He laughed. “I tend to fuel up at a place called Black Rock. You’re not going to find as much here in Shoreline as in Seattle, or in San Francisco, I guess, but with Black Rock you won’t miss it, either.”
She gave him an appreciative nod. “Thanks. I’m Suzy, by the way.”
He gave her body another look, then extended a hand. “Good to meet you, Suzy. I’m Mike.”
She shook his hand, holding it just a tad longer than decorum alone would dictate. “Well, Mike, do you mind if I take advantage of short acquaintance to ask you another question about the neighborhood?”
He glanced at her shopping cart. She could see him doing the math based on her groceries-a woman living alone. A woman who might enjoy a glass of wine before eating her microwaved dinner, to take the edge off. And maybe another with dinner, to keep the edge off. And maybe another after dinner, to kill the edge entirely.
“Hey, happy to help.”
“So, I’ve got a Westie mix. Ginger’s her name. Where’s a good place to take her to let her off the leash?”
“Easy. Saltwater Park.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah. It’s at Richmond Beach. Right here in Shoreline.” He looked her up and down again. “And you look like you’re into staying fit, yeah?”
“You guessed it.”
“Well, you’d be amazed at the workout you can get going up and down the stairs there.” He smiled. “I go a lot around sunset. Probably be there tonight. You should come by. You could introduce me to Ginger.”
She smiled back. “I might just do that, Mike.”
24-THEN
Over the winter holidays, Livia heard the doorbell ring, and then voices in the foyer. The voices died down, and she thought whoever had come to the door had left. But a little while later, when she emerged from her room to get a snack, she found Mrs. Lone sitting at the kitchen table with a visitor. They were drinking coffee and laughing. Livia thought she had never seen Mrs. Lone so at ease and happy. But as soon as she saw Livia, her face closed up into its customary pinched look.
The visitor smiled when he saw Livia, then pushed back his chair and stood. He looked a little older than Mrs. Lone, with hair the color of sand mixed with ash. He wasn’t a big man, but there was something… solid about him. The way his feet were planted on the ground, the way his arms hung at his sides, maybe. It was as though he was relaxed, but also ready.
Mrs. Lone didn’t get up. Her voice cool, she said, “Livia, this is my brother. Officer Harris.”
The man glanced at Mrs. Lone and laughed uncomfortably. “Jeez, Dotty, you make it sound as though she’s committed a crime.”
Mrs. Lone made a noise that might have been meant as a laugh, but came out more as a grunt.
The man walked over to Livia and held out his hand. “If you want to be friends, you can’t call me Officer Harris. You have to call me Rick. Okay?”
Livia had learned a lot about how to shake hands since that first time with Tanya. Reminding herself to look in his eyes, she took Rick’s big hand in her smaller one and gave it an awkward squeeze. Rick squeezed back. It was only a slight squeeze, but she was aware of the strength behind it.
Rick smiled and released her hand. “It’s nice to meet you, Livia.”
This was one of the first things Nanu had taught her, and there had been countless opportunities to practice it at the Lones’ parties. So it was easy to respond, “It’s nice to meet you, too.”
“I’ve heard a lot about you. Dotty told me you got straight A’s last semester.”
If Mrs. Lone had told him anything at all about her grades or anything else, Livia thought, it could only have been because he had insisted. She glanced over and saw Mrs. Lone watching them. As always, there was something suspicious in the woman’s expression. And this time, somehow, something envious, as well. Livia didn’t know why, but she could tell Mrs. Lone didn’t want Livia talking to her brother.
But she knew the mention of her grades was intended as a compliment. It would be rude to offer nothing in return. So she nodded and said, “Yes.”
“That’s amazing. I mean, six months ago, you barely spoke a word of English, is that right?”
“Mr. Lone-and Mrs. Lone-they got me tutors.”
“Well, that was good of them. But even so, that’s quite an achievement. I think you must be very smart.”
“I… study a lot.”
He laughed. “I studied a lot, too. And I grew up speaking English. But I never got straight A’s.”
Mrs. Lone had called him “Officer.” Livia knew the woman wouldn’t like it, but she couldn’t resist asking. “Are you… a policeman?”
Rick nodded. “Twenty-five years on the job in Portland.”
Portland, she thought. Nason.
“What kind of policeman?”
Mrs. Lone stood. “Livia, my brother had a long drive from Portland, and he’s probably tired. So…”
Rick gave his sister a strange glance-half amusement, half annoyance-then looked at Livia again. “You know how you can tell you’re getting older? When your little sister starts treating you like an invalid. I’m a homicide detective, Livia. That means-”
“Murder,” Livia said.
Rick laughed. “Sorry. I should have known you’d know the word. Anyway, yes, just a humble Portland cop, taking a few days to visit his sister and her family.”
Knowing again that Mrs. Lone wouldn’t like it, Livia said, “What about you? Your family?”
Rick shrugged. “Being a cop can make it hard to have kids and all that. So no, Dotty and my four nephews are my family.” He smiled. “And now you.”
She didn’t know why, but that shrug was the first thing Rick had done that didn’t strike Livia as genuine. And while his answer about not having a family of his own had been smoothly delivered, Livia wondered why he felt he needed to explain. At least when he said she was his family now, it didn’t bother her-unlike with Mr. Lone, coming from Rick it didn’t sound like a threat or a trap. And he’d left out Mr. Lone when describing who was his family-what did that mean?
She didn’t know what to make of it all, and wanted to think about it later. So for the moment, she just said, “Okay.”
“I’m going to be here for a few days. If you ever feel like a break from studying, I’d love to hear about how things are going-school, life, whatever.”
The whole time they’d been talking, she’d been expecting him to say something about her “ordeal” or her “bravery.” She was intrigued, and glad, that he hadn’t.
Mrs. Lone’s pinched look became even more cramped. Not wanting to upset her or to offend Rick, Livia only nodded.
Rick reached for her hand and shook it again. “All right, then. It’s really nice to meet you, Livia. I hope we’ll get a chance to chat some more.”
25-THEN
During the same holiday Rick was there, the Lones’ four sons visited. Mr. Lone briefly introduced them to Livia, and they all reacted to her with varying degrees of curiosity, discomfort, and pity. Ordinarily, Livia preferred to eat alone in her room, using homework as an excuse, but while the sons and Rick were in the house, Mr. Lone insisted on taking everyone out to restaurants. These dinners were painful affairs, during which Livia could feel acutely that everyone wished she wasn’t there-everyone but Mr. Lone, who seemed to enjoy showing her off in public, and Rick, who was the only one who talked to her, even though her responses were awkward and uncertain.
One morning, Mrs. Lone came to Livia’s room and told her Mr. Lone was taking everyone to brunch. Livia understood this wasn’t an invitation, and that Mr. Lone was insisting. But she thought she couldn’t stand another meal with these people. So she said, “My stomach hurts. I think I’m going to stay in bed.”
Actually, her stomach did hurt. A few months earlier, she had started to bleed, and it was happening now. She knew what the bleeding was-it had to do with making babies, and in the village, the women used rags during the days when it happened. Here, they didn’t use rags; there were special pads that absorbed better. Mr. Lone had told her to ask for anything she needed, but she didn’t want him to know about the bleeding. Her body was beginning to change, with hair between her legs and bumps on her chest where before there had been only skin and muscle, and his bathroom visits had become more frequent, his staring while he touched himself more intense. So she used some of the spending money he gave her to buy the pads in a store, hiding them under her bed when she didn’t need them, and putting the ones she’d used at the bottom of the kitchen garbage when no one was around.