CHAPTER TWELVE

“Let me in,” Claire sang as she knocked on Evvie’s door. “It’s me, Claire.”

“What?” Evvie said as she let Claire in. “I thought you were in Missouri.”

“I lied,” Claire said. She kissed Evvie and gave her a celebratory hug.

“You lied,” Evvie said. “You’ve been gone for two days and you show up out of nowhere and tell me you lied, and I’m supposed to hug and kiss you?”

“Absolutely,” Claire said. She took off her ratty winter coat and her worn-through gloves and tossed them on the sofa. “Wait until you hear everything. No, better still, I’ll show you.” She opened up her overnight bag and took out the check. “See,” she said, brandishing it about. “I got the money for Sybil’s rehab.”

“What are you talking about?” Evvie said. “Are you going to be here awhile?”

“I guess,” Claire said. “At least until I go to Oregon.”

“Fine,” Evvie replied. “Then hang up your coat. I was just making tea. Want some?”

“I’d love it,” Claire said. “Do you have anything to eat? I’m starved.”

“There’s leftover pizza,” Evvie said.

“Okay,” Claire replied. She hung up her coat and fantasized about buying a new one. There certainly was money for it, for new coats for all of them. Fifty thousand dollars. Wait until Sybil heard.

Evvie brought out the cold pizza and the hot tea and sat down on the sofa. Claire sat down next to her. She grabbed a slice of pizza and devoured it.

“Now, what’s going on?” Evvie asked. “From beginning to end, starting with where you were all this time.”

“New York mostly,” Claire replied. “I went there with Scotty. We got married.”

“You did what?” Evvie shrieked.

“Got married,” Claire said. “Don’t worry about it. We didn’t consummate, so we’ll get it annulled in no time. His parents will take care of all the details. They promised.”

“And they paid you off,” Evvie said. “That’s where the check came from?”

“Even better,” Claire said. “His grandfather paid me off. Or should I say our grandfather. Sebastian Prescott himself. I told Scotty I wouldn’t take any money from his parents, but he agreed I could try to get whatever I could from his grandfather. It was a piece of cake. Speaking of which, I don’t suppose you have any in the house? Something about getting married makes you awfully hungry.”

“I bought cookies,” Evvie replied. “I always buy cookies when Sam’s away.” She went to the kitchen, and brought the box of cookies back with her. Claire took two and gobbled them down.

“I feel better,” she declared. “Scotty’s parents didn’t offer me anything to eat. I guess they were too upset.”

“Why should they be upset?” Evvie asked. “Because you eloped with their son, or because you announced you were their niece?”

“Just the elopement,” Claire replied. “I left out the part about how Nicky’s really a Prescott. That’s funny, our last name should be Prescott, not Sebastian. Claire Prescott. No, I guess I like Sebastian better.”

“I’m going to be sick,” Evvie declared. She left the room, and Claire listened as she threw up in the toilet. Claire ate another cookie, and wondered what Thea’s reaction was going to be. Probably much worse. She might spend the next few months puking once she heard.

“All right,” Evvie said as she sat down again. “You found out that Sebastian Prescott is Nicky’s father.”

“From Aunt Grace,” Claire said. “You half suspected she told me.”

“Three quarters,” Evvie said. “I wish you’d told me right away that you knew.”

“Why?” Claire asked. “You’ve been lying about it for four years now. I bet you’ve never even told Nicky that you know.”

“You’re right,” Evvie said. “I meant to at first, but then it just seemed cruel to bring it up, so I never did. I hate lying. I don’t have any instinctive abilities for it, like you and Nicky.”

“And Sam,” Claire said. “And Megs, too, for that matter.”

“Some people are born liars,” Evvie replied. “Others learn to out of necessity. But that’s beside the point. A lie’s a lie, I suppose. All right. Aunt Grace told you about Nicky. Did you tell her that Sebastian Prescott was Scotty’s grandfather?”

“It never came up,” Claire said. “You and I and the old man are the only ones who know all the connections.”

“I’m honored,” Evvie said. “Who else do you intend to tell? Or are you just going to buy a full-page ad in the Globe and announce it to the world?”

