Maggie, I’m not gonna pretend this didn’t happen. We could call the school and get Jamie’s information. Or PG and Connie’s. How hard can that be to figure out?
I’m not doing that.
Why not? Don’t you care about Jamie?
I care about Anna more, and so should you.
Any parent would be heartbroken if their kid went missing, even if she’d run away. Can you imagine?
Yes, Noah, I can imagine that just perfectly. Maggie’s eyes had brimmed with tears. Because I’ve been doing that for the past seventeen years, and if you keep this up, I’m going to lose her for good.
Babe, listen, Noah had reached out to her, but Maggie had pushed his hand away.
Noah, I don’t know who you are lately. When did you turn into such a control freak?
But for that, Noah had no answer, except one that was unsayable:
After Anna.
Chapter Forty-four
Maggie, Before
The morning dawned gray and chilly, and Maggie got out of her car at the Lenape Nature Preserve, breathing in fresh air. She hadn’t slept, and Noah hadn’t either, though they lay back to back, neither saying a word. Anna had fallen asleep in her room with her clothes on, and the sight of Anna’s lovely face, set in profile against the pillow, had reminded Maggie so much of when she was a little baby. The memory had come rushing back of how sweet Anna had been as an infant, and how Maggie used to watch her sleep, hanging on the crib rail and breathing in her powdery smells, listening to her soft breathing, realizing that her new baby was a miracle, belonging to her, made from her.
Maggie sank into a bench, wiping her eyes. She couldn’t fathom how everything had gone so wrong so fast. She spotted Kathy’s car on the road and felt as if the cavalry were on the way. Kathy honked hello as she pulled into the parking lot, and Maggie rose. Kathy parked, got out of the car, and gave Maggie a big hug.
‘That bad, eh?’ Kathy whispered, and Maggie smiled tearfully, letting her go.
‘Kath, on a scale of one to terrible, it was catastrophic.’
‘Oh no.’ Kathy put an arm around Maggie’s shoulder and guided her to the walking path. ‘Tell me everything.’
Maggie fell in step and filled Kathy in on everything that had happened during the fight with Anna, then the fight afterwards with Noah. It took her half the meadow to get the entire story out, and they were passed by a few runners.
‘Oh boy.’ Kathy sighed heavily. ‘I’m sorry it went so badly.’
‘She was so hurt. And Noah called her a liar.’ Maggie shook her head as they walked along. ‘And I don’t know what to do about Jamie.’
‘Here’s my brilliant idea, and I truly think this is a great compromise for you. Let’s say that Anna is not lying to you.’
‘Do you think she is?’
‘Honey, I don’t know for sure, and it truly doesn’t matter. You guys don’t call anybody. No kid that age is going to let you call the school or call anybody’s parents, and I doubt that the school will give you the parents’ contact information anyway.’
‘You’re right.’
‘But there has to be a way that Anna can get a message to Jamie and Anna should ask Jamie to call her parents.’
‘That’s not a bad idea.’
‘And you know what else? You guys need to start having fun. It’s supposed to be a nice weekend. Why don’t you go down the shore?’
‘But it’s only April.’
‘Who cares?’ Kathy smiled, chugging along the path. ‘You need a change of scenery. You’re in that house fussing all the time. You need to go somewhere different, where your roles aren’t set.’
‘I love it!’ Maggie felt her heart lift. She pictured Anna and Caleb playing on the beach.
‘And you know what else? I think you should throw a party for Anna. Something easy, like a barbecue. She moved in, and so far, it’s been a source of conflict. Why not flip that? Celebrate! Your daughter is back in your life!’
‘But nobody even knows I have a daughter.’ Maggie felt a wave of shame that she knew well, like an old friend, or an old enemy.
‘So it’s time to tell them, don’t you think?’ Kathy looked over, her expression frank. ‘That’s ancient history, and you didn’t do anything wrong. I think you should introduce Anna to everybody.’
‘So, in other words, I’m coming clean?’ Maggie thought of their friends, parents in Caleb’s class, and Noah’s partners and their wives.
