Night Road

Together, they walked into the cold evening. Jude was just about to say something to Molly, when she heard:

“The party sounds great.”

Jude turned to find Julie Williams beside her. “Hey, Julie.”

“I hope Zach is feeling better,” Julie said, buttoning up her coat.

Jude felt through the mess in her purse, looking for her car keys. “What do you mean?”

“Marsh says he sprained his ankle. He’s missed practice most of the week.”

Jude stopped and turned. “Zach missed football practice? Because of his ankle?”

“Oh, boy,” Molly said quietly.

“All week,” Julie said.

“I think he’s better now,” Jude said evenly. “In fact I’m sure of it. Tell Coach he’ll be at practice tomorrow.”

“Marsh will be glad to hear that,” Julie said. “And I signed up to chaperone the grad party. Let me know if you need me for anything else.”

Jude nodded distractedly. Actually, she wasn’t even listening. Clutching her keys, she moved purposefully through the crowd, barely making eye contact with people around her. At the car, Molly stopped beside her. “I take it he doesn’t have a sprained ankle.”

“The lying little shit,” Jude said. “He’s come home from practice every day this week, right on time. He even had wet hair.”

“So what has he been doing?” Molly asked.

“That’s what I’d like to know.” She forced a smile. “Lunch tomorrow?”

“Of course. I’ll want to hear the scoop.”

Jude nodded and got into her car. All the way home, she talked to herself, practicing the conversation she would have with Zach.

Once inside the house, she called Zach on his cell phone, got no answer, and left a message. Then she began to pace. She should have made the kids come home for dinner tonight.

This time of night, the view outside was all but gone. A dark sky had settled over a black body of water. Only a few bright lights shone out here and there from the opposite shore. In the orange glow of her porch light, Jude saw a Halloween version of herself trapped in the glass.

She was there, tapping her foot, staring at her own reflection, when the twins came through the front door like bank robbers, shoving each other out of the way, their voices climbing over each other to be heard.

“Zachary, I need to speak to you,” Jude said.

They skidded to a stop and looked up in perfect unison.

“Huh?” Zach said, highlighting his mastery of the English language.

Jude pointed to the sectional in the great room. “Now.”

Zach moved slowly, his body pouring like syrup onto the overstuffed sofa. “What?” Already his gaze was narrowing, his arms were crossing. A shaft of blond hair obscured one green eye.

Mia plopped down beside him.

“You may go, Mia,” Jude said to her daughter, her voice brooking no disobedience.

“Mom, please—”

“Go,” Jude said again.

With a dramatic sigh, Mia got up and flounced out of the room. Jude doubted she went far; her daughter was probably eavesdropping from the foyer.

Jude sat down in a chair opposite Zach. “What do you have to tell me, Zachary?”

“What do you mean?” he said, not making eye contact. “We went to Pizza Factory for dinner. You had that meeting tonight. You told us to eat out. It’s not even late.”

“This isn’t about your dinner plans tonight. You have something to tell me, and we both know it,” Jude said sharply.

“You mean football,” Zach said, sounding both miserable and guarded. “Coach called you.”

“On an island this size? You think that’s how I find out things? Really, Zach? And what would Coach Williams have told me if he had called?”

“That I haven’t been to practice in five days.”

“You’re injured, I hear. Funny that I haven’t noticed a limp.”

His rounded shoulders answered her question.

“You’ve lied to me.”

“Technically, I didn’t say—”

“Don’t go there, Zach. It won’t help you. Why have you missed practice?”

Mia came back in the room and sat down next to her brother. She held his hand. “Tell her,” she said quietly. “We were going to tell you when you got home tonight, Mom. Honest.”

Jude crossed her arms and leaned back, waiting. There was no point in dismissing Mia. Jude shouldn’t have bothered with that. “Yes, please, Zach. Enlighten me.”

“I’ve been with Lexi.”

“What do you mean?” Jude asked.

“I’m in love with her,” he said.

Love. Lexi.

Of all the excuses she’d imagined, that hadn’t even made the list. Zach was in love with his sister’s best friend.

Jude looked at Mia, who wasn’t smiling but didn’t look angry, either. “Mia?”

“It’s cool, Madre,” she said.

Jude wasn’t quite sure how to respond, and here were her mirror-image kids, so alike they seemed to breathe in tandem, sitting slanted together, looking somehow both worried and defiant, waiting to hear her reaction to this news. They had hidden this from her, and it stung a little. “How long?”

“A couple of weeks,” Zach said.

Mia flinched at that, and Jude knew she’d been hurt by this, a little at least.

Jude let out her breath. This could be ruinous. What would happen if—when—Zach broke up with Lexi? What if Lexi stopped coming around? Mia would be heartbroken.

