trusted with their daughters. That’s why they couldn’t run him for lieutenant governor-he’s left too many tender young virgins in his wake.”
“Like Becca?”
“Like Becca. And now he wants her again, apparently. And if that man nudges her off of her road to recovery, I swear I will load up one of father’s old hunting rifles and shoot him down like the wild dog that he is. I don’t care if I go to jail for the rest of my life.”
“Don’t talk crazy, Bitsy.”
“Mitch, I’m telling you the God’s honest truth.”
A long black cigarette boat filled with sunburned summer peoplewent tearing by the island, leaving an incredible roar of noise in its roiling wake.
“God, I wish they’d outlaw those horrible things,” she observed irritably. “What kind of morons ride around in them anyway?”
“Morons who like to make a lot of noise.”
“Why on earth would they want to do that?”
“So that people like you will notice them. Otherwise, you wouldn’t.” Mitch glanced at her curiously. “Exactly how old was Becca when she and Dodge first got together?”
“She was of legal age, eighteen. It wasn’t statutory rape, just unsavory. And drugs were involved. She was high on pot half the time, and eager to try anything new. He took advantage of her poor judgment to grab himself a piece of fresh young girl. I’d like to point out that Becca wasn’t in any serious trouble before that, Mitch. She was just a headstrong girl who liked to kick up her heels. It wasn’t until after she got mixed up with Dodge that she got into heroin.”
“I wondered why you called him a cannibal before. Now I know why.”
“Mitch, you don’t know the half of it,” Bitsy said darkly.
Mitch rocked back and forth in guarded silence, wondering what else there was. Part of him hoped she’d spill it, part of him hoped she wouldn’t. Because there were some things about people that you were better off not knowing, he had come to realize.
Bitsy took a long, slow drink of her iced tea before she said, “It was that golden summer when the girls turned fifteen. They were inseparable, those two. Esme was such a sweet girl, Mitch. A sunny, happy girl who loved to swim and windsurf. And so pretty that there were always lots of boys around. Nice boys, good boys. All of them so healthy and bright, full of enthusiasm. Mind you, she and Becca both had huge crushes on Will Durslag, who was lifeguard at the town beach in those days. All of the girls did. He was a great big handsome boy-an older boy. They were like pesky kid sisters to him.” Bitsy let out a long, pained sigh. “God, that seems like such a long, long time ago…”
“What happened that summer, Bitsy?”
She rocked back and forth, her brow furrowing. “I’m not even sure I should tell you this. But I feel like you’re family, and I’ve always trusted you to do the right thing. You have to promise me you’ll never, ever tell a soul about this. Except for Des. I know you confide in her. But no one else, okay?”
“Okay…”
“Esme was Dodge’s first, Mitch,” Bitsy said quietly.
Mitch swallowed. “Freeze-frame, are you saying?…”
“I’m saying he started sexually abusing his own fifteen-year-old daughter that summer. The change in Esme’s personality was noticeable and truly alarming. She became gloomy and distant. She looked unwell. She… even tried to take her own life.”
Those scars on her wrists. Mitch discovered he was scratching at his own wrists now, as if something were crawling around under his skin. He stopped himself, squirming in his seat.
“I honestly don’t think Esme would have survived if she hadn’t found her way into acting,” Bitsy went on. “Acting was her escape. It got her away from this place. Away from him.”
“Did she ever press charges against him?”
“No, never. All she wanted to do was go far, far away. And she did. She hasn’t been back here since she finished high school. Not until this summer.”
“What about Martine?”
“What about her?”
“How could she stay married to him? How could she stand by him?”
“By refusing to believe it. She insisted that Esme was making it all up. That she was merely trying to hurt her father.”
“So she was a full-time resident of the state of denial?”
“Denial is not uncommon under such circumstances, Mitch. The alternative is simply far too horrible to contemplate. Esme’s silence was also quite typical. She was afraid to tell anyone. The only reason I know about it is that the night before she left for New York she finally told Becca everything. And Becca told me.”
Just another day in paradise, Mitch reflected as he rocked backand forth on Bitsy’s porch. One more slice of family life in this Yankee eden called Dorset. “Why did Esme come back now? Why did she bring Tito here?”
“I honestly don’t know, Mitch.”
“Maybe the wounds have finally healed.”
“Wounds like those never heal.”
“I’m thinking that one other person may know about this…”
“Such as who, Mitch?”
“Will Durslag.”
“You’re not wrong,” Bitsy concurred, shoving her lower lip in and out thoughtfully. “Will’s role in life has long been to clean up the sobbing, broken messes that Dodge leaves behind. He delivers the parting gifts, mends the broken hearts. There was an au pair girl on Turkey Neck Road some years back, a lovely Scottish girl. And when she got pregnant it was Will who claimed responsibility and paid her way back home. Even though everyone knew she was Dodge’s little beach blanket plaything. Will has always stuck by him. He so looks up to Dodge.”
“My God, how can he?”
“Because he was so young when he lost his own father. Dodge is all he has as a role model.”
“Some role model.”
“Besides, it’s not as if he hasn’t profited from their little arrangement. Dodge put him through the Culinary Institute of America, after all. And Dodge has bankrolled The Works.”
“Between us, Donna told me they’re barely getting by.”
“Between us, I’m not surprised to hear that,” Bitsy said, raising an eyebrow at him. “Dodge is seriously cash strapped these days.”
“How do you know this?”
“I know it because there isn’t a plumber or an electrician in Dorset who will work for them anymore. The word is out-the Crocketts don’t pay their bills. Martine has bounced so many checks at the beauty parlor that Rita won’t let her set foot in the door unless she has cash on her.”
“But how could this happen?”
“The NASDAQ, that’s how. Dodge risked everything he had on tech stocks. When the dot-com bubble burst, so did his entire portfolio. The man’s not a wise investor.”
“But he seems so, I don’t know, on top of things.”
“Well, he’s not, believe me. He’s run through two considerable family fortunes in the past twenty years, his and Martine’s. That house of theirs is mortgaged to the rafters. All he has left is The Works. If it doesn’t succeed, he and Martine may actually be out on the street.”
“Amazing,” said Mitch, who was beginning to wonder if there was any one single facet to Dodge’s life that wasn’t a complete sham.
Now he heard footsteps on the floorboards of the veranda and turned to see Becca standing there barefoot in a sleeveless white cotton nightgown, damp and fragrant from her shower. Her wet hair was combed out straight and shiny. She looked very young and innocent. “I think I may lie down in my room for a while, Mother,” she said softly.
“Of course, darling,” Bitsy said, mustering a reassuring smile.
“Thanks for the save, Mitch,” Becca said with a shy smile of her own.
