Elin Hilderbrand - Summer People

“No message?” she said.

Garrett shook his head. Piper started to cry quietly. Beth put a hand on her back.

“And you checked the whole house?”

Piper nodded, then moved into Garrett’s arms where she collapsed.

“Maybe she went to our house,” Winnie said. “It’s closer. Maybe she got tired and decided to wait for us there. She knows we don’t lock it.”

“Okay, we’ll check,” Beth said. “Piper, you stay here and wait for your father’s phone call. Tell him our plans.”

Piper clung to Garrett with a ferocity Beth had only previously seen in two year olds. “Can Garrett stay with me? Please? I’m freaked out to be here by myself.”

Beth hesitated. Garrett staying here meant only one thing: sex. In a bed, probably, which would have irresistible appeal. Beth fought off images of the cottage on Bear Street with David. All summer long, sex on a bed, sex every which way.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Beth said. “Because how will he get home?”

“I’ll have Dad run him home when he gets back.”

“David shouldn’t have to do that,” Beth said. “It’s late. Garrett will see you tomorrow.”

Garrett threw Beth a dirty look. “I’m not ten years old, Mom. I’ll stay here with Piper and if David won’t take me home then I’ll walk.”

“In the dark?”

“Yes,” Garrett said.

Beth heard the challenge in his voice and decided she wasn’t up for it. “Well, if Peyton’s at our house, we’ll come back. Obviously. And if she’s not there, I guess we’ll come back anyway and wait to hear what David says. Or I will. Marcus and Winnie may want to go to sleep.” Beth closed her eyes. Teenagers were going to be alone in a house full of beds no matter what she decided, that much was clear. “So I’ll be back in a short while, then. A couple of minutes.”

Beth drove to Horizon saying a prayer to God and Arch and anyone else who would listen. Please bring the girl home safely. Horizon, too, was dark, except for the porch light.

“She’s not here,” Marcus said. “Man, this is getting weird.”

The three of them went in, Beth and Marcus each carrying a load of picnic stuff.

Winnie said, “Mom doesn’t care who’s dead or missing as long as the dishes get done.”

“Winnie, that’s not fair.”

Winnie acknowledged as much with a pat to Beth’s head. “Sorry, Mom.”

Beth turned on some lights and checked all the rooms on the first floor. She checked the deck then went upstairs and poked her head into the bedrooms, hoping to find Peyton asleep, like Goldilocks. No such luck. Beth returned to the kitchen. “Listen, you two stay here. I’m going back to the Ronans’ house in case another vehicle or another set of hands is needed. You guys get some sleep.” She wanted to get back to Garrett and Piper as soon as possible.

“We’ll clean up,” Marcus said.

“If you want,” Beth said, so grateful for this offer that she wondered if Winnie’s statement weren’t right on the money. “Garrett and I will be home shortly.”

“Okay, Mom, good luck,” Winnie said, and Beth could tell Winnie was anxious for her to leave. Are you watching this? she asked Arch on her way out to the car. Everyone wants me to leave so they can fool around! Somehow the prospect of Winnie and Marcus didn’t worry her nearly as much as Garrett and Piper, and so she hurried back to David’s house.

The house was as she left it, with the front light on and a light in the kitchen. Beth slammed the car door to warn of her impending arrival. But no one was in the kitchen. Beth called out, “Hey, I’m back!” and was met with silence. She listened to the hum of the refrigerator and the drip of the sink, her heart racing. She twisted the spigots of the sink and the dripping stopped.

“I’m back!” Beth shouted.

Silence.

“Garrett!” she hollered. “Garrett Newton, get down here this instant!” She marveled at how much like a typical mother she could sound.

Still nothing. Either the house was remarkably well built or they, too, had disappeared. Beth was faced with having to go upstairs and check on them. She was starting to boil inside. How dare they put her through this! She stormed up the stairs, only partially cowed by the fact that she’d been up these stairs two weeks earlier when she was snooping around. She heard noises coming from the bathroom. Beth moved toward the door. She heard a groan, her own son’s distinctly sexual groan. Okay, that was it. Beth couldn’t stand to hear anything more. She pounded on the door.

“Meet me downstairs, Garrett,” Beth said. “We’re going home.”

There was silence, then some shuffling, then an, “Okay, Mom, give me a minute?” As though she was supposed to believe he was in there alone.

Beth returned to the kitchen, furious. She started rehearsing a lecture for the drive back to their house-God, what was she going to say? She should have stayed at home in blissful ignorance. They were upstairs in the bathroom. Unbelievable. No parent would tolerate this! Beth studied the pictures on the refrigerator, but only for a second. The pictures of David, whom she had kissed! The pictures of Piper who was having sex with her son upstairs! Suddenly, Beth was distracted by flashing lights. A police car pulled into the driveway. Beth went to the door. David and Peyton stepped out of the car.

“Oh, thank God,” Beth said. The girl looked defiant-arms welded across her chest-but fine, otherwise. David chatted with the officer at the wheel for a second, clapping him on the arm, and then the police car drove off. Beth opened the door for them.

“What happened?” she said.

Peyton glared at Beth, a look so hateful that it startled her.

“I’m going to bed,” she spat.

When she disappeared, Beth looked to David. “Where was she?”

“One of the cops found her sitting by herself on Steamship Wharf,” David said. “She was waiting for the early boat so she could sail to Hyannis to see her mother.”

“Why?” Beth said, though of course, she knew why. “What’s wrong?”

“She thinks everyone is paired up but her. The other kids, and you and me. She felt left out, so she ran away.”

“Ouch,” Beth said.

“I reminded her that she was my date tonight,” he said.

“You didn’t treat her like your date,” Beth said. “You kept trying to get rid of her so you could talk to me.”

“Ouch,” David said.

“It’s true,” Beth said. “And I hate to open your eyes to other unpleasant realities, but when I got here a few minutes ago I found Garrett and Piper locked in the upstairs bathroom together. One doesn’t have to be a Rhodes scholar to figure out what was going on in there.”

David’s face fell. “I guess not.”

“We have to keep our families separated. Maybe the girls should go visit their mother.” Beth put a hand up to stop his objections. “I’m not telling you what to do with Piper-”

“Yes, you are.”

“I just want you to know that the Newtons will be keeping a low profile at Horizon for a while.”

Garrett appeared then, eyes cast to the floor.

“We’re going,” Beth said. Garrett was already headed toward the door, which David held open for them.

“At least everyone’s safe,” David said. “Happy Fourth of July.”

“And don’t drive by my house tonight,” Beth said.

“I wouldn’t dream of it, Bethie,” he said.

J ust like that, Piper was getting shipped off to her mother’s house-not for a long weekend, not for a week, but for ten whole days. Garrett was grounded from the car to boot, because his mother had caught him and Piper in the bathroom together.