Chapter 19
The day after Vivian came over for pizza and to share her stories, Rebecca woke up at the crack of dawn to watch the sunrise over the mountains. Shivering in a sweater, she sipped her coffee outside and tried to prepare her heart for the day that was to follow. She was terrified it wouldn’t work.
Soon, Lily and Chad came out to sit with her, both of them stoic. Nobody wanted to ask the question that they couldn’t get out of their minds. What if she doesn’t want to come with us?
Vivian had spoken about how they needed to reprogram Shelby, that Jared had done a real number on her sense of self.
Rebecca was terrified that the woman they were trying to rescue had nothing of Shelby in her anymore.
Shelby, her sweet middle child, her sweet youngest daughter. What if she was gone?
Vivan wrote midmorning to say that Jared’s truck was still in the driveway. “I think I can’t break the air conditioner today,” she said. “And I really don’t think Shelby will take the kids to the stream, not when Jared’s home.”
Rebecca’s chest felt like an open wound.
“Tomorrow,” Lily said sternly. “It’ll happen tomorrow. We can’t rush it.”
Shelby knew that Lily was right. But the anticipation was killing her. She wanted Shelby and Shelby’s babies in her arms as soon as possible. She wanted to get on a plane back East yesterday, not tomorrow.
That night, to distract themselves, Rebecca, Shelby, and Chad went into town for dinner.
Just like Bar Harbor, it felt like a smallish town where everyone knew each other and gossip ran wild.
Sitting with their burgers and dully watching the television, they happened to overhear a few employees complaining about their boss.
It wasn’t till they called him “King Kissinger” that Rebecca put two and two together.
Lily caught on, too, and they focused in, listening as the employees talked about how Kissinger had been out the past few days with a cold but had terrorized them with awful emails and phone calls all day, checking in on things.
“Sometimes I wonder if he’s a sociopath,” one of them said, taking a french fry from the other’s plate.
“I was reading about narcissistic personalities,” the other said. “My wife told me to quit, but…”
“The money. I know,” the other said, shaking his head. “He’s got a death grip around all of us.”
Rebecca ached to ask them more information about Jared and his work, but Lily gave her a look that meant, don’t ruffle any feathers. They didn’t want any news getting to Jared before they got Shelby out of there if she came at all.
The following morning, Vivian wrote to say that Jared’s truck was gone.
She was going to head over and try to break the air conditioner to lure the kids and Shelby out.
Rebecca, Lily, and Chad waited at the kitchen counter, gripping their mugs of coffee, aching for an update.
Only fifteen minutes after that message, Vivian sent another.
VIVIAN: Actually, they’re already by the stream. They’re already out! I didn’t need to break anything. Come quickly. Park at my place and walk east down the stream, so nobody spots you at their house. I’ll make sure she stays out. (But I won’t chase her away! I hope!)
Terror gripped Rebecca’s heart. Chad grabbed the keys, and the three of them ran to the rental SUV and sped off to Vivian’s place.
Rebecca prayed that Shelby wouldn’t take the kids back inside.
But if she did, Rebecca wasn’t sure if she could resist storming up the back way and entering the house herself.
She’d come all this way. She was a mother on a mission.
When they reached Vivian’s place, which was a tiny cabin in the middle of the woods, they leaped out of the SUV and traced a path to the stream.
Up here by Vivian’s place, the stream was rushing, casting white over the stones, but as they neared Shelby’s place, the stream slowed and deepened, allowing a nice area for swimming.
From between the trees, Rebecca first spotted a little boy of five.
She nearly fell to her knees at the sight of him.
Billy. It was her grandson, Billy. And behind him was a little girl not much younger than he was.
They splashed and called out, laughing. Rebecca couldn’t believe it.
Were they actually going to make this work?
It was then that Shelby and Vivian came into view.
Vivian was on Shelby’s picnic blanket, eating a sandwich and talking quickly.
At the sight of Shelby, pregnant and beautiful yet exhausted with bags under her eyes and hollowed-out cheeks, Rebecca stumbled on a branch beneath her feet.
Chad reached for Rebecca’s hand to steady her, and Lily gave her a big-eyed look.
“That’s her,” Rebecca breathed, although everyone knew.
