20 Suzy
Suzy
“It’s Tini,” Hazel said unnecessarily. Because who else could it be?
Everyone else was in the room. Marley, Juliet, and Hazel ran for the stairs.
Suzy followed, hazily formulating a plan.
When they got to the second floor, Marley and the others kept going to the third.
Once they’d disappeared up the stairs, Suzy tiptoed off to her own room.
The notes were in the drawer of her bedside table. Hastily, she grabbed all three and went to the bathroom. She closed the door behind her and was about to drop them in the toilet when she paused. She looked down at Juliet’s note.
Lincoln did a paternity test on the sly. Beckham is his son.
Trembling with adrenaline and dread, she took a step back.
What if this note could actually be helpful?
Maybe she could use it to her advantage somehow.
With Hazel? She wasn’t sure, but it felt, suddenly, like she needed time to think about it.
She was too tired and hazy and stressed to make snap decisions right now.
Her cosmetics case yawned open on the counter.
Suzy shoved the notes under the compacts and brushes and zipped up the case.
Then she ran out and upstairs to the third floor.
Before she could get to the former theater / now nursery, Juliet and Tini rushed out, both holding babies, who were screaming bloody murder.
Suzy nearly tripped herself when she saw that Hazel was curled up against the wall outside the door, knees to her face, sobbing.
What was she doing? It was her kids inside that room.
“A tree came through the roof and destroyed the window,” the nanny said, handing Lincoln’s son Thomas off to Suzy. His tiny face was screwed up in anguish, all red like a fire truck. “There’s glass everywhere. We need to get the kids out.”
Juliet took Beckham away from the cacophony, walking toward her room at the far end of the house as she cooed to him. Suzy, however, couldn’t resist a peek inside. She bounced Thomas, shushing him as she approached the door of the room.
The top half of a pine tree had speared the window, and the wind had spewed rain across the furniture and the floor, where glass shards glittered and gleamed.
Hazel’s two other children, one girl and one boy, huddled on the top bunk of the bunk bed that stood along the side wall.
There were two cribs set up in the room as well, and toys were strewn everywhere along with branches and pine cones.
Luckily the tree hadn’t hit on the side of the room set up for sleeping.
Instead it had taken out what looked like an elaborate climbing apparatus—a jungle gym inside the house.
“Can we see?”
Suzy startled. The twins were behind her, one of them with her GoPro out on a stick, the other still holding Wintour.
God, she was sick of the way these girls were acting like her dog belonged to them.
She would have taken her back if she didn’t have Thomas in her arms. When had they gotten up here?
If either of them had seen her peel off . . .
“Be my guest,” Suzy said, narrowing her eyes and stepping to the opposite side of the doorway so that they could get a better view of the chaos.
Hazel’s little boy was crying. His sister held him and smoothed his hair down over and over again.
Immediately she thought of Kasie and Elton, separated both from her and from each other up at that camp.
She hoped they were okay. She hoped she could get the hell out of here soon and go see them.
This whole trip was a mistake. Sending them there was a mistake.
It felt like literally everything she’d done lately had been a mistake.
“Hazel. You need to go in there,” Suzy said.
She had practically backed into the woman to let the girls past. They were now inside the room, filming Tini and Marley as they tried to coax the kids off the bed.
The two of them had pressed themselves all the way back against the wall on the top bunk and weren’t budging.
“I can’t I can’t I can’t I can’t I can’t,” Hazel sobbed.
Suzy took a breath. Okay. Clearly Hazel had finally broken down. She shifted Thomas in her arms so that his face was over her shoulder, and patted his back. His cries began to subside into little hiccups.
“Olivia, Benjamin, it’s gonna be okay,” Marley said, climbing the bunk bed ladder and holding out her hands. “But we’ve got to get out of here. Can you reach for me?”
At least Marley had spent some time with these two and knew their names.
She was so good with kids. She and Marshall both.
And they wanted a family so badly. It was no coincidence that they had both chosen jobs that kept them close to children.
And Marley had won Teacher of the Year twice in the five years she’d been at Essex Country Day.
Suzy knew from experience that was a coup.
The school was the type of place that tried to spread the wealth to keep everyone happy.
Marley’s talent with children was just that undeniable.
“I want Mommy!” Benjamin cried, cuddling closer to his sister. Suzy glanced down at Hazel. Nothing.
The wind screamed through the jagged opening in the window. Suzy felt like they were under siege.
“I know, buddy. Mommy’s right outside! I can bring you to her. All you have to do is take my hand, and we’ll go get Mommy.”
At Suzy’s feet, Hazel’s whole body racked with sobs. She really didn’t think Mommy was going to be doing anybody any good right now. Both kids stared at Marley with big brown eyes. It was clear to Suzy that they weren’t going to move.
Then, Marley stood up straight, and her entire expression changed. It was full of mischief. “If you kids come with us right now, you can have ice cream for lunch!” she singsonged.
“Marley!” Suzy blurted, shocked.
The kids looked at each other, and then Benjamin detached himself from his sister’s arms and launched his little body at Marley, while Olivia crawled across the mattress and into Tini’s waiting arms.
The women rushed out, followed by the twins, who scurried right off together, taking Wintour with them. Tini slammed the door. Marley put Benjamin down, and he immediately went to Hazel. “Mommy? Are you okay?”
“I can’t I can’t I can’t I can’t I can’t.”
Suzy and Marley locked eyes. “I’ll go get the kids that ice cream,” Suzy said. “Why don’t you take care of Hazel?”
Marley nodded. “Mommy just needs a little rest, Ben. You go with Aunt Suzy and Tini, okay?”
It took a moment to detach Ben from Hazel, but they managed it, and together they got the three kids downstairs. Sean was waiting for them on the second floor.
“What happened?” he asked.
“Tree came through the window,” Suzy explained. “We’re going to need to find someplace else for the kids to crash.” She glanced past them. “Where’s Marshall?”
“He tried Josh again and didn’t get an answer, so he went outside to see if his car is here,” Sean explained.
“He thinks he drove off? In this weather?” Suzy asked, still holding the baby in one hand and Ben’s hand in the other.
“He could have left last night, before it got too bad,” Sean explained, his words heavy with meaning. “No one has seen him since the fight.”
He could have fled the scene, Suzy thought.
She was ashamed of the hope that blossomed in her chest. Josh was her friend.
He was Juliet’s husband. But he was maybe also possibly an abusive spouse.
And if Josh was guilty, if he was responsible for Lincoln’s death, that meant Sean would be off the hook.