When Dan drops Sarah off the next day, Mom thanks him for the plant he bought. No wonder I didn’t like it.
“You’re looking so much better, Jem,” Sarah tells me, smiling warmly. We’re in the bathroom, and Sarah has just emptied my bag. “You gave me a scare, you really did.”
I gave myself a scare too. But right now I’m more interested in whether Sarah had her talk with Dan about moving in.
“Your mom was telling me that the professor guy is going to be back at Carlstone College next Thursday,” Sarah continues, “just for a day. After that he’s abroad for three months. I think we should go for it, if you’re feeling well enough.”
I’m still feeling tired after my infection, but I do want to meet him. Even if there’s only a small chance of anything changing. Now that Mom’s fixed on me meeting him before she’ll let me meet Jodi, I have an even greater incentive than before. But if he can’t help me, will I still get to meet her?
Sarah is pushing me toward the kitchen for dinner when she stops and I jolt in the chair. Her phone is ringing upstairs.
“I’ll just get it… It might be Dan. I won’t be a sec.” She leaves me outside the kitchen. Mom’s not in there, but I can see Olivia through the doorway. She’s on a stool by the kitchen counter. What is she up to? She climbs onto the countertop and opens a high cupboard, the one where Mom keeps the candy. She has a bag of gummy bears in her hand as she jumps down, and I see her stash them in the pocket of her jeans.
Sarah is back. “It was Richard,” she whispers, “about the concert. I can’t wait!”
I’m glad she’s confiding in me again. It feels more normal. For a moment I imagine that I’m going with Sarah instead of Richard. I’d definitely be just as excited as she is. I’ve seen concerts on TV, and I think it would be amazing to hear a band live, especially Glowlight.
It is mac and cheese for dinner. I like pasta, but cheese sauce sometimes gets stuck in my throat and makes me cough. Sarah is feeding me. Finn’s not eating but is rocking backward and forward in his chair. He’s not so enthusiastic about pasta either—maybe because it is so curvy—especially macaroni. Olivia has wolfed hers down.
She looks at Sarah. “Do you like staying all night with Dan?” She giggles.
“Yeah, I had a great time, thanks,” Sarah tells her.
“Did you have sex?” Olivia asks.
I cough up some cheese sauce.
“Olivia!” Dad splutters. “You don’t ask people questions like that.”
“I was just interested.” Olivia’s mouth turns sulky. I stop coughing. Sarah wipes my mouth with a kitchen towel and gives me a drink. Her cheeks are pink.
“How was school?” Dad asks Olivia.
“Melissa’s not my friend anymore,” Olivia tells him.
“I didn’t know you had a friend named Melissa,” Mom comments.
“She was only my friend for one day, and now she’s not,” says Olivia.
“Why’s that?” asks Dad.
“I don’t wanna talk about it.” Olivia folds her arms.
Dad turns his attention to trying to coax Finn to eat. He has a few mouthfuls.
“I think we should take Jemma to meet that guy,” Sarah tells Mom. “She seems to have made a good recovery, haven’t you, Jemma?”
“That’s great,” says Mom, and she actually gives Sarah what looks like a genuine smile. “I think so too.”
I’m relieved that the decision is made—and even more relieved to see Mom and Sarah talking normally to each other. Olivia and Finn go off to play while Sarah finishes feeding me and Dad turns on the radio for the news.
I’m not really listening until I catch the name Ryan Blake. Dad turns it up and shushes everyone.
“Jay Wiggins, who was charged last week with the murder of Ryan Blake, has been released after a witness came forward corroborating his alibi. The twenty-five-year-old auto mechanic had been in custody for a week. He described his relief that his name has been cleared, saying that the whole experience had been a ‘complete nightmare.’”
Sarah’s phone, now in her pocket, rings even before the news item has finished.
“Sorry,” she says, taking it out and looking as if she is switching it off.
“Jay Wiggins?” says Dad. “Is he someone Paula knew about? Did she ever mention him?”
“Not that I can recall,” says Mom.
“Well, looks like the police got it wrong. Hopefully he’s not the only suspect they identified.”
Maybe they do have another suspect. Maybe it’s Dan. Sarah says nothing about it, of course, as she gets me ready for bed. She starts reading me a vampire romance book. I like it, and it makes for a change from Agatha Christie.
Her phone keeps buzzing as she reads. I get a glimpse of the screen one time it does as she picks it up. I see Dan’s name. It’s there, and then it fades away again.