Chapter Nine Olivia
“That was quick,” Zack said as Olivia stepped back into the boat with a sigh.
They’d beaten the ferry to the marina, but Marigold hadn’t been on it.
According to Albert in the ticket office, Marigold had arrived forty-five minutes earlier in a private boat and then gotten into a taxi. She was gone. “So what now?”
“Just… hold on.” Olivia tried calling Marigold for the umpteenth time.
“Everything okay?”
“Just give me a second!” Olivia snapped. “I… I need to get in touch with a client before we lose reception on the water.”
“You didn’t take off for your own sister’s wedding?” he asked incredulously.
“Of course I did. I’m here, aren’t I? But that doesn’t mean I can just check out. Not all of us get summers off.”
“And not all of us have been tricked into believing moving money from one corporation’s account to another is a matter of life and death.”
“Do you have any original ideas?” Olivia asked as she opened Find My Friends and searched in vain for Marigold. “I feel like I’m arguing with ChatGPT.”
“Not really,” Zack said affably. “But I’m excellent at putting a new spin on old arguments. At least, that’s what my editor tells me. Now do yourself a favor and tell your boss you’re going to be unavailable for the rest of the weekend.”
“Do you have any idea how patronizing you sound? You barely know me. And you literally know nothing about my job.”
He had the decency to look somewhat abashed.
“Okay, fair point. You’re right—I don’t know you that well.
But I do know you’re super smart and it seems like a waste for you to spend your life at the mercy of greedy corporate clients who won’t even let you take the weekend off for your sister’s wedding.
But I get it—there’s comfort in feeling needed, in the status that comes from working at that kind of firm. ”
“I’m not sure taking one psych class at Vassar qualifies you to analyze me. If you need people to fawn over your ‘intelligence,’ stick with your college students, okay? They’re too young to know that you’re full of shit.”
For the first time, it seemed like her words managed to pierce his armor of smug self-satisfaction.
Olivia looked away, trying to ignore the twinge of guilt.
Then she turned the key, shifted into gear, and sped away from the dock.
The sky had turned a threatening gray, and she was eager to get back before the rain started.
The water was already choppy, and the boat pitched back and forth in the swell.
As the mainland faded behind them, Olivia tried to stay calm and focus on her next steps.
She needed to find a way to reach Marigold, to assure her that whatever she was feeling was normal, but that running away wasn’t the answer.
“Oh, hey—look at that!” Zack’s voice jolted Olivia from her thoughts.
She followed his gaze and saw a number of dark shadows in the water, about thirty yards ahead.
A moment later, the top of an enormous humpback whale broke through the surface.
A second followed shortly after, then a third and a fourth.
“Oh, wow!” Zack said, leaning over for a better look. “That’s incredible.”
“For the love of god,” Olivia grumbled, and yanked the wheel to the side, throwing Zack off-balance.
“What are you doing?”
“We have to go around. It’s illegal to get too close.”
“Just wait a second. This is amazing. I’ve never seen whales in the wild before.”
“I’ll buy you a ticket to a whale-watching tour later. I don’t have time for this right now.”
“Oh, come on, nothing’s better than the healing power of nature!” As if on cue, one of the whales breached, spraying them with water as its magnificent body flew through the air with the grace of a dancer and the power of a missile.
Thanks for that, buddy.
Before she could stop him, Zack turned off the engine and removed the key. The engine sputtered and they jerked to a stop. “Give that back,” Olivia snapped, reaching for the key, but he held it over his head, out of reach.
“Just look at the whales for sixty seconds. Then you can have it back. It’ll be good for you. Take a few deep breaths and—”
“Give me the fucking key!” She jumped and managed to knock it out of Zack’s hand, watching in horror as it bounced off the side of the boat and into the water. “Shit!” she screamed.
Zack leaned over and frantically pawed at the water. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” he said, then sat up and gave her a sheepish smile. “I guess even the backup keys should have the floaty thing, huh?”
“So this is all a joke to you?” Olivia tried to temper her fury. She wanted nothing more than to shove Zack over the side of the boat, but even half-mad with rage, she knew that a manslaughter charge would lead to more trouble than Zack was worth. Still, she was well and truly fucked.
“Oh, come on. This is going to be an epic story. It’s, like, biblical.”
“Okay, Jonah. While I’m delighted that you’ll be able to update the ‘two truths and a lie’ section of your Hinge profile, this is actually kind of a disaster for me.”
