Quinn broke away from the kitchen and tore across Annette’s backyard to the fort at the far corner. She ignored her friends and the police officer who’d prompted Elijah to make his confession, instead frantic to go and see if what he’d said was true.
Matt was hot on her heels, but as they neared the little scene—now crawling with a fresh handful of officers, as well as Roman Best—she spied her daughter.
Vivi crouched at the opening of the fort, her grip on Sadie’s collar tight. Desperate. Her face, like Elijah’s, was red-stained and fearful. “Mom?” she asked through a crack in the people surrounding her.
Quinn rushed in, wrapping her arms around Vivi, who let go of the dog’s collar and squeezed back. “Viviana Fiorillo, what happened?” she whispered in her daughter’s ear.
Satisfied that Vivi had done exactly what the skeptical Special Victims Unit folks had expected she had done, the police cleared out as quickly as they’d crowded in. Their quick work and heavy force was not necessarily as much of a testament to the high stakes of Vivi’s sudden disappearance, as it was a testament to the slow life of Harbor Hills.
Quinn was glad of that.
Vivi was not.
Now, they were back in the kitchen in Quinn’s nearly empty house. Quinn stood at the stove, brewing a pitcher of iced tea, keeping her hands as busy as possible. Matt paced the hall, calling everyone back in Birch Harbor to share the news. The neighbor ladies curled themselves around the kitchen island, chatting excitedly at Vivi.
Elijah went home to suffer the wrath of his father. To be fair, Matt was angry, too. It was a father’s job to uphold the pressure, after all.
It was Annette who first broke through with the hard questions. “Vivi, sweetheart, did Elijah talk you into this?”
“No!”
“Did he meet you?” Annette pressed.
Vivi shook her head and worked her lower lip in her teeth. “He picked me up.”
“He drove?” Quinn asked.
Annette was even more aghast. “He hasn’t even taken driver’s ed yet!”
“I’m sorry,” Vivi whined. “I told him it was a secret.” She looked down at her lap. “I made him swear to be quiet. I just…I just needed space.”
Quinn sighed. “Was this a—some sort of cry for attention, Viv?”
Vivi’s mouth puckered. “Mom,” she groaned, glancing awkwardly at the other two women. The third one, Beverly, had just popped two aspirin and filled a plastic drinking cup with yesterday’s cold black coffee. Then she had seen herself out. Now that things had settled, Quinn was thankful at least one of them had somewhere better to be.
But Jude quickly got the hint. “We’ll leave you two. But we can come back. Tonight, or at the crack of dawn—”
“That’s right,” Annette agreed. “The yard sale. Do you want me to cancel, Quinn?”
Quinn shook her head. There was no way she’d give up all their progress. “Come early, please. I’ll be up at five, if not before then.”
Annette and Jude nodded and started to go, but Quinn added one last thing. “And both of you—thank you. For being here for us. For me.” A weak smile lifted her cheeks, and they returned it before leaving for good.
Now it was just Quinn, Vivi, and Matt. And Matt was finally off the phone.
“You’re coming back, I guess,” Matt said to their daughter, blowing out a sigh. “I thought bringing you here would clean up your first mess. Not create another.”
“Matt,” Quinn tsked. “The first ‘mess’ had nothing to do with Vivi.”
He scowled and dipped his chin to the teenager. “Is that what you told her?”
Vivi paled. “I told her the truth.”
“The truth is, Vivi isn’t allowed to date,” Matt said. “Isn’t that right, Quinn?”
Quinn and Matt were no experts at coparenting. But they’d agreed on this point, which was why when Vivi’s relationship became public knowledge, there had been family conflict. Dancing around how to manage Vivi’s growing interest in boys while being responsible parents and reasonable ones.
“That’s true. And when you started dating Dominic, you knew you were edging toward the line.”
“What line?” Vivi asked.
“The line of good decisions versus bad ones,” Quinn replied softly. Then she looked at Matt. “But that has nothing to do with what Dominic Van Holt pulled.” Then her eyes switched back on Vivi. “Right?”
Matt folded his arms. “What exactly happened, Vivi? Because when I spoke to the mayor, he seemed to believe you played a pivotal role. He even thought your running away was linked.”
“It wasn’t me.” Vivi winced. “It was Mercy.”
“Mercy? Mercy Hennings?” Matt roared. “No way.”
Mercy was Vivi’s best friend and a sugar-sweet counterpart. For all of Vivi’s strength, Mercy softened her. And for all of Mercy’s weakness, Vivi hardened her. They were salt and pepper, but there were two things that the duo shared: a scary-high intellect and missing mothers.
Quinn crumpled into the chair next to her daughter. “Did you talk her into it?”
“I—” Vivi flashed a look at her dad. “No. Dom texted me during the test, and I showed it to Mercy. I didn’t tell her he’d started the test. She thought he was reviewing some math formulas before it started. That’s all it was. She texted back quickly, hit send, and that was it. Mom, I swear. Dad,” Vivi begged.
“You lied to me,” Quinn pointed out. “Then you ran away. Everyone in town was looking for you. Some people thought you were abducted, Viv. This is a huge deal. And it started with a stupid text during the SAT?” Quinn looked hard at Matt. “That’s why Vivi is here? Because you think she got the mayor’s son in big trouble?”
Matt joined them at the counter, falling onto his elbows on the table and pushing his hands through his hair. Seeing him there, despairing and vulnerable, it made him seem like a brother to Quinn. A cousin. A friend. Someone who was on her team, even if they didn’t share the romance that had started it all. He cleared his throat and lowered his voice. “She’s here, Quinn, because she needs you.”