavy with books, pausing on one of the shady paths that crisscrossed campus to take my call. “I’m sorry I misled you.”
“No, I’m sorry the job I got you started this mess.”
“It would have happened eventually, one way or another. The life I was trying to live would have been unsustainable.” I cleared my throat. “Listen, you mentioned you could help me find a place to live? After all of this is finished, I’d really like