Rebecca stifled a sob. From the looks of things, Vivian was doing her best to keep Shelby occupied.
Shelby looked vaguely irritated, although, Rebecca guessed, Shelby liked the company, too.
Usually, Shelby was alone with three kids.
Speaking to adults, sometimes, was essential.
Rebecca wondered if this was part of the reason Shelby had come to the stream.
She’d wanted to lure Vivian outside, just as much as Vivian had wanted to lure Shelby.
When they reached the clearing opposite Shelby and Vivian, Vivian let her hands fall and looked across the way.
Shelby followed her gaze. Rebecca looked at her daughter, raising her hand.
Shelby popped to her feet, mesmerized. Nobody knew what to say.
Above them, a mighty eagle swooped low, and a shiver went down Rebecca’s spine.
“Who are you?” Billy asked from the water.
Rebecca’s chest heaved. Quickly, she removed her shoes and stepped into the water. At this, Shelby took a step away from the water, as though she had to keep a particular distance. Lily and Chad followed suit, joining Rebecca in the stream. Shelby looked like she was shaking.
“Are you coming over?” Billy asked.
“I think so,” Rebecca said. “I need to talk to your mom.”
“Do you know my mom?” Billy asked.
“I do,” Rebecca said, laughing, her eyes on Shelby. “We love her very much.”
“You love her?” Billy asked, surprised.
Chad raised a hand, an offer of a high-five to Billy, but Billy just looked at it, as though he’d never given a high-five before. Chad let his hand drop down.
Shelby picked up her youngest daughter and held her against her chest. “You shouldn’t be here,” she said under her breath.
Vivian stepped away from the blanket, trying to give them space. So far, Shelby hadn’t put it together that Vivian was the reason they’d been able to come, which was good. Rebecca wanted to help her daughter manage her emotions. She wanted to keep things calm.
“We just want to talk,” Rebecca said. She stopped in the center of the stream and felt the water rush around her calves. It was cool and calming. It reminded her to breathe easier.
“You don’t want to talk,” Shelby said. “You want to tell me that I’ve done everything wrong.” There was a terrible jump in her voice.
“Honey, you haven’t done anything wrong,” Rebecca said.
Lily took another step toward her sister. Her cheeks were wet with tears. “Your children are so beautiful, Shelby,” she offered.
Shelby softened the slightest bit.
“Mom, who are they?” Billy asked. He went back to shore and scrambled up and away from them. His sister followed his lead, and they stood on the grass, dripping and looking at them.
“Five minutes of your time,” Rebecca said to Shelby. “Please?”
Shelby adjusted her toddler on her hip. She looked sticky and hot and burdened. “Come on,” she said, gesturing toward the picnic basket. “Do you want a snack?”
“We’re not hungry,” Chad said.
“You were always hungry, Chad,” Shelby said, offering the smallest of smiles. And then she said, “I got your invitation.”
Chad wiped the sweat from the back of his neck. “We really want you there.”
Shelby’s cheeks were red. Another beat passed. Rebecca continued across the stream, then got out, grateful for the grass between her toes. Lily and Chad followed her. Shelby remained on the blanket, her eyes widening. But there was no turning back.
“We’ll watch the kids,” Chad said, plopping down on the blanket. “You go talk.”
Shelby looked uncertain. Slowly, though, she put her toddler down beside Chad and whispered, “This is Evie. That’s Penelope, and that’s Billy.”
Their names were like music in Rebecca’s heart. “It’s beautiful to meet you, Billy, Penelope, and Evie,” she said.
“Who are you?” Billy demanded again.
Rebecca’s eyes danced to Shelby. Did she dare?
“This is your grandmother,” Shelby said finally. “You can call her Grandma.”
“Grandma?” Billy’s eyes widened. Rebecca wondered if he had any relationship with Jared’s mother, Monica. From the looks of things, Monica and Jim had shoved Shelby and Jared as far away from them as they could—away from Massachusetts, away from Harvard.
There simply wasn’t any love there, Rebecca knew. She’d sensed it the first time she’d met Monica and Jim. In fact, their love for their son was simply contractual. When Jared didn’t fulfill his duty—of graduating from Harvard, she guessed—they stopped loving him.
