Authors: Amy Gutman
hung up right away. But now that she had him on the phone, she 23
forced herself to speak.
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“I wanted to talk to you about Anna.”
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“What? What about her?” He bit off the words like he didn’t 26 S
care, but she could tell that he was listening. She so much didn’t 27 R
want to have this talk, but she didn’t have a choice.
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“Anna misses you,” she said. “Would you consider seeing her?”
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A long pause on the other end. “Why now?” he finally said.
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She could hear the bitterness.
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“She’s been asking about you recently.” It took some effort to 4
say that.
5
He snorted. “Well, that’s a surprise. How does she even know I 6
exist? I thought you took care of that.”
7
“You thought
I
took care of it? Me? How do you figure that?” It 8
had taken less than five minutes to trigger their old patterns, 9
Kevin coldly blaming, she emotional.
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“You made the decision.” His voice had no inflection.
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“It was both of us,” Callie said. “You didn’t object.”
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“Would it have done any good?”
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An answer leapt to the tip of her tongue, but she managed to 14
hold it back. “Let’s just focus on the present, okay? Let’s just think 15
about Anna. She wants to see you now. How do you feel about 16
that?”
17
“I don’t know,” he finally said. “I really don’t know. I’ll have to 18
talk to Donna. My wife. I’ll have to think about it.”
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“Fine. You talk to her and think about it, and then you can let 20
me know. Don’t call me at home though. Use my cell phone 21
number, the one you just called. I don’t want Anna to answer. Or 22
you could try to get me at work. Here, I’ll give you the number.”
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She heard him writing it down. She took this as a good sign.
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“Thank you,” she said.
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“For what? I haven’t said I’ll do it. And even if I do, it won’t be 26
for you.”
27
Again, she was struck by the bitterness. Time hadn’t changed 28
a thing. Then she told herself to let it go. She was doing this for 29
Anna.
30
The conversation left her off balance, but the feeling eased 31
with time. It was the usual busy Wednesday, and the hours flew 32
past. It wasn’t until dinner that night that she thought of Kevin 33
again, really considered for the first time the forces she’d set in 34
motion. What if Kevin tried to turn Anna against her? What S 35
would happen then? What if Anna decided to live with him?
R 36
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How would she survive? Never mind that Kevin hadn’t even said 2
he wanted to see Anna. Her mind relentlessly spun out the worst 3
possible outcomes.
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“Want another piece?” Rick asked her, gesturing to the pizza.
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“Sure,” Callie said.
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She pulled away a yeasty slice and took a large bite.
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Anna was eating industriously, leaving the crusts behind. Judg-8
ing by the pile of half-moon scraps, she was working on her third 9
piece. Gradually, Callie’s anxiety calmed. Why go looking for 10
trouble? From the sound of Kevin’s voice, she doubted that he’d 11
even want to see her.
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Now that Rick was back, she found it was easier to stay 13
grounded. The shapeless fears that had tormented her seemed 14
to have far less power. For example, her thoughts about Lester 15
Crain — what evidence did she have? After all, if someone 16
wanted to hurt her, why bother leaving a note?
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Whoever it is knows where I live. Someone came to our house.
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But she wouldn’t think about that part. At least, not right now.
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On Thursday night, Rick worked late. She and Anna dyed 20
eggs. On Friday, Rick took her out for dinner while Anna stayed 21
with the Creightons.
22
Saturday was cool and luminous with the promise of early 23
spring. Rick came over for pancakes and bacon, and then they 24
went for a hike. Mt. Holyoke was a deep blue peak ten miles out 25
of town. A wide, gently sloping path wound up toward a breath-26
taking lookout. While Anna and Henry ran ahead, Callie and 27
Rick lingered. They strolled slowly, hand in hand, neither of 28
them talking. It meant something, Callie thought, when you 29
didn’t have to speak. Everyone talked about communication, the 30
importance of sharing words. But so often the need to fill a si-31
lence reflected the absence of something.
32
They reached the mountain’s peak, capped by the Summit 33
House. Once a fashionable hotel, it now served as a museum. The 34
windswept expanse of its balcony offered spectacular views: the 35 S
tiny, perfect town of Merritt, patchwork farms and fields, the blue 36 R
Connecticut River cutting through it all.
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Callie leaned against the railing, the sun warm on her face.
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Down below, she could hear Anna and Henry calling out to each 2
other. Rick came up from behind and slid his arms around her.
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For a moment they stood there, resting, taking in the view. Then 4
Rick pulled her gently closer, whispered into her hair. “So have 5
you been thinking about it? Getting married, I mean.” The world 6
seemed to darken slightly. “I have to think,” she said.
7
That night, after Henry went home, they watched a video. Over 8
Chinese food, Callie filled baskets for tomorrow’s Easter egg hunt.
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Anna kept sneaking chocolate eggs until Callie made her stop.
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“He ate more.” Anna pointed at Rick, who looked a little cha-11
grined.
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“Well, I’m sure if his mother were here right now, she’d tell 13
him he’d had enough.”
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Anna had already gone to bed when Rick got up to leave. “Are 15
you sure I can’t help?” he asked her, pointing to the baskets.
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“No. It’s fine. Really. I do it every year.”
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They kissed good night on the front porch. Callie went back 18
for the baskets.