‘Yes, why not?’ Kathy patted her back. ‘Everybody loves you, Maggie. Nobody’s going to think about the past, we’re just going to be happy that she’s here.’
‘I guess you’re right,’ Maggie said, as they walked the final stretch around the field. ‘I like the statement it makes to Anna. That we’re happy that she’s in our family and we want her to meet our friends, like you.’
‘Exactly! I can’t wait to see her!’ Kathy grinned, then stopped walking. ‘Wait. Did you tell her that I searched the textbooks, too?’
‘No.’
‘I owe you one,’ Kathy shot back, laughing.
Chapter Forty-five
Noah, After
TRIAL, DAY 5
‘Dr Alderman, you discussed the incident that had taken place in the bathroom with your wife, didn’t you?’
‘There was no incident, it didn’t happen.’
Linda blinked. ‘Did Anna inform your wife of the alleged incident in your presence?’
Noah cringed inwardly, remembering the awful scene. Not many people know exactly the moment their marriage ended, but he did. ‘My wife was upstairs with Caleb, and Anna and I had been in the bathroom –’
‘Please answer the question. Did Anna inform your wife of the alleged incident in your presence or outside of it?’
‘I was there. It was in my presence.’
‘Where did the conversation take place?’
‘In the hallway outside the powder room. Anna left the bathroom and as soon as she got into the hallway, she started crying. My wife had just come downstairs and saw Anna there, crying.’
Linda snorted. ‘Are you saying that Anna left the bathroom and burst into tears, all of a sudden?’
‘Yes.’
‘You’re saying Anna faked spontaneous tears?’
‘Yes.’
‘Anna didn’t have acting lessons before she came to live with you, did she?’
‘Not that I know of.’ Noah heard the jury shifting in their seats.
‘Dr Alderman, please direct your attention to Commonwealth Exhibit 52.’ Linda signaled her paralegal, and another portion of the transcript came onto the screen. The gallery craned their necks, and Noah read about the worst night of his life:
Mr Carter: Anna, tell us what happened after you left the bathroom.
Ms Desroches: I just started crying, and then my mom came down the stairs. I ran to her and she hugged me and I said, ‘Noah won’t leave me alone and he grabbed me and kissed me and said this horrible thing to me, and you have to help me because this has to stop.’
Mr Carter: What did she say or do?
Ms Desroches: She looked totally shocked and she went white in the face. I thought she was going to faint. She was just, like, stunned. I felt so bad for her because I knew she didn’t suspect anything and I never told her about what he did on the driving lesson.
Mr Carter: What did she say or do?
Ms Desroches: My mother looked at Noah and she said, ‘Noah, is this true?’ And he said I was lying, making the whole thing up. Then she asked him if he had been drinking and he said yes but he wasn’t drunk or anything. And she was really shocked and upset, but she was trying not to cry and she said, ‘Anna, go upstairs, I want to talk to Noah.’
Mr Carter: And what happened next?
Ms Desroches: I ran upstairs, but when I got in my room I thought to myself that I couldn’t have him do that to me anymore. I really wanted to stay living with my mother, but he has her totally fooled. And I didn’t want to have to move out and I
had nowhere to go. So I figured that I needed to help myself.
Mr Carter: What do you mean by ‘help myself’?
Ms Desroches: I went online and it was really easy and you could download the Protection From Abuse form, and they had a FAQ and all. I filled the form out and here we are. I know that he didn’t want the truth to come out. But I had to stand up for myself. I’m just really glad that there’s courts like this where you can go if you’re a girl and you want to protect yourself from abusers.
‘Dr Alderman, have you read this testimony?’
‘Yes.’ Noah tried to find his emotional footing. He remembered everything about that night so vividly. Maggie had been so hurt, her eyes widening with shock and betrayal.
‘Isn’t it true that Anna’s testimony was exactly what happened that night?’
‘No.’
‘What did Anna say that wasn’t true?’
‘It’s true that’s what she told Maggie, but what she told Maggie wasn’t true.’
‘Pardon me?’ Linda made a face of exaggerated confusion. On the dais, Judge Gardner frowned as if he hadn’t understood either. Noah sensed that the judge’s demeanor had changed toward him after the sexually explicit testimony.
