It was sundown by the time Rose found Virginia Avenue, parked across the street from Kristen’s house, and cut the ignition. Lavallette turned out to be a small, sleepy beach town on an island off the Jersey shore. The street was wide, criss-crossed with sagging telephone wires and lined with two- and three-story homes interspersed with bungalows. The Cantons’ address was a newer three-story that looked like it contained several apartments. The apartment was 2-F, and Kristen was probably home, because a light was on in the second floor, front.
Rose grabbed her purse and got out of the car, then walked across the street and up the steps to the house, scanning the names by the buzzers. There were six, and Canton was next to 2-F. She buzzed 1-F, next to William and Mary Friedl. In a minute, an older woman answered. “Yes?”
“Mrs. Friedl, I’m sorry, can you buzz me in? My husband has my key and he’s still at the beach.”
The door buzzed, and Rose went inside, climbed the stairs, and knocked on 2-F, standing in full view of the peephole. “Kristen, let me in. I have to see you.”
“Rose?” Kristen opened the door, her eyes an astonished blue. “What are you doing here?”
“I might ask you the same question.” Rose entered the apartment and pushed the door closed behind her. “You told me you were in Maryland.”
“You can’t stay.” Kristen edged backwards, a book in her hand. Her russet hair was in a ponytail, and she had on a gray sweatshirt with black gym shorts. “Please, leave now.”
“Why don’t you call the police?”
“Why are you here? How did you find me?”
“That’s an odd question. Are you alone?” Rose glanced around the small living room, but it seemed empty and still, with a tan couch, matching chairs, and a big TV. Pictures of seashells covered the wall above a white entertainment center. “What are you up to, Kristen? You lied to me this morning about where you were, and I want to know why.”
“Go, please.” Kristen tried to walk to the door, but Rose stood in the way, sliding her phone from her purse.
“Let’s call the police. You can explain to them that you just happened to be out of school the day it exploded, saving your own life but killing three other people, including your sub, Marylou Battle.”
Kristen’s eyes flared. “What are you saying?”
“I think someone rigged the explosion that caused the fire, either you or someone from the general contractor, Campanile, working with you.”
Kristen gasped. “That’s crazy! Why would I do that?”
“I don’t know, but you’re running away from something, and believe me, I know running away when I see it. It’s my MO.”
“You’re wrong.” Kristen sank into a wicker chair, placing the book next to the cushion in her seat. “I had nothing to do with the fire. It was an accident.”
“Then why were you out that day?”
“I was sick.”
“You didn’t seem sick when I saw you. You don’t seem sick now. And why did you lie to me on the phone today?”
“That’s none of your business.”
“It is so my business. You used to have lunch with Melly in that lounge. I have a right to know what’s going on, because I trusted you with my child.”
“You’re wrong.” Kristen flushed behind her pretty freckles. “I’m here because I wanted privacy, like I told you. I’m worried about those crazy parents, and the reporters, too.”
“You could have told me or the school where you were.”
“I did tell the school.”
“That’s another lie, Kristen.” Rose felt anger flare in her chest. “They’re forwarding your mail to your parents’ house. That’s where you told them you were.”
“I don’t have to tell everybody everything.” Kristen squirmed in her chair, and Rose noticed the book she’d been reading, tucked by her side. Its cover wasn’t visible, but she’d know that spine anywhere. Before Kristen could stop her, she reached over and snatched the book from the chair.
“I thought so. I read this book twice. What to Expect When You’re Expecting.”
“This isn’t your business,” Kristen said, stricken, and Rose dialed back her tone, sitting down opposite her on the couch.
“You’re right. But if you ask me, it’s time to tell the truth.”
“No.”
“Try it. It works, and maybe I can help.”
“I don’t need help.”
“Kristen.” Rose lowered her voice. “You’re pregnant and hiding it from everybody. That sounds like a girl who needs help.”
“Okay, so I’m pregnant.” Kristen’s eyes brimmed, but she blinked her tears back. “My boyfriend Erik’s in Reesburgh, in the insurance business. He broke up with me, and I don’t know what to do. I don’t want to tell my parents, and they’re away anyway, so I came here to get back on my feet. That’s why I was out of school the day of the fire. I had morning sickness.”
“So you didn’t know the fire was going to happen?”
“No.”
“And you had nothing to do with it?”
“Of course not.” Kristen laughed, sadly, and Rose felt relieved and puzzled, both at once.
“So your boyfriend doesn’t want the baby?”
“It’s not that. He doesn’t know I’m pregnant. He broke up with me before I found out, and I’m not about to tell him, now.”