She chose her words carefully. “Obviously, Zach, I’m not going to tell you who to date and who not to. But Lexi is important to all of us. You need to remember that she was Mia’s best friend before you started dating her and she’ll be Mia’s best friend after it’s over. And we don’t keep secrets in this family. You know that. Okay?”

“Okay.” He smiled brightly. As usual, he expected to get his way.

“And about football practice. You will be on time to every practice from here on, and you will be without a car for the next week. I don’t appreciate being lied to.”

Zach’s smile fell. “That’s bogus.”

“As is lying,” Jude said.

Headlights flashed through the living room window, illuminating Zach and Mia for a moment.

The front door opened and Miles walked into the house, with a jacket slung over his shoulder and a novel under his arm. He came around the fireplace and saw them standing there in silence. He recognized trouble and frowned. “What’s up?”

“Nothing,” Zach said. He looked at Mia and hitched his head. They ran upstairs and disappeared.

“What was that all about?” Miles asked, tossing his sport coat onto the sofa. He went to the elegant mirrored bar in the corner of the room. A moment later he handed Jude a white wine.

“Zach’s dating,” Jude said, thankful for the wine.

“Again?” Miles said. “That was quick.”

“It’s Lexi.”

Miles took a moment to think about that. “Well. Okay.”

“No. Not okay. He’s been skipping football practice.”

Miles sat down beside her. “I’m sure you had one of your come-to-Jesus talks with him. He’ll be back on track tomorrow.”

“But why did he go off track? Zach’s been dating a new girl every month since freshman year. As far as I know, he’s never skipped anything to be with a girl. Lexi must be special. He actually used the word love.”

“Hmmm.”

She bit her lip, worried it. “I see problems here, Miles. Lexi’s practically one of the family. And jealousy can be brutal—remember how they used to fight over the Captain Hook action figure?”

“The Captain Hook action figure. Are you kidding me?”

She looked at him. “This is a delicate situation. A lot could go wrong.”

He smiled, a little indulgently. “That’s what I love about you, Jude.”

“What?”

“You can see the dark side of anything,” he teased.

“But—”

“They just started dating. How about holding off on an airstrike?”

Jude smiled at that. She knew he was right—she was overreacting. But a lot could go wrong with this new relationship. Hearts could be broken. Still, there was nothing she could do about it now. She went to her husband, put her arms around him, and looked up. “You are no help at all.”

Seven

The next morning, Jude woke to a cool and surprisingly sunny day. While Miles showered and dressed for work, she stood at her bedroom window, sipping coffee, trying to imagine how she could improve the borders in her garden. The lines weren’t quite crisp enough, and she really wasn’t happy with some of the lighting. It was too bad she hadn’t noticed that in September. Now it was autumn, the rainy season, and gardening pretty much required a snorkel and mask.

Miles came up behind her, reached for her coffee cup and took a sip, then handed it back to her. “Let me guess: you don’t like the roses you planted last week and azaleas would be better.”

She leaned against him. “You’re making fun of me.”

“Not at all. What are you going to do today?”

“Lunch with my mother.”

He leaned down and kissed her cheek. “Don’t let her bully you.”

“Yeah, right. I just have to get through it.” Smiling at him, she went into the bathroom and took her shower. Afterward, she kissed Miles good-bye and started her day. She corralled the kids to breakfast, cleaned up the kitchen after them, and sent them to school with hugs and kisses.

She was out the door only an hour behind them. She dropped off Miles’s dry cleaning, picked up some paperwork from the college counselor she’d hired, got her nails done, returned the movies they’d rented, and stopped by the grocery store to order a fresh, free-range, organic turkey for Thanksgiving.

With all those island stops, she made it to the ferry terminal with seconds to spare, driving right onto the boat. The channel crossing took less than forty minutes. In downtown Seattle, she found a parking spot a few blocks from the gallery and pulled in at exactly 12:06. Only a few minutes late.

On the sidewalk out front, she straightened, stiffened her spine, and set her chin up, like a prizefighter about to face a bigger opponent. In taupe wool pants and a creamy cashmere turtleneck, she knew she looked good … but was it good enough for her mother’s critical eye?

She sighed at that. It was ridiculous, all this worry about her mother. God knew Caroline didn’t worry about Jude’s opinion. She resettled her purse over her shoulder and headed to the gallery. On the wall out front, a discreet sign welcomed her to JACE.

She stepped inside. It was a big, brick-walled space, dotted with large mullioned windows. Gorgeous paintings hung one after another, illuminated with precision. As always, there was a sadness to the work that made Jude frown. It was all in greens and browns and grays.

“Judith,” her mother said, coming forward. She was dressed in slim black pants and a rose-colored silk blouse. A gorgeous stone necklace offset her green eyes. “I expected you a few minutes ago.”