“I’ll tell Nicky,” Claire replied. “I don’t see how I can keep it from him. And Sam might as well know the whole story, since he knows most of it already. But that’s it. That was one of the conditions the old man made. His family isn’t to find out. And there’s no real reason to tell Sybil.”

“Or Thea,” Evvie said.

“There I can’t make any promises,” Claire said. “I have to tell her I married Scotty. It’s really important to him. It wasn’t easy convincing him, you know. He didn’t have anything to gain from it. Nicky’s hardly going to give him any money to break up the marriage. But he really wants Thea to know, and I don’t blame him, so I’ll have to tell her.”

“Tell her about the marriage, if you’ve got to,” Evvie said. “But leave the family history out of it.”

“Why?” Claire asked. “So she can continue to have illusions about Nicky?”

“Absolutely,” Evvie replied. “I mean it, Claire. You’ve done something terrible, and there’s no reason to make it any worse.”

“What’s terrible about getting fifty thousand dollars?” Claire demanded.

“What?” Evvie said.

“You heard me,” Claire replied. “Fifty thousand dollars from Sebastian Prescott himself.”

“I thought maybe he gave you five,” Evvie said. “I thought you were talking about at most a month at the rehab center.”

“He started at five,” Claire said. “I bargained him up. I figure half the money we can use for Sybil, and the other half can go to rent us a decent apartment, get Nicky started again. Only I really need a new coat. You could use one, too.”

“He gave you fifty thousand dollars?” Evvie asked.

“And I gave him my word that I’d agree to the annulment and never see Scotty again and never tell him we’re cousins of a sort,” Claire said. “It was a fair exchange. Besides, he owes us the money. What did he ever do for Nicky?”

“That’s between him and Nicky,” Evvie said. “It has nothing to do with you.”

“I’m not sure I agree,” Claire said. “But it doesn’t matter. I had him make out the check to Nicky. I thought Nicky would like that, getting money from his father after all these years.”

Evvie stared at Claire. “I don’t know you at all,” she said. “I think sometimes I have you figured out, and then you do something so inexplicable to me, it’s like you’re a stranger.”

“What’s inexplicable?” Claire asked.

“What isn’t,” Evvie replied. “The way you used Scotty. The way you used me and Aunt Grace for that matter. The way you blackmailed Sebastian Prescott into giving you an enormous sum of money. The way you so wrongheadedly assume Nicky’s going to be pleased about it. The way you waltz in here like you’ve won the Nobel Peace Prize when you’ve hurt so many people in such a short time that I can’t even begin to estimate the damage.”

“I did it for Sybil,” Claire said.

“Oh, go to blazes,” Evvie said. “You did it for the pure joy of causing trouble.”

“You think I liked it?” Claire asked. “Having to go to bed with Scotty and snoop around and demean myself to get him to marry me and listen to all the horrible things his father and grandfather called me? My grandfather. You think it was fun?”

“Yes,” Evvie said. “I think it was fun.”

Claire began crying. “I hate you,” she said. “You’re as bad as Thea.”

“I am not,” Evvie said. “Not that there’s anything wrong with Thea. We can both see through you, that’s all, and you’re a deceitful person and you hate it when we’re not fooled by your tricks. Now stop crying and have some tea.”

Claire sniffled. “He slapped me,” she said. “Sebastian Prescott. Hard, too. Nobody’s ever hit me before, and I had to pretend like I didn’t mind. I didn’t like that, Evvie. I didn’t like being slapped. I did it for Sybil. I told myself he could hit me black-and-blue as long as I walked out of there with enough money for Sybil.”

“You walked out of there with twice as much money as she needs,” Evvie pointed out.

Claire shrugged her shoulders. “I’m good at what I do,” she replied. “He offered, I accepted. You would have done the same thing.”

“Never,” Evvie said.

“Then Sybil would be a cripple for the rest of her life,” Claire said. “If that doesn’t bother you, fine. I wasn’t about to let that happen. It was worth being slapped. It was worth using Scotty. It was worth anything I had to do. Because nobody else in this family knows how to raise that kind of money that fast. Only me. So I’m the one who did it.”

