Page 92 of The Banned Books Club

“Sorry, she’s already gone.”

Gia sank into the chair in her parents’ room even though it meant sitting on top of the clothes her dad had discarded there the past few days. “How long ago did she leave?”

“Right after she had me take the pic.”

Her mind racing, Gia began to knead her forehead. How could she turn this into something that could help them? There had to be a way. “Listen, I’ll Venmo you fifty bucks if you’ll tell me where this picture was taken. Since my sister’s not there anymore, it doesn’t really matter, right? You’re not giving away anything.”

“She made me wait until she was out of sight to send that. I don’t think she’d like it if I told you where she was.”

“She’ll never know!”

He didn’t answer.

“Do we have a deal?” Gia pressed.

He covered the phone while discussing her offer with someone in the background—it sounded like a woman. “Okay,” he said when he came back on.

“You’ll do it?”

“For fifty bucks? Why not?”

“What’s your Venmo?”

“I’ll text it to you.”

She sent the money. Then, as soon as he said he got it, she asked him again. “So...what beach are you at?”

“Huntington,” he said and disconnected.

“Huntington,” she repeated to her parents. “Do you know where Huntington Beach is?”

They both shook their heads, so she asked Google. “Orange County, California,” she read aloud. “Margot went to Los Angeles!”

“That’s so far away,” Ida said.

“And LA’s a big place,” Leo added, sounding discouraged. “How are we ever going to find her there?”

Gia shook her head. “I have no idea, but it’s a start. It feels better knowing even that much, doesn’t it?”

Ida took her phone back, looked at the picture of the heart drawn on the beach and smiled as she pressed the screen to her chest. “It certainly does.”

Over the next few days, Gia felt she was waiting for the other shoe to drop, but she wasn’t sure exactly what that would look like. She and her parents were hoping for some new word from Margot while fending off calls and texts from Sheldon and his parents, who were getting angrier by the day and beginning to accuse them, once again, of knowing more than they did.

Of course, they didn’t tell the Nelsons that Margot had been in Southern California. Since they had no idea whether she was still there, even if they were willing to share that information, which they weren’t, they doubted it would help.

In the middle of the tension growing between the two families, friends and neighbors who’d heard about Margot were stopping by to console Ida. That gave her some extra support, but it also meant she heard what Sheldon’s family was telling everyone—that Margot had been a terrible wife and mother and he was the stable one of the two, with a home and a job, and thus deserved custody of the boys.

As upsetting as that was, at least the constant flow of people kept Ida so busy Gia felt safe leaving the house. She needed a break.

She went for drinks with a handful of members from the Banned Books Club on Saturday night and enjoyed it; this time there was no drama. Then she met Sammie at Wakefield Pub & Brewery on Sunday for brunch. But her time with Sammie wasn’t proving to be quite as fun. Her friend kept asking questions about Cormac, and that was the last thing Gia wanted to talk about, because she hadn’t heard much from him. Since he’d put her off on the bread pudding, she’d received only one cursory text. It’d come the next day, while he was at the clinic, she assumed, and simply said he hoped she was doing as well as could be expected considering what was going on with her sister.

It was nothing that had even invited a response.

He seemed to have backed away from their friendship.

She told herself she didn’t need him anyway; she’d never been unable to get over a man. But even though they hadn’t spent a great deal of time together, she missed him. He’d been the one bright spot amid all the problems she’d been dealing with since returning to Wakefield, and thoughts of the way he smiled or kissed—or teased her by rubbing his beard growth on her neck when they were cuddling in bed—intruded despite her best attempts to bar those memories from her mind.

She felt they’d made a meaningful connection, that he’d overcome who she was and she’d overcome who he was to get to know the person behind the name and reputation. So she didn’t understand why he’d suddenly bailed out.

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