“He does have a right to know. I bet he’s the one trying to find you. Somebody called your parents’ house for you, the housesitter told me.”
“It was him. He calls my cell all the time, but he doesn’t want me back.” Kristen wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. “He wants his stupid truck keys, which I threw in the ocean.”
“Aw, I’m sorry.”
“Me, too, but not about the truck.”
Rose smiled. “Why don’t you tell your parents? I’m sure they’ll help, and they’d want to know.”
“You don’t know my dad.” Kristen shuddered.
“What are you going to do about the baby, if you don’t mind my asking?”
“I think I’m keeping him, or her,” Kristen answered, confident. “I think I can do it on my own.”
Rose’s heart went out to her. “What are you living on?”
“Savings, and I have money I inherited from an aunt. I’m fine, thanks.” Kristen’s lower lip buckled with regret. “I’m sorry I left Melly in the lurch, I really am. That’s why I called you this morning.”
“I know.” Rose got up, went over, and gave her a hug. “Eat crackers every morning, first thing. Old-school Saltines. You won’t feel so sick.”
“Thanks.”
“I’d better be going. It’s a long drive.” Rose went to the door, then stopped. “Let me just ask you something. Do you remember seeing cans of polyurethane in the teachers’ lounge, recently?”
“Yes. They were varnishing the cabinets. I remember there were WET PAINT signs everywhere, and it reeked.”
“When?”
“Thursday, the day before the fire. Why?”
“Somebody told me that the polyurethane is partly the reason for the explosion. It was left there, and it blew up.”
“So?”
“So I don’t get it.” Rose shrugged. “Why does anybody varnish cabinets in October, a month after school opens? Especially if it smells and is going to ruin peoples’ lunch. It doesn’t make sense.”
“I don’t know. Maybe a second coat?” Kristen got up, walked to the door, and held it open. “You won’t tell anyone I’m here, will you?”
“No, but you should.” Rose went into her purse. “Here, take this.” She found her wallet, pulled out a hundred bucks, and handed the money to Kristen, who put up her hand like a stop sign.
“No, I couldn’t.”
“Yes, you have to. Please.” Rose put the money in Kristen’s hands. “Good luck, sweetie.”
“Thanks. This is so nice of you.”
“Oh, wait. Take this, too.” Rose pulled a folded paper from her purse, opened it, and showed it to Kristen. “This is Melly’s drawing of the two of you. That’s Albus Dumbledore in the hat.”
“I knew that,” Kristen said, with a newly teary smile, and Rose gave her a good-bye hug.
“Call me if you need me. And Melly wants you to know we eat Kristenburgers.”
“They’re yummy, right?”
“Not in bulk.”
Kristen laughed. “Can I keep the picture?”
“Sure.” Rose went to the door. “I told Melly I mailed it to you, and that’s the last lie I’ll ever tell my daughter, except for Santa Claus.”
It was dark when Rose hit the street, but before she went back to the car, she walked to the beach and took off her shoes, enjoying the sensation of the cool sand as she went down to the shoreline and stood at the edge of the very continent. She still had a blister on her ankle, and the chilly wavelets rolled over her feet, healing and good. The gray foam made pale, shifting lines, one after the other all the way to the black horizon, where sea blended with sky. The stars shone bright white, encrusting heaven, and the full moon was a perfect circle, like a paper hole left by a hole-puncher in school. She breathed in the salty smells and the cool wetness of the air, standing at the intersection of summer and autumn, and at a crossroads in her life, too.
She thought of Leo, hoping she hadn’t left him behind, because she wasn’t sure where she was going. And she didn’t know what to do or think about the school fire, either. She stared into the blackness at the horizon, looking for answers, knowing a line was surely out there, but she couldn’t see it. Still, she looked hard and tried to find it, and she found herself thinking of Kurt Rehgard. He was gone, and she didn’t know where he was going, either. Or where her mother had gone, or her father.
She thought about death, and life starting anew, in Kristen. And she thought about the place between life and death, where Amanda slept, waiting to wake up, or not. She said a silent prayer for her, and realized that Thomas Pelal had been there, too, in her mind. She had kept him alive, in death, for so long, and it was time to let him go. She realized that letting someone go was setting them free. So she set him free, letting his spirit soar over the great churning sea and up, up, up into the heavens.
The wind blew her hair back from her face, and she breathed in deeply, inhaling one lungful after another, letting it energize and renew her. She kept an eye on the horizon, or where she thought it was, and understood that not everything that existed could be seen. Not every border was clear. She kept thinking of Kurt and the fire, sensing that something still seemed out of whack. She didn’t know the answers, and she didn’t even know the questions, but they were out there.
As surely as earth met heaven.