Page 30 of Intersect
“Symbolichow?”
“You and Ryan were at each other’s throats once you hit adolescence. I never knew what exactly you were competing for, if it was recognition from us or from your peers or something else. But I thought maybe she was the symbol of whatever it is you bothwanted.”
Fuck. It’s a gut punch, those words. Because I think maybe Quinn was more than a symbol. I think of the immediate spark of rage I felt when she first mentioned dreaming about Ryan at the homecoming dance, before I knew anything else about it. Was our belligerence in this life just some remnant from another one, with Quinn at itscore?
My mother begins to cry. “It’s my fault. I should have found a way to make itstop.”
“Mom,” I say softly, “no one could have stopped us. It wouldn’t have made a differenceanyway.”
“You don’t know that. If you’d just gotten along…” She trails off but I already know what she thinks. If Ryan and I had been getting along I’d have gone to that party with him. I’d have carted his drunk ass home before he got in Tyler’s truck. I know what she thinks, and what’s worse is Iagree.
After a moment she coughs, clears her throat. “So when do we meet this new girl? We’re leaving for Brazil this weekend but maybe we could drive up when we gethome?”
“Sure,” I reply. “And you’re positive there’s no ring? Something in thefamily?”
“Nick, are you having money issues?” she asks. “We’re going to have a long talk about finances if you’re outspendingthatsalary.”
“No. I just think Quinn would prefer a family heirloom over something new. That’sall.”
“Well, my mother’s still alive and they never found your father’s mother after she disappeared, so I assume that means they didn’t find a ringeither.”
There’s a chill at the base of my spine. My grandmother died long before I was born, when my dad was small. But I never heard she’ddisappeared.“I thought shedrowned.”
“No one ever knew for sure. They never found a body… Everyone’s best guess is that she drowned in theriver.”
I’m struck silent by the admission. I think of Grosbaum telling us about his missing wife. Is it a coincidence my grandmother disappearedtoo?
* * *
“You’rewhere?”Quinnasks.
I push my way past the crowd heading to baggage claim. Given I left straight from the office with nothing but my gym bag, I won’t be needing to join them. “Florida. Sorry…I tried to call on the way to the airport, but I got yourvoicemail.”
“I heard your message but I just don’t understand. You left town just because your grandmother disappeared decades ago?” sheasks.
I expected her to be as excited as I am, because this is our first real lead since Rose. She very clearly is not. “Quinn, shedisappeared. Think about it. Your aunt disappeared too, right? And Grosbaum’s wife? Disappearing isn’t a standard way for people to die. And if she was a time traveler then my grandfather might know something. Or at least he might know someone who can helpus.”
She sighs. “Okay. I’m just…well it’s stupid but I’m just disappointed. I was really looking forward to seeing youtonight.”
“I was too,” I tell her. “You have no idea how much. But we don’t have time to waste. Any information we get could be the piece we need.” And I really hope to God I find that piecehere.
* * *
It’sdark by the time I arrive at my grandparents’ house. In the moonlight, I see the banks of the small inlet where my grandfather took me and Ryan fishing when we were kids. It’s easy enough to imagine how someone might disappear around here. Between all the water and the gators, I’m certain my grandmother isn’t the only person in town who just never made ithome.
Grandma Sue, the woman my grandfather married a few years after his first wife disappeared, is the only grandmother I’ve ever known. She’s always doted on me to such an extent that it was a shock when I learned we aren’t actually related. She flutters around me from the moment I walk in the door. “Why didn’t you tell us you had a meeting down here?” she asks. “My friends will be so upset they missed yourvisit.”
“Sorry. It was just kind of last-minute.” It feels a little disloyal that I’m here to ask about her predecessor. My grandfather has been a good husband, I’m certain, but there’s apparently never been any doubt where his heart lies. Sue deserved better than secondplace.
We eat dinner while Sue grills me, asking in every roundabout way possible when I’m going to settle down. “We need babies running around the house again,” she says. “How much longer are you going to make uswait?”
“I don’t know,” I reply. I think of Quinn pregnant; I think of us raising a child together. That it will probably never happen makes my chest tighten. We’d have been good parents. “I’m not sure that’s in the cards forme.”
I call Quinn after dinner but only get her voicemail. I know she’s out with Caroline, but I call it again, just to hear the sound of her voice, that tiny rasp when she says her name, the sweetness of it. I just saw her a few hours ago and I already miss her. What’s it going to be like if she leaves me forgood?
* * *
The next morning,my grandfather and I head out on his boat, just as the morning sky morphs from black to lavender. Fishing has always been more his thing than mine, but the traditions involved—waking up at dawn, the thermos full of coffee, and a small cooler with the breakfast my grandmother prepared for us—brings backmemories.