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Her lips parted in apparent surprise as she looked over at him. “You picked us up almost an hour ago, and you’re just mentioning this now?Pleasedon’t tell me she fired you...”
“Surprisingly, no. She was upset, but once I explained what happened, she just got...quiet and sad. I think she’s coming to realize she can’t always stick up for her sons, that her loyalty and desire to protect them has maybe been misplaced.”
“What makes you say that?”
He told her about the conversation, how Annabelle had started to cry and what she said right before she got off the phone.
“That’s not like her, right? To be that self-aware?”
“Not really. It felt like she made a bleak realization, that she could no longer pretend her sons were admirable or even that she could trust them to behave as they should.”
“Did you tell her about the duffel bag?”
Jack came up for air and went back under the waves as Bo locked his arms around his knees. “I didn’t. I wasn’t going to base that decision on one uncharacteristically honest and transparent reaction.”
“You’re afraid if she learns what’s inside that bag, she might try to protect Bastian from...whatever should be coming to him?”
“Damn right,” he said. “Especially when she has a history of covering for his inadequacies and bad behavior.”
She adjusted her sunglasses. “So do we go to the cops?”
“I think we have to, don’t you? Then whatever happens next will be up to them. At least we would’ve done our part.”
She pursed her lips. “You can’t get involved. The police are going to need to talk to me anyway, since I found it. There’s no reason to drag you into it.”
She made a good point. But going to the police meant alienating herself from her prospective in-laws for good. And who could say how Remy—or even more concerning, Bastian—would react.
Jack was breathing heavily as he walked up the beach and shook the water out of his hair before dropping down on his towel on the other side of Ismay. “That felt good,” he said.
“Is this the first time you’ve ever been in the ocean?” Bo asked.
“Yeah.” Jack leaned up on his elbows as he watched all the activity around them—the sunbathers, swimmers, dog walkers, joggers, and children playing in the sand. “But I now know one thing—I want to live by the ocean. Maybe move out to California, near Is. But I’m not sure what I’d do there.”
“We could live together,” Ismay said. “You could get a job while I start my practice.”
“I think I’d like that,” he stated matter-of-factly and got up again. “Anyone want a hot dog?”
“We just ate,” Ismay pointed out.
“I know, but I’m starving again.” He grabbed his towel and dried his hair before dropping it and trotting off to the food trucks.
“Appetite’s coming back,” Bo said.
“Another good sign,” Ismay responded.
They watched a boy playing fetch with his dog for a few seconds. Then Bo said, “I have to go out of town first thing in the morning.”
Ismay’s eyes widened. “You do?”
He nodded. “Just came up. I made my travel plans after taking you and Jack to Honey’s this morning.”
“Is something going on?”
“That uncle I told you about? He might not be well.”
“So you’re going to Louisiana...”
He nodded.