“What are you going to do the next time you need money?” Evvie asked. “Who will you sell your body to then?”

“The highest bidder,” Claire said. “You’re giving me a headache, Evvie. Do you have any aspirin?”

“In the bathroom,” Evvie replied. “Get it yourself.”

Claire got up and walked to the bathroom. She wanted Evvie to be excited for Sybil and proud of her. It wasn’t right she should be acting so righteously. She swallowed the aspirin and splashed some cold water on her face. She could still feel the shock of her grandfather’s slap, but the imprint was long gone. It didn’t matter. She hadn’t gone through all that just to be put on his Christmas card list. When Sybil walked across the room to Evvie, no crutches, no cane, maybe not even a limp, then Evvie would know who to thank.

“Feel better?” Evvie asked as Claire joined her.

“A little,” Claire said. “Too much excitement, I guess.”

“I can imagine,” Evvie said. “Claire, the reason I got so upset is because I love you, and it terrifies me that you play these sorts of games. You got away lucky this time, but someday you’re going to go too far and end up in terrible trouble. You think somehow your beauty will always protect you, but it won’t. Look at Nicky. I don’t want you to end up like that. You’re too smart, and inside you, there’s such a good person, someone so loving and true. That’s the Claire I love, and that’s the Claire I’m afraid you’re going to let die.”

Claire felt very uncomfortable. “I borrowed your picture,” she said, digging it out of her overnight bag. “I showed it to him. He spent a lot of time looking at it, too. I guess he wanted to see what Nicky looks like, so many years later, and what his granddaughters are like. Here. I hope you didn’t miss it.”

“You showed him this picture?” Evvie said, taking it from Claire. “You let him look at us?”

“Yeah,” Claire said. “I did. What of it? You think it’ll have slime prints all over it now? What’s the big deal?”

Evvie shook her head. “If you don’t understand, I can’t explain it to you,” she replied. “Just leave that part out when you talk to Nicky. It’s his father, you know, and he must hate the man with every fiber of his being.”

“They look exactly alike,” Claire said. “It was spooky seeing what Nicky’s going to look like thirty years from now. I wish I could have taken a picture.”

“We’ll get along fine without any pictures,” Evvie said. “Drink your tea. It’ll make you feel better.” She took the picture from Claire and put it down on the table.

The telephone rang, and Claire jumped up to get it. Maybe it’s Schyler, she thought. Maybe he can’t get me out of his mind. It was Scotty.

“I can’t talk for long,” he said. “And I can’t talk too loudly. Schyler’s watching out for me, but my parents’ll kill me if they know I called you.”

“Hi, Scotty,” Claire replied. “Are things still bad over there?”

“You should have heard the lecture my father gave me,” Scotty said. “And Mom kept crying and hugging and calling me her baby. But Grandfather was the weird one. He just put his arm on my shoulder and muttered something about the sins of the father. I know he doesn’t like Dad very much, but I couldn’t figure out what he was talking about. You were in there with him much longer than I expected. Did he say anything about my father?”

“He probably meant my father,” Claire said. “I don’t think he has much respect for my family.”

“Dad asked him if he’d paid you off, and he said yes,” Scotty declared. “So Dad asked him how much, but he refused to say. He just said, ‘Enough,’ and that he’d take it out of my inheritance when the time came. Mom really started crying then, but I think he was kidding. It’s hard to say. He looked ashen. What did you say to him?”

Claire took a deep breath. “I just made a few threats,” she said. “About what I’d do to you if we stayed married.”

Scotty laughed. “They must have been some great threats, from the way he looked,” he said. “Schyler says you’re gorgeous, by the way.”

So’s he, Claire thought, but didn’t say.

“So have you told your family yet?” Scotty asked. “They’ll be pretty excited that you came up with the money.”

“I’ve only told Evvie,” Claire said.

“Not Thea?” Scotty asked.

“Not yet,” Claire said. “I just got in a few minutes ago. And she isn’t here for me to tell.”

“That’s right,” Scotty said. “She’s in New York. Will you have any trouble tracking her down? Do you think she’s at Kip’s?”