Rebecca knew that hadn’t been a good way to grow up. She knew that this was the root of Jared’s problem. Jim and Monica had raised him, and he didn’t know what real love looked like. But Shelby knew. She knew how to love. And Jared had swallowed her love up, leaving her empty and broken.
Rage bubbled in Rebecca’s stomach.
Shelby led Rebecca and Lily to a large oak tree about twenty feet away from where Chad, Vivian, and the kids remained. From here, they could hear Chad, already playing with them and making them laugh. They probably weren’t accustomed to men like Chad.
Shelby’s tone was icy, and she crossed her arms over her chest, as though she wanted to protect herself. “What are you doing here?”
Lily and Rebecca had rehearsed what they wanted to say. They’d googled the right language to use, especially when it came to battered women like Shelby. But in the moment, Rebecca panicked. She forgot all of their studying. She needed her daughter to know she was loved.
“Honey, this has to stop,” Rebecca said.
Lily winced. “We want you to come back to Nantucket with us. For a visit.”
Shelby sniffed. “That’s out of the question, obviously. We live here. Jared’s at work.”
“We know Jared’s at work,” Rebecca said. “That’s why we’re here. We want to take you while he’s gone, because we know he wouldn’t let you come otherwise.”
Shelby lowered her gaze. “He isn’t like that,” she said in a meek voice.
“Shelby, he is,” Lily said, reaching for her sister’s hand.
Shelby flinched but let it happen. “He’s always been manipulative.
He’s always been controlling. I imagine it’s only gotten worse since you moved out here.
And I hate that we haven’t come and pulled you out of here earlier, but we’re here now.
We can’t sit by and watch it happen. Think of your babies.
Look…” Lily turned to look at Chad and Billy, splashing one another in the stream while Penelope and Evie cackled.
“They need to have family around. And look.” Lily pulled out her phone and showed Shelby photographs of her daughters, Arianne and Natalia.
Shelby’s face went pale. She clutched the phone, gazing at her nieces, as though she’d never imagined anything so beautiful.
“Oh, Lily,” Shelby said gently. “They’re gorgeous.”
“And they don’t know their Aunt Shelby,” Lily stammered, taking her phone back.
“They’ve heard of you, and they know that you’re missing, and they know that makes me sad.
But they can’t understand what you mean to me.
They can’t understand how wonderful you are.
And I think that sucks, Shelby. That just simply sucks.
” Lily stomped her foot, looking more like a child than the twenty-eight-year-old she was.
But Rebecca knew that when it came to love like this, you couldn’t control how your body showed it. Rebecca felt as though she might fall to her knees at any moment and beg.
Shelby closed her eyes but remained quiet.
It was Rebecca’s turn to say something, and Rebecca pleaded with her, telling her about her aging grandparents, about Nantucket Island and its gorgeous beaches, about how she’d been missed at every family party for nearly six years.
She told her how much she wanted to know and love her babies.
And she told her—her voice shaking—that she didn’t have to leave Jared for good.
“We just want you to come back to Nantucket and think for a little while. We want you to ask yourself, is your marriage really healthy? Is this how you want your life to be?”
Shelby chewed her lower lip. Something like anger flickered behind her eyes, but she didn’t say anything.
The sun had shifted. Rebecca had the sense that they’d lost too much time, and Jared would be home any minute. Panic shot through her. She looked at Lily, ready to retreat and try again tomorrow. But Lily looked resolute. She wasn’t going to leave here without her sister.
Finally, Shelby took a staggered breath. “He won’t let me go. You’re right about that.”
At this admission, Shelby nearly collapsed. Rebecca and Lily stepped forward to steady her.
“When was the last time you ate something?” Lily demanded.
Shelby shook her head, suddenly weak. Together, they walked her back to the picnic basket, where they pulled out cookies and sandwiches and fruit and demanded that she eat.
Shelby sat on the blanket and nibbled at a sandwich until her eyes cleared.
Penelope came over and touched her mother’s shoulder, then kissed her ear. Rebecca’s heart nearly exploded.
When Shelby finished her sandwich and started in on a cookie, she raised her chin to look at Rebecca. “All right,” she breathed. “But it’s now or never.”