“I’d better go. Heidi needs to get to bed.” He exited the house, waving at Bane as he got in the Jeep. At his place, he parked and carried Heidi inside before wandering into the living room. The room felt even more sterile than usual. Beige paint, carpet, and furniture. No pictures on the walls. He’d been back on the island for three months and hadn’t bothered to unpack so much as a picture of his family. But when had there been time?
Even though Kaia’s place had been messy, it was homey and cheerful. It had character, whereas this place could have been anyone’s home. Christy had never been much for decorating either. He sighed and went to the phone. Jillian’s hotel number was right on top of the stand. The ringing went on for what seemed like forever on the other end of the line before she finally answered.
“Hello?” Jillian’s voice echoed across the line.
He glanced at his watch. The time difference was twelve hours. “Hey, Jillian, I was about to give up.”
“Is something wrong? Is Heidi okay?” Her voice rose and held a tinge of panic.
“She’s fine. But we had a scare.” He told her what had happened.
“She’s always been one for getting into scrapes. She forgets she’s only eight.” Jillian sounded worried. “I should be there.”
“You can’t; you’d lose your job,” he reminded her. “I’ve got everything under control here. I just wanted to keep you up-to-date on things.”
“I want to be with Heidi.” Her gulp echoed over the phone. “I miss her. Are you sure she’s okay?”
“She’s fine. I think she’ll listen to Faye now.”
Jillian began to cry softly. “I should just quit, find another job. This separation is too hard. How is Heidi doing?”
“She’s fine.”
“Does she ask about me?” Jillian’s voice sounded wistful.
“She talks about you.” Jesse didn’t dare tell her Heidi had been acting out some. “Don’t do anything foolish, Jillian. You worked your whole life for this job. What kind of position could you get if you quit? This time will pass sooner than you think. You can’t afford to let emotion overrule your common sense.”
“I know you’re right, but it’s so hard.” Her voice broke again.
He hated to hear either of his sisters cry. His father had always expected him to take care of them. Sometimes, though, he couldn’t. And this was one of those times. Jillian needed to do this project.
Jillian gulped again. “Who is this woman you’ve got watching her? Why isn’t Kaia keeping her?”
“That was only temporary. Kaia is helping with base security at night. She sleeps during the day. This is an older woman—in her fifties I’d guess. She’s Duncan’s sister-in-law. She’s been taking Heidi to see all the sights.”
Jillian was silent. “How is Duncan?”
Jesse propped his feet up. “Same old Duncan.”
“That sounds a little cynical.”
“You know how he is—always looking to blame someone else for his own troubles.”
Jillian was silent a minute. “I think maybe I was too hard on him. He wanted so badly to do well in college.”
“He was smart enough to do it without cheating. He said to tell you hello, by the way. You could always look him up when you get back to the islands.”
“We’ll see.” Her voice hardened. “I’m still not impressed with this Faye.”
“That’s not fair, Jillian. Something like this could happen to anyone.”
“Even you, Jesse.” His sister’s voice was soft. “Maybe you should listen to your own words. What happened to Christy wasn’t your fault either.”
He knew that. They all thought he blamed himself, and he had for a while. But now all he felt was sadness and regret that Christy’s family had turned their backs on him. But there was no way was he going there with Jillian. “Let me know when you’ll be winding up things there.”
“I’ll get out of this as soon as I can,” she promised.
Clicking off the phone, Jesse knew Jillian wouldn’t go back to sleep. She would probably get up and reorganize the hotel room dresser. Cleaning and organizing was generally her way of coping with worry. If he were a betting man, he’d bet she wouldn’t last the month out before she’d be back for her daughter. She was a good mother. Until then, looking out for Heidi was his responsibility.
Are you ever coming to bed?”
Curtis sounded petulant, but Faye couldn’t bring herself to leave the bathroom and mollify him. Staring at herself in the mirror, she told herself she deserved nothing less than what had almost happened today. Maybe it would have been better to have been exposed for the fraud she was. Better for Heidi at least.
She rinsed the expensive cleansing cream from her face, taking care not to stretch the fragile skin around her eyes. Slathering on a special nighttime mixture with a light floral scent, she tipped her chin to the right and the left. Not bad for a woman of fifty-five. People told her she looked forty, but she had watched the lines around her eyes and mouth advance and knew they were being kind.
One of these days it would be easy to see she was ten years older than Curtis.
“You’re not talking.” Curtis stood in the bathroom doorway.