by Joy Fielding
Jennifer hung back, noting that the boy’s black T-shirt, festooned with a skull-and-crossbone motif, was tucked half in, half out, of his low-slung skinny jeans. Shit, she thought, reluctantly following after them. Couldn’t Brianne have picked someone a little more presentable?
“What’s going on?” Val was asking, her voice vibrating with barely controlled hysteria. “Brianne, are you all right?”
“You know this young lady?” the younger of the park rangers asked as Jennifer spotted the hotel manager hurrying across the lobby toward them.
“She’s my daughter. Brianne, sweetheart, are you okay?”
“I’m afraid we found your daughter and her companion in a rather compromising position in some woods around Bolton Landing.”
“What?”
Shit, thought Jennifer again, her heart sinking. We’re all in for it now.
“A cottager reported spotting the two of them going at it in a clearing when she was taking her five-year-old twins for a walk. Needless to say, she wasn’t too happy about it.”
“What do you mean, going at it? You’re saying they were making out?”
“I’m saying it was a bit more than that.”
“How much more?”
The older of the two men explained the situation as tactfully as he could. Still, he left no doubt as to what he was saying: Brianne and her companion had been discovered naked, having sex in a public area.
“I can’t believe this.” Val’s face reflected both her shock and her dismay. Her heart was pounding so fast she was afraid she might faint. “You were having sex in a public place? You were naked?”
“Maybe you could say it a little louder,” Brianne said defiantly. “I think there might be someone in Florida who didn’t hear you.”
“How could you do something like that? What the hell were you thinking? Brianne. Answer me.”
Brianne pursed her lips and looked toward Jennifer.
Shit, Jennifer thought. Now for sure I’m a dead woman.
“Don’t look at her,” Val snapped. “Look at me.”
“Why?” Brianne spun around to face her mother. “So you can hit me again?”
Val took a step back, almost as if she’d been slapped herself.
She looks so utterly defeated I almost feel sorry for her, Jennifer thought, realizing that they’d attracted the attention of virtually everyone in the lobby.
“I’m so sorry,” Val apologized to the rangers, although it wasn’t clear if she was apologizing for her daughter’s behavior or her own.
“Look. It’s not the first time something like this has happened,” the ranger said, continuing, “and it won’t be the last. We’re not interested in making trouble for these young people or in pressing charges …”
“Thank you so much,” Val muttered, tears rolling down her cheeks.
“But if it happens again …”
“It won’t,” Val said quickly.
There was some further discussion, and then the rangers left.
“Assholes,” Tyler Currington muttered under his breath.
“You,” Val shot back, “don’t say another word.”
“Excuse me, Mrs. Rowe,” the manager said as they were preparing to leave the lobby. Both Val and Jennifer turned toward him. “We need to talk,” he said.
THIRTEEN
BRIANNE STARED AT HER mother, trying to picture what she’d look like dead. Maybe with a knife through her heart or her throat slit from ear to ear. Like those people in the Berkshires, she thought, immediately pushing such disquieting thoughts from her mind. Yes, she was furious with her mother. Yes, she wished she’d go away and leave her alone. Yes, sometimes she even wished she’d drop off the face of the earth. But did she really want her dead?
She stole another glance in her mother’s direction, studying her in quiet conversation with some old high school classmate she’d supposedly happened upon while hiking. Gary Something-or-other. Had their running into each other really been nothing but a happy coincidence or had they been planning to meet up all along?
Like mother, like daughter, Brianne thought, gathering her long hair into a loose ponytail at the base of her neck with her hand, then releasing it, letting her hair spread like a fan across the tops of her shoulders. No, she decided. More like father, like daughter. He was the go- to person for secret assignations and clandestine affairs. Her mother couldn’t keep a secret if she tried. She simply wasn’t devious enough to have set all this up in advance. She was much too honest. Much too obvious.
And besides, she was still pining for her wayward husband. It was painfully clear she still loved him, and that she was still hoping he’d see the error of his ways and come back home. So what difference did it really make if her meeting with Gary Whoever-he-was had been planned or not? The man probably wouldn’t be around for long. All her father had to do was cock his little finger and her mother would go running. He was her drug of choice, not alcohol.
What a disaster this weekend was turning into. Nothing was turning out the way it was supposed to.
When her father had first floated the idea for this weekend getaway, she’d balked. No way was she spending three days and nights in the mountains with the twit who’d broken up her family. No way was she about to make nice with the sweet-faced slut who’d caused her mother so much grief.
Except that Jennifer had turned out to be neither a twit nor a slut. She was actually pretty cool. Not at all bossy or judgmental. She seemed genuinely interested in Brianne’s opinions and, unlike her mother, she actually listened to what she had to say. Sometimes Jennifer even asked her for advice. When was the last time her mother had done that?
If anything, her mother had grown increasingly withdrawn, impatient, even dismissive, in recent months. Maybe because the divorce was almost final. Maybe because she was turning forty. Maybe because her mother was a hopeless drunk. Whatever the reason, she was certainly no picnic to be around these days. Brianne had eventually warmed to the idea of escaping her mother’s watchful eye, even welcomed it.