‘Anna lied about what happened in the bathroom.’
‘But your wife believed Anna, didn’t she?’
Noah hesitated. ‘I don’t know.’
‘Well, you discussed what had happened in the bathroom with your wife, when you were alone, didn’t you?’
‘Yes.’
‘And didn’t you deny to your wife what Anna said happened?’
‘Yes.’
‘And after your denial, your wife didn’t embrace you and say “forget about the whole thing,” did she, or words to that effect?’
‘No.’
‘She didn’t accuse Anna of lying, did she?’
‘No.’
‘She didn’t ask Anna to leave the house, did she?’
‘No.’
‘Isn’t it true that the one she asked to leave the house was you?’
‘Yes.’
Linda lifted an eyebrow. ‘Let’s take a new look at that Petition, Dr Alderman.’
Chapter Forty-six
Maggie, Before
The sky was still cloudy, but the air was fresh and cool, and Maggie waited on her front step, since Anna was due to be dropped off by Samantha at six o’clock. She was baking an eggplant parm for dinner, and Caleb was upstairs doing his homework. Maggie had taken him to the speech pathologist, but he hadn’t done well on his target words, bandage, accident, emergency. The stress in the house was affecting him, but she hoped they could put it behind them.
A yellow-and-black MINI Cooper pulled up at the curb, with Anna in the passenger seat. Maggie rose to meet them, checking out Samantha, who had short hair dyed bright red, big blue eyes, and an easy grin, looking cute and funky in a vintage flowy dress.
‘Hi, honey!’ Maggie gave Anna a quick hug when she got out of the car, hoisting her backpack and purse to her shoulder.
‘Hi, Mom. Why are you out here? I texted you.’
‘I know. I thought I’d come meet Samantha.’
‘Oh, okay. Mom, this is Samantha Silas.’ Anna gestured at the car, and Maggie peered inside.
‘Great to meet you, Samantha. Would you like to have dinner with us?’
‘No, thanks. I have, uh, somewhere to go.’
‘Then it’s a rain check?’
‘That would be great.’
‘Bye, Samantha!’ Anna called out, waving.
‘See you,’ Samantha called back, then pulled away.
Maggie fell into step next to Anna up the front walk. ‘She seems nice, and that was good of her to give you a ride home.’
‘Right.’ Anna looked away, and Maggie took her hand when they reached the top of the stairs.
‘Honey, can we sit down and talk?’
‘But I have so much homework and I fell asleep early last night so I’m behind.’
‘Please.’ Maggie sat down, tugging Anna gently beside her. ‘I have some apologizing to do. I’m sorry. I was concerned about Jamie.’
‘I understand.’ Anna looked more sad than angry. ‘You’re just trying to do the right thing.’
‘Yes, exactly.’ Maggie felt pleased. ‘The question is how do we accommodate Jamie’s safety and your privacy. So Noah and I are not going to call the school or her parents.’
‘Good, thank you.’ Anna met Maggie’s eye, pained. ‘I know you won’t understand this, but those girls, they never really liked me. They tolerated me, even Jamie. If you called the school or Jamie’s parents, it would be so embarrassing.’
‘I get it. That said, here’s a compromise. I’m going to ask you to get in touch with Jamie and ask her to go home or, at least, to call her parents.’
‘But I don’t know if I have her number.’ Anna frowned. ‘She probably got a new phone.’
‘Try her old one or ask around to see if anybody has her new number. Try and see if you can call PG, Connie, or somebody on The Zephyr. If you get that message to her, I would sleep better at night.’
Anna groaned. ‘So you want me to start calling people from Congreve? They’ll just snark me.’
‘If something terrible happened to Jamie and you hadn’t tried to help find her, you’d never forgive yourself.’
‘Okay, I’ll do it,’ Anna answered, with a sigh.
‘Great, and I’m sorry things have been so rough lately.’ Maggie gave her a hug, feeling close to her again.
‘I know, it has been so hard.’ Anna broke the embrace, her eyes searching Maggie’s. ‘I hate all this drama. I thought it was going to be hard at school and easy at home. But instead it’s easy at school and hard at home.’
