Page 19 of High Season
A voice drifted from the other side of the patio. Evelyn, swanning across the terrace toward them. She wore a silk robe, even though it was early afternoon, and a large pair of sunglasses. Her feet were bare, her hair looking slept-in. A trail of violet smoke followed her, a cigarette clutched in one hand.
“Darling,” she said, vaguely in the direction of her daughter. “Have you had a nice swim?”
She didn’t seem to notice that Nina wasn’t wet, or that she was stillwearing the same summer dress that Patricia had wrestled her into that morning. She didn’t wait for an answer.
“Have either of you seen Harrison?”
She directed the question toward Josie and Hannah.
“No,” Hannah said. “Sorry. I thought he was upstairs.”
“Hmm,” said Evelyn. “No.”
She sucked on her cigarette as if it was an oxygen tube.
“You’ve not seen Harrison, have you, Nina, sweetheart? You don’t know where Harrison’s gone?”
Nina’s mouth was a firm line, shut hard. She shook her head vigorously, her eyes wide.
“Fucker,” said Evelyn, beneath her breath.
For a second, she just stood there, swaying slightly. Her eyebrows furrowed as if she was trying to figure out the answer to a particularly complicated question.
“OK,” she said at last. “Well. You girls send him upstairs if you see him, won’t you?”
“Will do,” said Josie.
“Wonderful. Great. Well, you enjoy your swim.”
They watched as she walked unsteadily back toward the house.
“Jesus,” Josie said, under her breath. “She’s even worse than last year.”
“What do you mean?”
“What do I mean? Hannah, look at her. She’s a mess.” She glanced around to check that Nina wasn’t listening. “My mum reckons Harrison’s leaving her.”
“Seriously?”
Josie nodded.
“Apparently, people are saying that he’s met someone else, and everyone knows it. Evelyn’s in complete denial about it.”
“Shit.”
“Shit is right.”
Josie leaned back, her palms flat against the tiles.
“I reckon this’ll be the last summer that they’re all together. It’s kind of sad, actually, when you think about it. I think Evelyn genuinelythought that this wasit, this time. And Nina hasn’t really known any other dad.”
A silence fell between them as they watched Nina play.
“Do you think Nina knows?”
“’Course not.”
“What about Blake? Do you think he knows?”
