Chapter 2

Victoria arrived before noon with three cars, six relatives, and enough luggage to block the front steps.

Cassidy rode in the second car beside Adrian's aunt. She smiled when she saw me, as if we had not stood on opposite sides of the boathouse door the day before.

I showed her the garden-room key.

Victoria removed her sunglasses. "Cassidy will take the lake suite. She never sleeps well near the service road."

"That suite is reserved for family."

"She is here as my guest."

Adrian was already lifting Cassidy's suitcase from the trunk. Yesterday he had known where to meet her in secret. Today he knew which view she preferred. I changed the room number without giving any of them the argument they appeared prepared to win.

He carried Cassidy's suitcase toward the same elevator we had taken on our first anniversary. We had eaten on the lake-suite carpet while rain covered the balcony and my mother's record player turned beside us. Cassidy entered those doors without asking where I would sleep during family week.

At lunch, Victoria seated her beside Adrian. I was placed near the service door, where servers could reach me with questions about boats, towels, and dinner.

Sunlight flashed across the lake until the far shore disappeared. Ceiling fans moved lemon polish and grilled trout through the room. Forks touched china beneath the family conversation. Everyone turned when Victoria spoke. Whenever a server entered, the questions came to me. Cassidy remained at the center without lifting a hand.

She entertained the table with a story about a city charity dinner she and Adrian had attended. He lowered his eyes at the private parts, but the corner of his mouth kept answering her. The museum benefit came next. Cassidy named the blue dress Adrian liked.

No one asked whether I was attending.

Years earlier, I had missed one dinner to stay with my mother after chemotherapy. Adrian called three times, not to ask how she was, but to describe the empty chair beside him.

Victoria looked toward the windows. "Once the transfer is complete, Leah will have enough to do here. Cassidy can handle the city calendar."

"I haven't given anyone my calendar."

Adrian's fork struck his plate. Cassidy folded her napkin and waited for him to rescue the arrangement. I left the table before he could make my removal sound considerate.

I carried my mother's photograph to the cottage, then returned for her papers, my winter clothes, and the cedar box she had kept beside her bed. Those were the things I would not leave where Victoria could assign them a more convenient room.

Adrian found me wrapping the photograph in a towel and wanted to know why I was moving before the handover.

"Because these are mine."

His attention moved to the bare rectangle on the wall. He mentioned the lake suite, my mood, and the family waiting downstairs. None of it reached the box in my arms. I walked past him without defending the right to move my own mother's face.

Later, I returned for an empty carton. The study door was partly closed. Cassidy's bracelet clicked against the desk inside, followed by Victoria's lowered voice.

"At least wait until the transfer is finished."