Page 78 of The Missing Pages
Once on board the new vessel, Mother would be taken to the captain’s private cabin along with her friend Marian Thayer. There a fire stoked to warm them while a tray of food lay untouched.
Ada slept with Lolly and her children in one of the many first- and second-class berths volunteered by theCarpathiapassengers, who had generously moved to third-class ones.
The two women I loved most in the world, who had always delighted in conversation, felt every word escape them now. They were silent, grieving, and terrified, and I was now incapable of pacifying their pain.
CHAPTER SIXTY
“What do we do next?” Theo asked as they stood outside Widener. “I gotta admit, at the beginning I was just kind of humoring you… but now I really want to know what that key is for!”
“I know, it’s so distracting, right?”
“Do you want me to ask my mom to set up a session with her psychic? We could meet up during Thanksgiving break. She’d do it in a heartbeat for us.”
“Maybe…” A year ago Violet never would have entertained such a thought, but now she felt like she was open to anything. And Theo’s house in Delaware wasn’t so far from her parents in Philly.
“But we won’t have that much time this break,” Violet said. She knew they both would be leaving campus on Wednesday and would have to return by Sunday.
“Look, let me ask my mom if Lux has time to meet with us that Friday. If you could take the train to Wilmington, I can pick you up and we’d then drive out and meet her.”
“Lux?” Violet asked, bemused. “Like Latin for light?”
“Yep.”
“That’s pretty funny.” She laughed. “What a perfect name for a psychic.” It felt good to have some levity in their conversation. “We’re moving toward the light.”
“That’s what my mom likes to say, too. Despite my dad cringing.”
“Gosh, my parents would have the same reaction. As would my suitemates, for that matter.”
Theo smiled, his dimples flashing like two tiny clefts in each cheek. He glanced at his watch. “I gotta run, but I’ll call my mom and let you know what she says about us meeting Lux.”
“Sounds good,” Violet said.
She wondered if any of this would help her with her thesis next year on the Ghost Trinity and William James. So many of those nineteenth-century scholars had opened themselves up to the possibility that there were certain rare individuals who possessed a gift for accessing the spiritual realm. And if one listened to them, new knowledge could be found.
Violet hoped Lux was one of those people.
By Tuesday, Theo let Violet know his mother was thrilled that he had asked her to set up a meeting with Lux.
“So if you can make it to my place, then it’s a go,” he told her as he rolled his bike beside her.
“I’ll make time.” She was excited.
“I was just about to get a burger at Bartley’s. Any chance you want to join me?”
Bartley’s was a landmark institution on Mass. Ave. The red-and-white sign hanging outside its doors proudly announced it had been serving burgers since 1960. Countless Harvard students had eaten there over the years, Violet included. On their second date, she and Hugo had shared a plate of French fries and ordered their famous frappes. Other times they’d dip inside for a cheeseburger and a Coke. She hadn’t been in all semester because she thought it might just make her sad.
She paused at Theo’s invitation.
He read her face quickly. “Sorry. I know Hugo loved that place. That guy was the only one on our team who ever ordered a coffee frappewith his cheeseburger.” He shoved his hands in his pockets. “Do you maybe want to go to the Hong Kong and get some chow fun instead?”
Violet smiled. She appreciated Theo’s sensitivity toward her feelings. The truth was, she and Hugo had gone to the Hong Kong restaurant, another culinary institution with its sticky menus and plastic tablecloths, almost as often as Bartley’s. There was probably no place he could suggest that she hadn’t been with Hugo at some point.
“It’s fine. A burger and fries sound like heaven.”
They ambled through Dexter Gate and crossed Mass. Ave. toward Bartley’s. When they reached its red-and-white sign, Theo pulled open the door for her and they found a booth right away and sat down.
“God, I’m starving,” he said. “I didn’t get a chance to have lunch, and I’ve been up since five thirty.”