“It’ll be okay, I promise. You’ll reach your client. Just relax.”
That was it. There was no holding back now.
Those were the two most loathsome words in the English language.
Her whole body pulsed with anger as she thought about every patronizing douchebag who’d ever told her to just relax—the boys she’d yelled at for mocking a janitor’s accent in high school, the college dean who’d refused to correct a huge error on her transcript two days before law school applications were due, the third-year associates at her firm laughing over leaked nude photos of their client.
She’d spent her whole life being told that she was “too intense,” that she “couldn’t take a joke.
” She wasn’t going to let this condescending pseudo-intellectual nobody tell her to relax.
Olivia opened her mouth to unleash the tirade of insults sharpening on her tongue, but to her surprise, she began to cry instead.
Stop it, she told herself. She was Olivia Harding.
She didn’t cry. Let alone in front of other people.
She took a breath to steady herself, but when she exhaled, it released a sob instead.
“Oh god, I’m sorry,” Zack said, face falling. “You’re right. I don’t have any idea what I’m talking about. I can tell you’re under a lot of stress with the wedding and work and I shouldn’t have been so dismissive.”
“I’m not crying about the work.”
“Okay—whatever. It’s none of my business. I’m sorry.”
“It’s Marigold,” Olivia said, unable to hold it in any longer. “I don’t think she went to New York for her birth certificate. You don’t even need your birth certificate to get a marriage license in Maine.”
Zack’s eyes widened, but he didn’t say anything.
“I think she might be freaked out,” Olivia continued.
“And when she’s freaked out, she runs. Always has.
That’s why I need to find her—I need to talk some sense into her before she does something she’ll regret forever.
I can’t believe I’m telling you all this.
You have to swear not to tell anyone, especially not Jonathan. I know that’s breaking bro code, but…”
“I won’t,” Zack said gently. “But is this really your responsibility?”
Marigold’s always been my responsibility, Olivia wanted to say.
It was hard for people to understand, given the privilege Olivia and Marigold had now.
They had no idea what their lives were like before Lulu married Bill, when an eight-year-old Olivia had taken care of a five-year-old Marigold because their mom worked nights.
And then even after that—even when Olivia was no longer in charge of making dinner or scaring off the mice that pranced around their apartment every evening—she’d still been the responsible one, the straight-A student, the rule follower who covered for Marigold when she failed a test, scratched the car, or got busted for using a fake ID.
“What I’m saying is, can you really stop her?” Zack continued.
“No, I mean, I’m not going to drag her to the altar.
But she can’t just vanish like this. It’ll kill our parents.
” Olivia knew how much this wedding meant to Lulu.
Not just the party, but the peace she got from knowing that Marigold was settled, safe.
It’d be so different if Olivia were the one getting married.
If her own love life hadn’t been such a disaster, if her younger sister hadn’t gotten engaged first, all the pieces would’ve fallen into place so perfectly.
This weekend would’ve given Lulu the kind of peace she was looking for, that she deserved.
The tears returned, and Olivia searched her pockets in vain for a tissue. Zack reached into his shirt pocket and produced a white handkerchief with blue stitching. “Here, take this.”
Olivia examined it. “It has your initials on it,” she said between sniffles. “I don’t want to get snot all over it.”
“Isn’t that part of the appeal?”
She half laughed, half sobbed, then blew her nose. “Who carries monogrammed handkerchiefs?”
“It’s goofy, I know. But my grandma makes them for me, and I feel guilty when I let them pile up at home. And they’re better for the environment than tissues.”
“Too bad the whale didn’t know that. He would’ve dived down and fetched the key for us.”
“I know, right?” Zack leaned over the side of the boat and cleared his throat. “PLEASE HELP US, MR. WHALE. I’M A VEGETARIAN AND I VOTE FOR THE GREEN PARTY.” He sat up and turned back to Olivia. “That should do it. Just give him a second.”
Despite herself, Olivia smiled. “Don’t hold your breath. He’s probably pissed you threw away your vote.” She pulled her phone out and sighed. “No service. You?”
“I left my phone at the hotel.”
“Of course you did.” She opened the storage container under the back seats, pulled out an oar, perched on the stern, and began to paddle—a few strokes on the port side, a few on the starboard, repeat.
“Need any help?” Zack asked.
“Nope.”