Chapter 23
I’M STILL STUCK ON what Ronnie said, that Julia disappeared like this once before,” Emily said after Nate was out of earshot, checking the AC. “What if this is all related?”
Nora shot her a skeptical look. “But we didn’t even know about her disappearing at the time. How would we figure that out now, all these years later?”
Emily chewed on her bottom lip, still thinking it through.
“Well… Ronnie said she didn’t come back from Coronado like she was supposed to.
Let’s say she stayed here on the island a few extra weeks.
Who else might know about it?” She cast her eyes toward the house, the living room, where a clanking sound suddenly arose, causing Nora to jump a little.
“Why don’t you go in there and ask him?”
The truth was, the last thing Nora wanted to do was talk to Nate, about anything. “No, you ask him,” she whispered, nudging Emily with her elbow.
Julia and Nate had been thick as thieves for most of their lives. It was entirely possible she’d told him something years ago that she had never told her sisters.
“Well, do you want the good news or the bad news?” Nate suddenly stepped back out onto the porch, wiping his hands on the sides of his jeans.
“Good,” Nora said, as Emily simultaneously said, “Bad.”
Nate chuckled. “You two never change, do you? Okay, I’ll say them both quickly. Bad news is the unit is totally dead and you need a new one. Good news is a friend of mine at school, her dad owns an AC company, so I can probably get him out here this afternoon, even though it’s a holiday.”
Right, Memorial Day. Nora had completely forgotten.
She had always loved the years their week here overlapped with the holiday, and they could walk to Glorietta Bay and watch the fireworks lighting up the sky across the water, over downtown San Diego.
Or sit on Orange Avenue and watch the parade in the morning.
“Thanks,” Nora said shyly, and shot Emily a look. Her eyes were daggers that said, Ask him! Ask him, dammit!
Emily sighed, and Nate started walking back toward his own house. “Hey, Nate!” Emily called after him. He stopped and turned around. “Um… Nora and I were just wondering. That thing Ronnie said about Julia disappearing one other time, years ago. Well… do you have any idea what she was doing then?”
Nate ran his hand through his hair and looked down at his sneakers for a moment, but he didn’t immediately say anything.
“I mean, Nora was thinking,” Emily continued. “And I guess I agree… that maybe if we knew that information, it might somehow give us an idea of where she is now.”
Nate shook his head. “I don’t think—”
“Dad!” Mallory ran out of his house next door and skipped across the lawn. “Mrs. McAllister made blueberry pancakes!” She wrapped her arms around Nate and gave him a hug.
She was still sweet for twelve. Or maybe just so entirely different from Emily’s stepsons, who were about the same age but wouldn’t dare be seen hugging their mom, or their Emma, in public, much less in front of other adults they knew.
“Blueberry pancakes!” Nate said. He flashed a quick grin at Emily and Nora. “I’m sorry. Gotta run. They’re my favorite and breakfast is the most important meal of the day. I’ll let you know what time they can stop by to install a new window unit, okay?”
Mallory skipped back across the yards and Nate jogged to keep up with her.
Nora shook her head. “Damn. Saved by the blueberry pancakes.”
“But he was acting sketchy as hell, right?” Emily said. “It wasn’t just me?”
Nora nodded, though she wondered if the weirdness they were sensing was because of her.
“So, what this all boils down to,” Emily continued, “is that Julia has had a secret for the last ten or fifteen years that she never told us about?” Emily suddenly felt irritated, both at Julia for keeping something from them and at herself for not noticing.
“But Nate knows something,” Nora said. “And maybe we’re grasping at straws here, but we have nothing else to go on, do we?”
Emily nodded in agreement.
Nora glanced at Nate’s house, swallowed back the shame she felt every time she thought about last May, took a deep breath, and walked down the porch steps.
“Where are you going?” Emily called after her.
“I’m suddenly in the mood for some blueberry pancakes,” Nora said resolutely as she strode across the front yard.