Chapter 4

4: 4

“Aren't you going to ask me why I quit?”

I held my mother's eyes and didn't look away.

“Whatever the reason, you don't just quit. What's your sister supposed to do then?”

She paused.

“Your father died young. From the time you were little I taught you both that you can only rely on yourselves, that a person has to stand on her own two feet. And here you are, the older sister, setting no example at all for her.”

Margot wore the same put-upon look.

“Angie, I'm out there running myself ragged, and you just quit and do nothing. That's not right.”

I turned to look at her.

She glanced away, guilty.

“I was being harassed.”

My voice came out soft.

My mother visibly choked on whatever she'd been about to say.

“Manager Kaufman at the Jade Pavilion told me to become his mistress. Quitting was the only thing I could do.”

“He said he'd make sure I couldn't hold on to a single one of my jobs.”

I wasn't lying.

“Even so…”

Her brow knit tight.

“Even so, there's always a way to work it out.”

“What way?”

“I don't know. Figure it out yourself.”

I dragged out a smile.

Of course. Even with something like this, my mother wanted me to fend for myself.

“If nothing else, go apologize to him. Kneel down in front of the whole store. For the sake of appearances, he won't make things hard for you.”

Even after I'd given up on her, hearing that still made something inside me clench.

“And anyway, why is he only harassing you and not anyone else?”

“Your sister's never run into anything like that.”

“It's because your sister is more honest and well-behaved than you, that's why.”

Beside her, Margot nodded along in agreement.

I laughed, all at once.

I heard my own voice, calm and clean.

I said: “All right. I'll go apologize.”

“Oh, and your sister and I are going out. You'd better have your job back by the time we're home.”

There was a warning buried in my mother's voice.

Back home, the two of them started packing.

So did I.

Margot's things filled a full twenty-eight-inch suitcase.

The day they left, I had my own bag packed too.

A single backpack.

Before the airport, I stopped by the food-delivery depot first.

Alison's face lit up when she saw me.

“Angie, I'll come visit you in Ashford one day.”

I shook my head and held up the ticket on my phone.

“Not Ashford. Hartwell.”

“Why? Didn't you say you wanted to go work in your college town early, get used to it? Isn't your school Ashford University?”

“I changed my choice. Not Ashford anymore. Hartwell University.”

Ashford University was Margot's dream.

I used to think we'd be in the same city, at the same school.

Two little sufferers leaning on each other through the rest of our lives.

But I'd changed my mind.

The moment I locked in Hartwell, I knew I would be saying goodbye to this family for good.

Hartwell was two thousand miles away, after all.

“You can come to Hartwell to visit me.”

Alison said yes, over and over.

In the end, she pulled me into a hug.

Faintly scented, and warm.

The kind of hug I'd always imagined a mother giving.

The last call before I left home came from an insurance company.

The agent told me my mother had taken out a large policy on my life.

My hand froze at the check-in counter.

I'll admit it. In that moment, I wavered.

Then the voice on the line went on.

“The beneficiary is your sister, Margot Finch.”

My breath stopped.

Into the phone I said, “Fine.”

I took my boarding pass without a second's hesitation.

And walked away with long strides, not once looking back.

On my way to the gate, I passed my mother and sister.

I had a mask on. They didn't recognize me.

Margot tugged at our mother's sleeve, smiling like it was all so innocent.

“Thank you for my back-to-school present, Mom. The Maldives, here I come!”

Our mother ruffled her hair.

“You deserve it.”

After a moment, something seemed to occur to her, and she opened her mouth.

“Oh, right… your sister's home alone. Maybe give her a call.”

The next instant, my phone rang.

The two of them turned, and for one bare moment, their eyes met mine.