The Anniversary (13 page)

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.”

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“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.

10

“You made the decision.” His voice had no inflection.

11

“It was both of us,” Callie said. “You didn’t object.”

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“Would it have done any good?”

13

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?”

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“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.”

19

“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.”

23

She heard him writing it down. She took this as a good sign.

24

“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?

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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.

4

“Want another piece?” Rick asked her, gesturing to the pizza.

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“Sure,” Callie said.

6

She pulled away a yeasty slice and took a large bite.

7

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.

12

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?

17

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.

19

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.

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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.

1

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.

3

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.

9

Anna kept sneaking chocolate eggs until Callie made her stop.

10

“He ate more.” Anna pointed at Rick, who looked a little cha-11

grined.

12

“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.

16

“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.

26

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.

13

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.

18

Happy Anniversary, Rosamund.

19

The words rose up in her mind.

20

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.

23

Back inside, she locked the door, checked the burglar alarm.

24

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

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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.

11

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.

14

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.

16

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.

18

Timex. Cartier. It doesn’t matter. Only time is fair.

19

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