Tyler had welcomed the news as well. “Can’t you see?” he’d asked when she told him about the planned excursion. “It’s perfect.”
His plan was simple. He’d follow them to the lodge, stay in a nearby motel, or even sleep in his car, if necessary. They’d fake a chance meeting and then she would persuade her father to allow Tyler to join them. She doubted that would be a problem. For all his seeming sophistication, Evan Rowe had always been surprisingly easy to manipulate.
Unfortunately, he was just as unreliable.
So she hadn’t been particularly surprised or disappointed when he’d called to say he’d be late. She’d been expecting as much. She’d even warned Tyler to count on at least a two-hour delay, but Tyler, as cocksure as ever, had left at the appointed hour anyway. “Might as well get up there a little early and scout out the territory,” he’d said with a laugh.
And then her father had announced he’d been further detained. And then her mother had agreed to act as chauffeur …
And then … And then …
Brianne glanced at her mother, feeling the sting of her slap as if it were fresh.
“Are you okay?” her mother mouthed, catching her look.
Brianne turned away without answering.
As it turned out, their fight had been a blessing in disguise, providing her with a legitimate excuse to get away from the group. Her mother had gone off hiking with her friends in an effort to cool down, and it hadn’t been very difficult to convince Jennifer to let her meet up with Tyler for a few hours.
And what a mistake that had turned out to be. She never should have let Tyler convince her to make love in such an open area. Yes, it had sounded kind of exciting, and no, she hadn’t wanted to come across as a prude, but come on, what had she been thinking? What had happened to her common sense, her better judgment? Had she been trying so hard to impress some boy that she’d allowed his words to get the better of her own best instincts?
She’d heard them before she saw them: two giants in what she first assumed were police uniforms sneaking up on them, ordering them to stop what they were doing, to get dressed and come with them.
Do you realize this is a public place? Don’t you know there are children in the area? Do you know what you’re doing is against the law? Followed by What’s your name? Where are you from? Where are you staying? How old are you?
Thank God they’d turned out to be park rangers, and not actual cops. Instead of arresting them, they’d merely lectured them nonstop during the drive back to the lodge. Brianne had been hoping for a quiet entrance, but of course, that was not to be. Her mother had been waiting for her in the lobby, Jennifer having betrayed her confidence and spilled the beans about Tyler.
You really can’t count on anyone these days, Brianne thought, recalling the hotel manager’s words: We can’t afford to have this kind of scene in our lobby. We cater to an exclusive clientele who don’t appreciate inappropriate behavior from our guests. Normally we would never allow five people to stay in one room, and we only intended it to be for the one night, in any event. I’m sorry but I’m afraid I’m going to have to ask you to vacate the premises as soon as possible.
“That’s it. We’re going home,” her mother had immediately announced.
“I’m going with Tyler,” Brianne said, knowing she was pushing her luck, but figuring, what the hell?
“You’re not going anywhere with Tyler. Tyler is leaving immediately,” her mother informed them in no uncertain terms, “unless Tyler wants to find himself facing a charge of statutory rape.”
“What?” The self-satisfied smirk Tyler had been wearing instantly disappeared from his tanned face.
“Did my daughter tell you she’s only sixteen years old?”
“What?” Tyler said again.
“Goodbye, Tyler,” her mother said.
“I’ll call you later,” Brianne whispered to him out of the side of her mouth as he hurried from the lobby.
Which was when Gary had suggested they spend the night at the campground where he and his dorky son were staying. “It’s been a pretty tense afternoon,” he’d said. “I don’t think any one of you wants to spend five hours trapped in a car together. You can rent a couple of tents, we’ll barbecue hot dogs …”
Brianne interrupted. “I don’t eat meat.”
“Then don’t eat,” her mother had snapped, promptly taking Gary up on his offer.
“I think I’ll pass,” said Jennifer.
“Suit yourself,” Val said. “Good luck finding a place to stay.”
“Shit,” said Jennifer, her eyes registering defeat.
And so here they were—together again—at Starbright Campsites, just a few miles of twisting road down from the Lodge at Shadow Creek, on the banks of Lake George. They’d rented what turned out to be the last three available tents, two large and one small. Brianne had categorically refused to share a tent with either her mother or Jennifer, and so it was finally agreed that Melissa and Val would share one tent and James would bunk down with Brianne. Jennifer would occupy the third and smallest of the tents alone.
“Why can’t I have that tent?” Brianne had demanded, not really surprised when nobody answered.
That’s what happens when you get old, she thought. You not only lose your looks, you lose your sense of humor.
Better to die young, she thought.
So what was she supposed to do now?
Brianne’s gaze shifted across the campsite to where her father’s girlfriend was sitting off by herself, pretending to be engrossed in a book. Except that her flashlight was pointed aimlessly at the ground instead of on the page, and the moon, while almost full, was mostly hidden by trees and would hardly have provided enough light to read by. Despite all the stars, it was still spooky dark out, Brianne thought, shivering as she hugged her knees to her chest, pretending her arms were Tyler’s.
