Page 24 of The Fadeaway

But there’s only so much capacity for this kind of thought, so Ruby lets it go, brushing her fingertips across the raised letters of her sister’s name. A sister she’ll never know; a person who will always be—for Ruby—a thought and not a reality. Trixie is a piece of the puzzle that made up Patty’s life, and Patty’s entire life is one piece of the puzzle that makes up Ruby’s, so in this way, they are all connected. But Patty’s great losses are hazy and distant for Ruby, and all she can do is honor them. So she stands, bows her head in silent prayer for these people she never knew, and then walks over to where Banks is standing.

“Ready?” he asks her gently.

“Ready,” Ruby says with a firm nod.

The sunlight spills through the branches of the trees, dappling their heads and shoulders with light as they walk through the cemetery. Ruby slips her arm through Banks’s and looks up at him, his cheekbones are sharp and his eyes are covered by his dark glasses. “Thanks for coming with me, Banks.”

“Ma’am,” he says with a firm nod. It’s his way of saying both “It’s my job, and it’s my honor,” and Ruby knows this.

They walk on in amiable silence. The sound of wind chimes follows them.

Ruby

The airplane circles JFK before landing two days later. Ruby has gotten a lot done on Jekyll Island: boxed up the personal items and FedExed them to Shipwreck Key; donated most of the furniture and houseware to charity shops (amidst much joking from Sunday via FaceTime that she should call a museum to see if they want the rotary phone, the console television, or the plastic-covered dining chairs); and had a realtor come by to do an initial walk-through. She feels good about closing the book on that chapter of her mother's life on Jekyll, and someday--who knows when--she might feel like poring through more of the films and photo albums, or even reading the letters from Bradley to her mother.

She and Banks find their luggage and meet their car at the curb outside the busy airport. Ruby has on sunglasses and a hat, as she feels oddly more exposed in a giant city like New York than she does in a tiny enclave like Jekyll Island. Maybe it's the crush of humanity or the chance that the paparazzi lurks around every corner, but something about a big city makes her want to hide herself away.

"I'm not wasting any time while I'm here," Ruby says to Banks in the back of the Mercedes they're riding in. "I set upa meeting with Carmela Rivera at four o'clock, so that gives us just enough time to check into the hotel, shower, and meet back downstairs. Unless you'd rather sit this one out." Ruby is looking through the emails on her iPhone distractedly.

Banks makes ahmphof disbelief. "Not likely," he says. "I'll be in the lobby waiting for you."

Sure enough, when Ruby emerges from the hotel elevator into the lobby at three-thirty, Banks is sitting on a couch looking freshly shaven and wearing pressed pants and a long-sleeved shirt. He stands.

"Ready?"

Ruby isn't sure that she is ready, to be perfectly honest, but she's committed to unraveling the story of her mother's life at this point. Frankly, after everything she learned from Ellen in Seattle about the car accident in the late 60s, and then all that she discovered on Jekyll Island, she feels fairly confident that there isn't too much left that could shock her.

Carmela Rivera is clearly waiting for her when she arrives at the apartment on Riverside Drive. Ruby is gobsmacked by the opulence of the lobby, with its shiny marble floors and polished fixtures. A huge, crystal chandelier hangs over the center of the grand foyer, and three uniformed doormen bustle about with smiles on their faces.

Banks nods at a spot on a bench and Ruby understands that he’ll be there waiting for her while she meets with Carmela.

Carmela opens the door to apartment 12B almost the second that Ruby knocks, and it's clear that she's just as nervous as Ruby is feeling.

"Come in," Carmela says, waving to a mostly cream and white colored living space that is lit by giant windows looking out onto the blue sky of a perfect autumn afternoon.

Ruby slips off her shoes without being asked and follows Carmela to a plush couch.

"Please, sit," Carmela says unnecessarily. "Can I get you anything? Coffee? Tea?"

"Actually, water would be wonderful," Ruby says. She's had her fill of coffee on the airplane and in her hotel room as she showered and changed, and any more caffeine will only give her the jitters. She waits as Carmela walks over to an open concept kitchen area and pulls two plastic bottles of water from a stainless steel refrigerator.

Carmela returns with the bottle of water and a glass; she sets both on the coffee table before Ruby.

"Just the bottle is fine," Ruby says with a smile, hoping to disarm her. "No need to stand on ceremony." She twists off the cap and takes a long, grateful pull from the water bottle.

"I hope your trip has been good so far," Carmela says. She has the slightest accent to her words, and Ruby admires the silky way her dark hair falls over her shoulders. Carmela has honeyed skin and lightly applied makeup, and that, combined with her simple, refined style, makes her look like she's just gotten home from a high-powered job and is ready to pour a glass of wine and put her feet up. But Ruby knows enough about people not to make assumptions.

"The trip has been interesting," Ruby says. "My mother owned a home on Jekyll Island in Georgia that I'd never seen, so I went there first to assess that property, then came directly to you."

Carmela nods and pulls her feet up under her, spreading her loose skirt around her legs as she does. "I'm glad you could make it, and I'm guessing you have a lot of questions."

Ruby looks around the apartment. She doesn't know a ton about the New York real estate market, but a large, light-filled, clean apartment on Riverside Drive with doormen and a fancy lobby could only mean one thing: a huge price tag.

"I have some questions, yes," Ruby admits, nodding slowly as she recaps her water bottle. "But I guess I'd rather just listen first. I have no idea how you and my mother even know each other, or--and forgive me for sounding blunt here--why on earth she would have left you a piece of real estate like this. So please, tell me how you met. I want to know anything you can tell me."

Carmela smiles and looks like she's about to start speaking when the door to the apartment flies open and three young kids spill into the front room.

"Mom! Mom!" a girl with two long braids says. "You won't believe what I--" She stops speaking as she realizes that her mother isn't alone. "Oh," the girl says, her smile faltering slightly. "Hi. Are you the lady?"

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