AFTER LUNCH BRITTANY joined Emily in the kitchen and closed the door.
“What do you think?”
“I have no idea.” Emily stacked plates into the dishwasher without concentrating. “I feel terrible. I was so wrapped up in myself I didn’t ask the right questions. Does it sound awful to admit I’d almost forgotten she’s only just broken up with Richard? She seemed so normal and fine about it.”
“She did seem fine. Those plates are covered in food, Em. You need to rinse them.”
Emily stared vacantly at the plates. “But what if she wasn’t? What if she was traumatized and she didn’t tell us?”
Brittany shook her head. “You saw her and Alec the other night—they were laughing and having a good time. She didn’t look traumatized. She looked happy.”
“So why did she leave? And what did she want to talk about? Breaking up with Richard definitely had an impact on her relationship with her parents. She must have been worried about that. That must have been why she went home instead of coming here. They probably put pressure on her.”
Brittany flopped into a chair. “I wish she’d told us.”
“Me, too.”
“If we don’t hear from her tomorrow I’m calling her parents. And it won’t be to wish them a Merry Christmas. Do I smell burning? You need to remove whatever is in the oven.”
“Oh. I forgot the cobbler.” Emily was pulling dessert from the oven when a phone rang.
“It’s mine.” Brittany made a grab for the phone. “It’s her! Sky? Holy crap, we’ve been worried about you. Why didn’t you call?”
Emily put the cobbler down. “I want to talk to her, too. Put her on speaker.”
Brittany put the phone on the kitchen table so that they could both hear.
“I’m fine.” Sky’s voice echoed round the kitchen. “I’m at my parents’ house.”
Brittany swore under her br
eath. “Sky—”
Emily put her finger to her lips and shook her head to silence her. “Why, honey? I thought you were going to spend Christmas here, with us.”
“That was the plan, but, well, things changed.”
“What changed?”
There was a silence. “There were things I needed to do. I needed to get away for a while.”
Brittany frowned. “I thought you loved the island in the winter, and we had so many plans for Christmas. We’ve all been cooking and I even made you a stocking and stuffed it full of presents. Real presents, not empty ones. It was going to be our first Christmas together. What the hell is going on? What aren’t you telling us?”
“It’s not the island.” Her voice was strangled. “I needed to think. There are things I need to sort out.”
“Is this about Richard?” Brittany looked at Emily for inspiration. “Is he there?”
“Yes.”
Brittany’s face darkened. “Has he upset you?”
“No. In fact we cleared the air. It was probably the best talk we’ve ever had. Look, I can’t really talk now, but you left a ton of messages and I didn’t want you to worry. I’ll call you soon.”
“We’re officially worried.” Ignoring Emily, Brittany dragged the phone toward her. “Something’s wrong. Why won’t you talk to us? Since when don’t we talk to each other?”
There was a silence. “You’re both busy with other things.”
“We’re never too busy for our friendship. Except—” Brittany hesitated. “You suggested having a coffee and I didn’t realize— I didn’t know you wanted to talk.”