What the hell was she doing sitting on the hard, cold ground in front of an enormous bonfire, surrounded by canvas tents of various shapes and sizes, in the company of a bunch of tree-hugging strangers she hoped never to see again as long as she lived? How had this happened?
Brianne knew that he was still in the area, probably close by, waiting for her to contact him. All she had to do was get to a phone. Not quite as easy as it sounded, she thought, knowing that despite her mother’s seeming interest in all things Gary, she was watching her like a hawk.
She knew her mother was angry. She also knew she felt guilty about hitting her earlier, that she might even blame herself for her daughter’s subsequent behavior. Maybe if I hadn’t slapped her, Brianne imagined her mother thinking, I wouldn’t have driven her into that boy’s arms. This whole thing is my fault, she could almost hear her mother saying.
So why not play on that guilt? Why not let her mother take the blame?
Slowly Brianne pushed herself to her feet, her legs more than a little shaky as she tried to balance her red three-inch heels on the bumpy ground. Not exactly appropriate footwear for a campsite, she knew, but Tyler liked her in heels, and she hadn’t been about to give her mother the satisfaction of changing into more sensible footwear. “These are fine,” she’d insisted when her mother suggested she might like to change into a pair of sneakers. She’d also ignored her mother’s suggestion to swap her white shorts for a pair of jeans, the result being that she was both uncomfortable and cold.
“Can I talk to you?” she said to her mother now.
Val immediately pushed herself to her feet, leaving Gary’s side to follow Brianne to a more private space farther down the way.
“I want to apologize,” Brianne began.
“All right.” Her mother folded her hands across her chest. “I’m listening.”
Not exactly the response Brianne had been expecting. She’d already decided that her mother would interrupt her apology with one of her own: No, sweetheart, I’m the one who should be apologizing to you.
“I’m sorry about what happened with Tyler.”
“You should be.”
Huh?
“I was just so upset about the fight we had this morning,” Brianne continued. “You’ve never hit me before.”
Silence.
Feel free to interrupt at any time, Brianne thought. “Aren’t you sorry you hit me?” she asked when no such interruptions were forthcoming.
“Frankly,” her mother said, “I’m not sure.”
What?
“I was sorry. Now …”
“Now what?”
“Now, to be honest, I don’t know.”
“But what happened with Tyler would never have happened if you hadn’t hit me.”
A long pause.
“I see,” her mother said.
Finally, Brianne thought, continuing. “Not that anything actually happened. With Tyler and me, I mean,” she lied. “Nothing happened.”
“Nothing happened,” her mother repeated.
Brianne offered her mother her most winsome smile. “I know what those park rangers thought they saw …”
“You were found pretty much naked,” her mother reminded her, her voice cold.
“Yes, but it wasn’t how it looked.”
“I see,” her mother said again, although it was becoming less and less clear that she did.
“Anyway, I’m sorry you misunderstood …”
“I misunderstood?”
“Tyler’s a really nice boy, Mom. You’d like him.”
“I doubt that. And he’s a man, Brianne,” her mother corrected. “Not a boy.”
“He’s only a few years older than me,” Brianne argued. “It’s not that big a deal. Dad’s older than you.”
“I didn’t start dating him when I was sixteen. Besides, this isn’t about your father and me.”
“You’re right,” Brianne said quickly. What was the matter with her mother? Why was she making this so difficult? “Anyway, I just wanted to say I’m sorry.”
“Okay.”<
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Again Brianne waited for her mother to offer her own apology. Again, none came.
“Is there anything else?” her mother asked.
“Can I have my BlackBerry back?”
Her mother rolled her eyes toward the star-filled sky. “Not a chance.”
“I just want to see if Tyler’s all right.”
“So this whole apology was just a ruse to get your phone back,” her mother said.
“No, of course not.”
But her mother was already walking back toward the center of the campsite.
“I’m not finished,” Brianne called after her.
“Oh, yes, you are.”
“We need to talk about this.”
“Don’t worry. We’ll talk plenty when we get back to the city.”
Shit, Brianne thought, her eyes catching sight of Jennifer watching from the distance. Brianne took a step toward her.
Don’t even think about it, Jennifer’s expression warned, stopping Brianne in her tracks.
Turning, she caught her heel on a small mound of earth and collapsed to the ground. “Ow,” she cried, looking to see if her mother had seen what happened. It would serve her right if I broke my ankle, she thought, knowing she’d merely given it a slight twist. She sat for a few seconds, rocking back and forth in exaggerated discomfort, cradling her ankle, waiting for her mother to come running back, to take her in her arms and console her, tell her everything was going to be all right, but she didn’t. “Shit,” Brianne muttered, letting go of her foot and rubbing her bare arms with her hands.
“Are you okay?” a voice asked from somewhere above her head.
Brianne looked up. “I’m fine,” she told the young man as he knelt to crouch beside her.
“It’s Hayden,” he said. “We were introduced before.”
“I know who you are.”
“Did you hurt yourself?”
“Not really.”
“Those probably aren’t the best shoes to wear camping.”