‘We’re going to fix that.’ Maggie ignored the ache in her chest. Hearing Anna say it made it worse. ‘Listen, I have an idea. Do you like the beach?’
‘I love it.’ Anna perked up. ‘I used to go with my grandparents. They had a house in the south of France.’
Maggie smiled. ‘We’re talking the south of New Jersey, as in Avalon.’
Anna burst into laughter. ‘Hey, fine with me, I would do that.’
‘We’d make it a family day, just us four.’
‘Okay.’ Anna wriggled her shoulders. ‘I can get my tan on.’
‘It’ll be fun.’ Maggie sensed Anna was trying. ‘And next weekend, on Saturday night, I’d like to have a barbecue to introduce you to our friends. You’re the guest of honor.’
‘Me?’ Anna smiled, surprised.
‘Yes.’ Maggie started to feel better. ‘I think it’s time that our friends met you, don’t you? Ask Samantha to come, too.’
‘That’s so nice. I will.’ Anna beamed, then looked past Maggie toward the street. ‘Oh, here comes Noah. This is awkies.’
‘No, don’t worry. I have an idea.’ Maggie watched as the Audi SUV pulled up in front of the house, then Noah cut the ignition and got out, shouldering his messenger bag.
‘Quite the welcoming committee!’ Noah walked up the flagstone path with a smile, and Maggie smiled back.
‘Noah, I decided that we need a reset. I’d like you to meet my daughter, Anna.’
‘Okay. Anna, pleased to meet you.’ Noah grinned, extending his hand to her.
Anna hesitated, then shook his hand. ‘Pleased to meet you, too, Noah.’
‘Anna, I’m the kind of a guy who means well, but sometimes I say dumb things in the heat of the moment. I’m sorry.’
Anna managed a smile. ‘I’m the kind of girl who overreacts and slams doors. I’m sorry, too.’
Maggie interjected, ‘Anna has agreed to try to get a message to Jamie, telling her to call her parents, so we don’t have to call the school or anybody else.’
‘That’s great.’ Noah turned back to Anna. ‘I’m still up for that driving lesson, if you are. Tomorrow night? Eight o’clock?’
‘Perfect.’
‘It’s a date.’ Noah turn
ed to Maggie. ‘And by the way, who are you?’
‘Your loving wife.’ Maggie kissed him on the cheek, but she felt a new remoteness from him. She hoped they could set it right this weekend.
‘Caleb, I’m home!’ Noah called out, as they went inside.
Chapter Forty-seven
Noah, After
TRIAL, DAY 5
‘Dr Alderman, you testified earlier that the Petition in question was filed by Anna, didn’t you?’
‘Yes.’
‘Please direct your attention to paragraph three of the Petition.’
Noah turned to the screen and read:
I am filing this petition on behalf of:
___ Myself
x Another Person
‘Dr Alderman, you see that the box that’s checked is Another Person, isn’t that correct?’
‘Yes.’
‘Let’s look farther down in paragraph three.’
Noah watched the screen change, and it read:
Indicate your relationship with plaintiff:
x Parent of minor plaintiff
___ Applicant for appointment as guardian ad litem of minor plaintiff
____ Adult household member with minor plaintiff
____ Court-appointed guardian of incompetent plaintiff
‘Dr Alderman, the box that is checked is parent of minor plaintiff, isn’t that correct?’
‘Yes.’
‘The parent referred to is your wife Maggie Ippoliti, isn’t that correct?’
‘Yes.’
‘So your prior testimony was misleading when you stated that the Petition was filed by Anna, wasn’t it?’
‘No.’
Linda frowned. ‘Dr Alderman, wasn’t the Petition filed by both Anna and your wife Maggie?’
‘No.’ Noah and Thomas had discussed how to handle this line of questioning. ‘Anna’s handwriting is at the top. Anna wrote her name in the Plaintiff box and my name in the Defendant box. Anna filled out the form.’
‘But doesn’t this form clearly show a box checked, indicating that the Petition was filed by a parent of a minor plaintiff?’
‘Regardless, it was filed by Anna. My wife had to sign only because Anna was a minor.’