trying them both since early this morning. She wants answers. What happened to Lily? Where is she? What did he do to her? But Dwight’s car isn’t in the drive. Neither is Lucas’s truck. Both should have been home by now.
“I was wondering when you’d come by.”
There’s a catch in Charlotte’s voice. Olivia studies her mom. Her cheeks are a deep red from the cold, blotchy from the wind. She pulls the blanket tighter around her shoulders.
Olivia shivers. She should have worn a thicker sweater. She didn’t expect her mom to be sitting outside. The wind always kept Charlotte in the house. But her mom didn’t answer the door when Olivia rang, so she thought to check the back, worried something might be wrong, only to find her here.
“Where’s Dad? I thought he’d be home by now.”
“He’s not coming home.” Olivia breathes through the panic pinching inside her rib cage.
“Did he decide to stay longer?” He’d told her two days. That put his arrival as yesterday. What’s the holdup? Did the conference go on for another day? Did he decide to visit a client?
Charlotte crumples a soiled tissue. She dabs the inner corner of her eye. Olivia leans forward to get a better look at her mom. The thin skin underneath her eyes glistens.
“Are you crying?”
Charlotte tsks. “For Pete’s sake, Olivia, must you point it out?” She quickly dries her face with trembling fingers. Concerned, Olivia reaches for her hand. Charlotte recoils. “Why are you here? Is it because of Josh?”
“Yes. But—” She stalls as a thought occurs and she rests a hand on Charlotte’s lap. “Is Dad with someone?” Have her mom’s suspicions been right all along? Did Dwight stay because he’s having an affair?
“I don’t want to talk about it.” Charlotte tears at the tissue, keeping her fingers busy.
“Is he with Lily?”
Charlotte’s breath flutters like bird wings. She shakes her head.
Olivia presses on. “I found Lily’s house in Oceanside. She wasn’t there. I spoke with a neighbor. Lily changed her name to Jenna. Jenna Mason. I think it’s pretty.”
Charlotte doesn’t react. She doesn’t even blink.
“Why do I get the feeling you knew that already?” Olivia whispers. “You knew Dad visited her, didn’t you?”
Charlotte plays with her fingers. She tugs at a cuticle. “Don’t be ridiculous.”
“Mom—”
Charlotte throws off the blanket, standing abruptly. “I’m going to open a bottle of wine. Do you want some?” She traverses the deck.
Olivia slowly stands, gawking at her mother.
“Get the glasses, will you?” Charlotte retreats into the house.
Olivia rubs her temples, feeling the early signs of a tension headache, and follows her mom into the house. Instead of retrieving the glasses, she trails her to the cellar, fed up with Charlotte’s deliberate avoidance.
Why can’t she talk about Lily? Is she scared? Did Dwight threaten her? Does she really not know anything? Highly doubtful.
Charlotte opens the cellar door with the lock on the outside, flips on the light, and carefully climbs down the narrow staircase. Olivia waits in the doorway.
“What do you think?” Charlotte asks. “The Sine Qua Non 2011 or 2012?”
“Sheesh, Mom.” Both bottles are valued over four hundred dollars apiece. She must really be upset with Dwight. His client gifted him the bottles and he’s been saving them for his and Charlotte’s fortieth anniversary in another three years. “A cheap cab is fine.” Drinking wine is not what Olivia had in mind, but she’ll play along. It might loosen Charlotte’s tongue.
“Really, Olivia. Don’t insult me.” Charlotte pulls a bottle from the rack and reads the label. “I need to make a point.”
The spiteful inflection in Charlotte’s tone prompts a memory. Lily locked in the dark cellar. Their mom’s silhouette in the doorway. As far as Olivia knows, it happened only once. The punishment must have been effective. Lily must have told Charlotte whatever it was their mom wanted to know.
Charlotte will continue to find excuses not to share why Dwight pursued Lily, what happened between them, and whether Josh had been caught in the middle and physically and emotionally suffered the consequences. She’ll blame it on the wine. She’ll stall. She might even faint, just so she doesn’t have to talk. She’s just that stubborn.
“What about the Daou red blend?” Olivia suggests, backing away from the door. The last thing she sees before she closes the door is Charlotte’s alarm. Olivia tells herself she’s not a bad person. Despite what Lucas thinks, she isn’t anything like her mom. She isn’t a daddy’s girl. She just wants some fucking answers. Her nephew needs his