Maggie
Maybe she wasn’t fair to him. Maybe he had a reason for not telling her.
But her first day here, he looked her straight in the eye and said he’d never heard of Chip.
He could’ve filled in some missing pieces, could have painted a fuller picture.
She looks at Rhonda. “I just found out Elliot knew Chip, too.”
“I just want to help.” She wants to say that actually, she’s very impatient. She wants to tell Rhonda that she’s getting nervous that summer is winding down and she has no plans in place. She wants to say she came here for answers, but in some ways, she only has more questions.
Rhonda looks at her and smiles. “I bet you two, you and Chip, were so sweet together. I wish I could have seen it.” Alfred pops his head in, holding a folder, and Rhonda walks over and takes it from him.
She looks worried for a second, but she dismisses him.
“My girls had their own language, it seemed.” She smiles.
“And they loved making fun of Jacob and me.”
“They were roommates.”
Maggie scrunches her eyebrows. “Phil said he lived with Chip. He said they had roommate issues.”
Rhonda nods. “Elliot needed some more space, and he was going to leave Red Maple to find it. I told him I had another idea, so I had that camper brought in.” She sits next to Maggie.
“I think sometimes we all need a room of our own. But Elliot was so concerned about your brother. I think he knew he was sick before anyone else, and it really bothered him.” Her voice gets lower.
“I don’t quite think he expected to see more death, especially at a honeymoon resort. ”
Maggie crosses her arms. “How could he have known?”
Rhonda looks tired now. “I subscribed to the Easton Express after Chip left. I had a feeling he wasn’t going to tell your family about us, so I wanted to keep my eye out for any news.
I didn’t think it was right for us not to know if something happened.
I can’t tell you how nervous I was each day reading that paper.
And then, well into October, I saw his photo, and my heart sank.
” She shakes her head. “But he was clear. Crystal clear with me. He didn’t want his worlds to get mixed up.
He said no one should come to his funeral, he said we should pretend he went to college and that was that.
But I took Nancy and Paige and Phil and Bridget in the van—Elliot wouldn’t go, of course—and we drove to the cemetery where he was, you know, and then we went out for lunch and toasted him. ”
“You did?”
“Of course.” Rhonda looks at her. “We only knew him for a moment that summer and were devastated to lose him. So I can’t imagine how you’re managing.”
Maggie looks over at her. “Oh, I think you can.”
“Terrible bond we share,” she says, and stands.