Jenna stuffed her backpack and wrapped a scarf around her neck. Wasn’t it just yesterday that Kay knelt down and tied the scarf around her, pulled on her favorite fuzzy Strawberry Shortcake hat, and embraced her? At what point, exactly, did she stop hugging her children? It was like it was there one day and gone the next. Should she try now?
Hunter glanced at her and Kay grinned but maybe not fast enough. She didn’t think he saw it. He was struggling to zip his backpack.
“Here, let me help you with that.”
“I got it,” Hunter said, wiggling it until it suddenly zipped freely.
“Hunter, hurry up!” Jenna snapped from the front door. “If you want a ride from me, you have to come now. I can’t always be waiting for you.”
Hunter rushed toward Jenna as she swung open the door.
Kay hurried to follow them out.
Jenna groaned. “Hunter, you stink! What’d you do, use the entire bottle of Axe?”
“Shut up!” Hunter barked.
It was freezing but Kay continued going outside without a coat. “Hey!” she called.
They both stopped and turned. Kay waved. They stared.
“Hey, have a good day. I love-”
But they’d both already hopped into Jenna’s VW. Before Kay could wave again, Jenna had thrown it into reverse, backed out of the driveway, and they were gone.
The wind snapped, blowing her hair against her face and sending a chill through her sweater. She hurried inside. She had a showing in thirty minutes. Just enough time to go through Starbucks. Creamy, sugar-laden coffee never rejected her. She slid on her coat and grabbed her briefcase. She checked the oven and coffeepot and then headed to the front door, opening it so she could put out the trash before she left.
She gasped. “Jill?”
“I’m sorry. I was just about to knock. I didn’t mean to startle you.” Jill stared straight into Kay’s eyes, a stare so intense that Kay took a step backward, which Jill apparently assumed was an invitation in. She walked forward, backing Kay up a few more steps.
Usually very juvenilely coifed and dressed, this morning Jill wore stained sweats and a baggy T-shirt. Her hair was pulled into an unruly ponytail. Her skin, normally as clear as porcelain, looked weathered and flaky. She appeared self-aware, with a hand covering one splotchy cheek and the other combing through the hair at her scalp. “I’m sorry to drop by unexpectedly.”
“I was just on my way out.”
“Yes, I see that. Do you have a few minutes, though? I won’t take up much of your time.”
Kay found herself completely indecisive, unable to even answer. She was shaking her head one instant and nodding the next, giving plenty of mixed signals. She was only going to Starbucks, after all. But did she want this woman in her home?
“I know we don’t know each other well. But I don’t really… It’s just that I don’t have anyone to talk to. Some bad things are happening… and I…” Jill bit her lip and searched Kay’s eyes.
Kay’s fingers drummed against her thigh as she tried to figure out what to do. Did she really want to be in the middle of Jill’s drama? Plus, what would the other moms think?
Yet Jill seemed so desperate. For a woman with as much pride as Jill Toledo, she had to have a good reason for coming here looking like that. Was she drunk? This early?
Kay took a long look at her watch. “I’ve got a few minutes, I guess.”
“Okay.” Tears streamed down Jill’s face. “I know we only know each other from school, our girls knowing each other. This probably seems really odd.”
Kay gave a polite smile. “What’s on your mind?”
She took a tissue from the pocket of her coat. Tears now gushed down her face. She didn’t appear to be trying to get ahold of her emotions.
Kay gestured to one of the entryway chairs that was mostly used to throw coats on. “Maybe you should sit down.”
“That’s kind. Thank you.”
Kind? She was just trying to keep this woman from having a nervous breakdown in her entryway.
“My husband, Mike, is having an affair.”
The words hung in the air. Kay had to glance away. What was she supposed to say? And was it true? She’d observed Jill being the flirtatious one, wearing tight-fitting clothes. “How do you know?”
“I saw him. With her.”
“Aren’t you two getting a divorce?”
“How did you know that?”
Kay couldn’t even begin to backpedal on that one. “It’s just something that’s going around.”
“We’re trying to work through things,” Jill said, frustration lacing her tone. “We’ve been going to counseling. I thought there was a chance we could save the marriage. But he’s been acting very weird, very erratic. Sometimes he’s… I just don’t know what he’s capable of.”
Kay made an obvious glance at her watch. “I’m very sorry to hear that, but I don’t see how I can help.”
Jill, slouched in her chair and looking utterly pathetic, didn’t respond at first. Her bottom lip quivered. Through the front windows on either side of the door, the normal traffic sounds of the neighborhood filled in the silence. “I don’t guess anyone can,” she said, patting her face with the tissue. “It’s my problem, isn’t it?” Suddenly her tone took on an edge of defensiveness.
Kay tried a soft smile. She was probably coming off rude. She wasn’t trying to. Then again, she wasn’t really trying to help either. But what could she do? “Have you talked to your marriage counselor?”
“It’s three hundred dollars an hour. I’d sit there and spill my guts, and she’d just nod and tell me my feelings are normal. But honestly, this doesn’t seem normal. None of this seems normal. My whole life is falling apart. And Natalie…” Her words trailed off.
“Does she know?”
“She knows we’re having trouble. She’s very distant. Won’t talk to us much. I’m sure you can’t relate. Jenna is such a nice girl. I’m glad the girls are friends.”
Kay held back what seemed to be a natural response, that she could indeed relate to a daughter who had grown distant. But that might imply that she and Damien were having problems, and that was the last rumor she wanted to start.
“Kids are resilient” was all she could offer. “I’m sure she’ll be fine.” Another glance at her watch. Now Starbucks was out of the question. She loathed herself for even thinking it.
For the first time since she’d walked into the house, Jill seemed to be trying to compose herself. She avoided Kay’s gaze, stood, and feigned a smile as she stuffed the tissue back into her coat pocket. She turned and opened the front door, then walked out.
It caught Kay off guard. She stood at the doorway, watching the woman go, unsure why she suddenly left.
No, that wasn’t true. She knew.
She pulled her coat closed and rushed out the door. “Jill! Wait!”
Jill was unlocking her car door. She looked up.
“Please. Wait.” The cold air filled her lungs, and her breath froze in front of her. “I’m sorry. I… I sometimes don’t know what to say. You can ask my daughter.” She punctuated that statement with a sad smile. “How about some tea? I can fix us some tea.”
“Don’t you have some place to be?”
“I can make a quick phone call. Put it off for thirty minutes or so.”
For a moment, Jill looked indecisive, but then she walked toward the house. “I would appreciate it. Very much.”
The problem was that Damien didn’t have very many facts. The Web site provided no information about who was doing this. Besides what happened between the Caldwells and the Shaws, there was really nothing else there.
Edgar had twisted a paper clip-and his expression-out of form. “Underwood, you know what you do when you don’t have enough facts in a story? You go and get quotes from people who have strong opinions.”
Which was why Damien was now entering the police station at a little after ten in the morning. He checked in at the front desk and waited to see if the captain would come to the front.