Page 66 of The Banned Books Club

“How so?” her father asked.

She turned at the end of the kitchen and came back toward them. “Well, first, there were the rumors of Sheldon being involved with another woman. I got the impression when I brought up the subject with Margot that she was well aware of what was going on. Since she wouldn’t let me confront him, I assumed she was simply letting him get away with it—like she has with so many other things. But maybe she put me off because she had something bigger planned...”

Ida dropped her hand. “Like what? A divorce? Where has she gone? And how are we supposed to reach her if she doesn’t have a phone?”

Gia didn’t want to say it, but the obvious answer was that theycouldn’treach her. No one could. “I think...I think she’s left him.”

Her family, too. Gia didn’t add that. But Leo obviously understood the implications because he came to his feet as he said, “Margot would never leave her mother when...when she’s battling...what she’s battling.”

Ida’s eyes brimmed with tears. “And even if she would, she’d never take the boys away from us, not to mention their father.”

Gia couldn’t see her sister crossing that line, either. Margot had never stood up to Sheldon. So then to do something so drastic... It seemed out of character. But nothing else explained the facts as Gia knew them. “I think that’s exactly what she’s done. When I let myself out of her house, the neighbor was watering his lawn. I asked him about Margot, and he said the last time he saw her was early yesterday morning. He said he was changing the oil in his truck as Sheldon loaded up to go hunting. They spoke for a minute, then Sheldon left, and about an hour later, Margot dragged several suitcases to the Subaru.”

“Did she say anything to him?” Leo asked.

“No. When he yelled a hello to the kids, they said they were going to McDonald’s and then the park, but she was so busy making trips to and from the house, he didn’t get the chance to say anything to her. He said she looked ‘tense.’”

“Should we call Sheldon?” Her mother reached for her phone, which was on the table next to her. “See if he knows what’s going on?”

“No.” Gia moved quickly to stop her. “We can’t include him.”

“Why not?”

Gia thought of the voicemail she’d planned to leave Margot, giving her fifteen minutes to get in touch before Gia approached Sheldon. She’d never left that message. Once she’d found Margot’s phone, she’d assumed it would be futile. But she’d realized after that there were ways her sister could check her voicemail remotely—if she knew how. “Because we all know how levelheaded Margot is. If she left, she did it for a reason.”

“Without telling us?” Her mother couldn’t seem to comprehend the sudden desertion, and Gia understood. Margot had never done anything like this before.

“She must’ve thought it was necessary,” she said.

“Sheldon’s infidelity has to be at the bottom of it,” Leo said. “She must be brokenhearted, poor thing. But spouses cheat all the time. She can’t just take the kids and disappear.”

“Most people don’t go that far,” Gia agreed. “No one wants to walk away from everything they know and love. And she’s always been close to Mom. That tells me she must’ve felt she had no other choice.”

Ida wiped an errant tear. “This is so hard to believe.”

Gia wished she knew the passcode to her sister’s phone. She wanted to see whom Margot had called and texted last. Maybe there’d be some clue as to where she went—if she was involved with another man or whatever. But she’d already tried several combinations—Margot’s birthday, her boys’ birthdays and several other guesses—with no success. “Could there be another man in her life?” she asked hesitantly.

“No way,” her mother replied.

“You haven’t heard her mention anyone? There’s been no new name that’s cropped up?”

“None,” Leo replied. “She hasn’t been seen with anyone, either.”

Now Margot’s insistence that Gia return home made sense. Gia could even see why her sister would call her return “crucial.” She’d needed someone in Wakefield she could rely on to support Ida so she could leave in good conscience.

But why would she disappear without saying goodbye? Especially to Ida? That was the piece of the puzzle Gia couldn’t understand.

“What do we do now?” Ida asked. “Go to the police?”

“Not yet,” Gia told her.

Her mother’s voice went up in pitch. “You don’t want us to call Sheldonorthe police?”

“From what the neighbor said, she left of her own free will, Mom. And she did it the day Sheldon went hunting—almost as soon as he was gone. Think about the timing.”

“She didn’t want him to know she was leaving,” Ida said.

Gia nodded. “That has to be it. If we want to help her, we need to trust that she knows what she’s doing.”

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