“Thank you,” he said.
“I wasn’t sure how you’d feel about it.”
“I can’t blame you for that,” she said.
“I haven’t exactly been an open book with you, have I?”
“No,” he admitted.
“You haven’t.”
“Well, I’ve enjoyed the time you and I spent together, but I think it’s really good that you and Daria found each other.” She kept the smile on her face, but inside, her heart was twisting. She no longer had an excuse to come to Kill Devil Hills or to see Shelly. She’d hoped that somehow she and Shelly could have developed a bond that would transcend her need for a relationship with Rory, but that had not happened. And now, she’d run out of time.
“I guess I won’t be seeing you again, then, huh?” she asked.
“You don’t need to be a stranger,” Rory said, although he had to know as well as she did that there was no point in her visiting Kill Devil Hills again.
She struggled to find a way to shift the conversation to Shelly.
“It must make Shelly happy, that you and Daria are together,” she said.
Not exactly a seamless transition, but it was the best she could do.
“I don’t know if she knows yet,” he said.
“Daria and I just came to this conclusion last night, and I think Shelly was at Andy’s.”
“Oh, yes, what’s that all about?” she asked.
“Apparently, they’ve been seeing each other for a couple of years. And Shelly is pregnant. They want to get married, but Daria’s worried about” — “She’s pregnant?” Grace leaned forward. The rapid heartbeat again. Her doctor would have a fit if he knew the stress she was putting herself under.
“How far along?”
“Not far,” Rory said.
“You’ve seen her in her bathing suit.”
“She should probably have some prenatal testing, shouldn’t she?” Grace proposed.
“I mean, given her… you know, her… the brain damage.”
“But brain damage isn’t inherited,” he said.
“There’s no reason to think her baby wouldn’t be perfectly normal.”
He probably thought she was an idiot.
“Oh.” She smiled, trying to make herself look sheepish.
“Right.”
“No, the real question is whether she should have this baby at all.
And if she does, can she take care of it. “
The baby’s grandmother could help her. Grace thought, and she felt tears rush to her eyes. She quickly lifted her sunglasses from her lap and slipped them onto her face.
“Well,” she said, standing up.
“I
think it’s time I was on my way. Thanks for putting up with me, Rory.
“
He stood up to give her a dispassionate hug.
“Keep in touch,” he said.
“I hope things work out for you.”
“Thanks,” she said. She left the porch and walked across the sand to her car, not daring to look back at Rory— or across the street at the Sea Shanty.
Eddie was waiting for her in the above-garage apartment. Grace stopped short when she saw him there, and he launched into an obviously rehearsed speech.
“Look,” he said, “I know I was wrong to do this, but please believe me, I did it because I’m worried about you.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I followed you when you left today,” he said.
“I followed you all the way to Kill Devil Hills, and I saw you go to the cottage where Rory Taylor is staying. I didn’t know whose cottage it was, but I asked someone and they told me. I guess…! guess that’s where you’ve been going, huh? To see him? Was that who you were watching for outside the motel window in Greenville?”
Grace felt trapped and weary. She wished Eddie would at least yell at her, express some anger, so that she could get angry back. But that was not Eddie’s style. She sat down on the sofa.
“It’s not what you think,” she said. The line sounded as tired as she felt.
