insulted. Two days later, a sympathy card arrived in the mail, signed ‘From Talia and mother.’ There was no word from Glen.
Rob went back to his job, coming and going like a zombie. If people were questioning him at work about Chloe’s disappearance, he did not mention it.
Shelby let Jeremy stay home for a few days, and then, at Rob’s insistence, she sent him back to preschool. She knew that Rob was right. At home there were too many reminders of Chloe, and Jeremy needed distraction, not reminding. Shelby dropped him off, worrying at the sight of him trudging into school, listless, quiet, and unsmiling. But when she came to pick him up, he seemed better – wrestling and trading snacks with a friend. His gloom returned when he saw Shelby. Apparently he had forgotten for a moment that it would not be his mother picking him up.
The Saturday after they arrived back the phone rang. Rob had taken Jeremy to a softball game at the field by the elementary school. Shelby looked at the area code on the caller ID and did not recognize it. She answered the phone warily, afraid that it might be a reporter. Rob insisted that they avoid all contact with curious local reporters.
‘Mrs Sloan?’
It took Shelby a moment to recognize the voice at the other end. Then, she was flooded with relief. ‘Franny!’ she cried, greeting Chloe’s childhood friend. After years of helping out in her parents’ pizzeria, Franny had graduated from culinary school and moved to Los Angeles where she was now a sous-chef at an upscale trattoria. Despite the distance between them, Franny and Chloe had remained friends all their lives and saw each other whenever Franny came home to Philadelphia.
‘Mrs Sloan, I’m so sorry about Chloe. I should have called sooner,’ Franny said in a rush. ‘I didn’t know what to say. I can’t even really believe it’s true.’
‘How did you find out?’
‘My mom called me. She read about it in the Philly paper. She said it was only a little item – she almost missed it.’
‘I should have called you,’ Shelby admitted.
‘Oh no, not at all. I was just afraid to pick up the phone and hear your voice. I know how much you loved Chloe.’
‘Thank you. That means a lot,’ said Shelby. She could picture Franny’s round face, her shiny, black hair.
‘Is there going to be a . . . memorial or something? If there is, I will definitely be there. I mean, I feel like it isn’t real somehow. Maybe if there were a service . . .’
Shelby hesitated. When the minister from Rob’s church paid a call and mentioned the possibility of a memorial service, Shelby bristled at the suggestion. ‘We don’t know for sure that she’s dead,’ Shelby had insisted. Rob had frowned at her, but Shelby stuck out her chin defiantly. Of course, she knew – she was just trying to avoid the final pronouncement.
‘We don’t have anything planned,’ Shelby said. ‘They never found her.’
‘Oh no,’ Franny moaned. Shelby heard the thickness of tears in her voice. ‘Oh it’s too terrible.’
‘The Coast Guard mounted a search with boats and helicopters but they finally gave up,’ said Shelby. ‘I’ve hired people to continue searching for her but . . . so far . . . nothing.’
Franny sniffled, and then collected herself. ‘Do they know how it actually happened?’
Shelby didn’t even want to speak the words aloud. But then she thought, if anyone would be likely to know about Chloe’s drinking problem, it would be Franny. She decided to be blunt and gauge Franny’s reaction.
‘They said that it appeared that Chloe was drinking, and accidentally fell overboard.’
‘My mom said that was in the paper,’ Franny admitted, ‘I can’t believe it.’
Shelby’s appreciated her indignation. ‘Me neither. But Rob said that . . .’
‘What?’
‘He said that she had developed a problem with alcohol.’
‘No way,’ Franny protested. ‘Since when?’
‘Well, I don’t know. When was the last time you saw her?’
Franny thought for a minute. ‘Last time I was home. It was about a month ago. I came over for dinner. In fact, we were talking about the cruise. I was trying to tempt Chloe with this great bottle of wine I brought, but she said she didn’t want any. Now that I think about it . . .’
‘What?’ Shelby asked.
‘I actually remember wondering if she was pregnant again. Or trying to get pregnant. It never occurred to me that she might be . . .’