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The sky was a tumbled bowl of stars as she stepped down into 20
the grass. She paused a moment in the silence and breathed in 21
the crisp night. Her eyes sought out the Big Dipper, the white 22
crust of moon. Down the street, she saw another flashlight bob-23
bing in the bushes. Naomi or Morton Steinmetz. Or maybe 24
David Enderly. Callie waved toward the bouncing light, then set-25
tled down to work.
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Kneeling down beside the porch, she shoved a basket under 27
the stairs. Anna had been attending the Easter egg hunt since she 28
was four years old. Callie had piles of snapshots, stuffed into 29
boxes and albums. Anna at five, looking horrified as she stared at 30
a bright blue egg. A smug eight-year-old Anna, surrounded by 31
rows of baskets. This hunt, however, would be Anna’s last. Ten 32
was the cutoff age.
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As she stood up, Callie was hit by a sense of time’s rapid flight.
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Each moment, so substantial and real, was gone before you knew S 35
it, consigned to an uncertain fate in the outposts of memory. This R 36
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evening, the warmth and laughter they’d shared, how long would 2
it be remembered?
3
For the next half hour, she moved around the yard, distribut-4
ing the baskets. Anna always complained that she made things 5
too easy, so this year Callie had come up with several new hiding 6
places. One basket went into a recycling bin, beneath a pile of plas-7
tic bottles. The next she hid in the mailbox. Okay, so it was obvi-8
ous, but she’d never used it before. She was especially pleased with 9
the niche she’d found for the final tiny basket. Squeezed behind 10
a bush, next to the house, she edged it into the drainpipe. The 11
basket fell out a couple of times, but she finally wedged it tight.
12
She’d just emerged from the bushes, when she startled at a noise.
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It seemed to have come from across the street, somewhere in the 14
Creightons’ yard. The crackling sound of branches breaking, then 15
a muffled thud. Frightened, Callie stood there, waiting for what 16
came next. But now there was nothing. Nothing unusual. Just the 17
faint, dim hum of distant traffic, wind moving through the trees.
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Happy Anniversary, Rosamund.
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The words rose up in her mind.
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She glanced down the street, but the flashlight was gone. She 21
was all alone now. Walking quickly across the lawn, she headed 22
for the house.
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Back inside, she locked the door, checked the burglar alarm.
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Tried to forget the feeling she’d had that someone was watching 25
her. What she’d heard was maybe an animal or a branch falling to 26
the ground. No reason to get excited. Nothing to worry about.
27
h
28
29
After she vanished into the house, he waited for the light to 30
snap on upstairs. In a moment, he saw the golden glow seeping 31
out from behind her blinds. He was tempted to wait another few 32
minutes, to see if she might raise them. Sometimes, he knew she 33
did that, right before she went to bed, stood there staring into the 34
night, her expression cloudy and lost. A look she never wore dur-35 S
ing the day at times she might be seen. It was a private expression 36 R
confined to times she believed herself alone.
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For years, she’d assumed so much, with no justification. As-1
sumed that no one was watching her. Assumed no one could find 2
her. And, really, it had been quite simple. Just some basic com-3
puter searches. Her identity had stayed secret only because no 4
one had really looked. It had been the same with Diane Massey, 5
that false sense of control. All he’d had to do was chat up her 6
doorman, claim to be an old friend. The doorman didn’t have the 7
details, but he thought she’d gone to Maine. She’d talked about 8
Blue Peek Island in interviews. And sure enough, there she was.
9
He stared hard at the closed blinds as if he might see through 10
them. Then, regretfully, he turned away. It wasn’t safe to linger.
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He crawled across the tree house floor until he came to the 12
opening around the trunk. Carefully, he lowered one leg until his 13
foot touched a wooden step.
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Almost to the ground, he let himself drop into a thick bed of 15
leaves. A rich, moist odor floated up, moldering leaves and dirt.
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The smell caught him by surprise. It was almost exactly the same.
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Deeply inhaling the cool night air, he thought of Diane Massey.
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Timex. Cartier. It doesn’t matter. Only time is fair.
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Still crouching, he scanned the Creightons’ yard, making sure 20
no one had heard him. Another few seconds, then he started to 21
move around. Twigs and stones dug into his palms as he palpated 22
the ground, searching for the binoculars that had fallen from his 23
hands. He couldn’t believe that he’d let that happen, especially 24
with her right there. She’d actually heard the sound. Startled, 25
she’d wheeled around. Luckily he’d already ducked down behind 26
the tree house wall.
27
When he finally found the binoculars, he hung them around 28
his neck. Through a gate, he could see the Creightons’ backyard 29
sheltered by a tall white fence. The back door opened onto a 30
deck with a gas grill and picnic table. All the accoutrements of 31
family life, sturdy and ordinary. Yet the sense of safety, the perfect 32
calm, could be shattered in a flash. Dahlia had grown up in a 33
house like this, pretty and safe and secure. But none of that had 34
protected her on the night she met Steven Gage.
S 35
He crept through a dense wall of trees until he reached the R 36
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curb. Briefly he hesitated, then stepped into open space. Beneath 2
the glow of a single lamp, he quickly crossed the street. His foot-3
steps slapped against concrete, and then he was in her yard.
4
His destination was the shrubbery along the front of the house.
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When he’d seen her disappear back there, he’d figured this was 6
the place. There was an opening between two bushes, and now 7