“I’ll find her,” Claire said.

“Give me that phone,” Evvie said, and she grabbed it from Claire. “Scotty, this is Evvie. I want you to know I’m furious about what you did. Now you listen to me. She’s sixteen, Scotty. Stop laughing. She couldn’t have done any of this if you hadn’t been willing to go along with it. You had just as much say as she did. And I don’t like the way you used Claire, yes you used her every bit as much as she used you, to get back at Thea. You have problems with Thea, you deal with her directly. Don’t drag Claire into it. I don’t care if she chased you. I don’t care if this was all her idea. You married her. You risked hurting her, just to hurt Thea. I won’t have it, do you hear me?” She listened for a minute to what Scotty had to say, and then handed the phone back to Claire.

“That was fun,” Scotty said. “I don’t like being the villain in all this.”

“I know,” Claire said. “She’s been screaming at me, too.”

“You’ll tell Thea?” he asked.

“Yes,” Claire said.

“Fine,” Scotty said, and hung up.

Claire put the phone down and realized that that might well be the last conversation she’d ever have with Scotty. Her lover. Her husband. Just a curt request that she tell Thea what they’d done, and an equally curt guarantee that she would. That was what it came down to for him. Just hurting Thea. If Claire had liked Thea, she might even be angry.

Evvie shook her head. “He kept laughing,” she said. “As if this was all a joke.”

“It is to him,” Claire replied. “I couldn’t let him take it seriously. If he had, he never would have gone through with it.”

“What if you hadn’t gotten the money?” Evvie asked. “What if Sebastian Prescott had just refused, thrown you out? What then?”

“Then I would have done something else,” Claire said. “There’s always a way if you need something badly enough.”

“How do you think Sybil’s going to feel when you tell her what you did?” Evvie asked. “Proud of you? Or ashamed at how you sold yourself?”

“You don’t know Sybil,” Claire said. “You think I’m ruthless? I’m as soft as Thea compared to Sybil. The only thing Sybil really wants is to walk again. That’s it. That’s her universe. I could have sold myself to a Singapore brothel, and if it got her the money for the rehab, she wouldn’t care.”

“How can you say that?” Evvie asked. “Sybil isn’t at all selfish.”

Claire laughed. “You still think we’re the way we used to be,” she said. “Nicky and Megs slobbering over each other, and Thea writing her poetry, and Sybil hiding her pennies, and me being naughty. It isn’t like that anymore. That car didn’t just hit Sybil, you know. It flung all of us around. Megs sees Nicky is a failure, and Nicky sees that she knows that about him, and all Sybil’s life is, is pain and frustration. I even feel sorry for Thea. She keeps hanging on to Kip, and she would have outgrown him long ago if things were the way they used to be. And I’m not naughty. I don’t provoke Nicky for the pure joy of making him angry. I don’t even bother. He’s too pathetic.”

“You’re pathetic,” Evvie said.

“Cheap shot,” Claire said. “Not even an accurate one. Scotty’s father called me cheap and whorish, and he was a lot closer to the mark than you are.”

“Oh, Claire,” Evvie said.

“Don’t ‘Oh, Claire’ me,” Claire said. “You know, there’s always been something about you I didn’t like. I was never sure before what it was, because for the most part I do like you, much more than I like Thea or Megs or Nicky. But you insist on standing in judgment of me. I won’t have it anymore. I don’t care if you call me pathetic, or say that I’m great. I’m not interested. I’d kill for Sybil. I’d sell my body or my soul, or anybody else’s, to help her. But I don’t care what you think about that or anything else about me. I don’t judge you, Evvie. I don’t care that you’ve been living with a lie for four years now, that the man you love has been lying all his life. I don’t care that you’re a straight-A student, either. And I expect you to stop caring about me. We share the same family, that’s all. It’s an accident of birth. We don’t have to be any closer than Nicky is with what’s-her-name, Scotty’s mother. What is her name, anyway?”

“Vivienne,” Evvie replied. “You’re my sister, Claire. For me that means caring.”

“Fine,” Claire said. “Just keep it to yourself. Now, how am I going to get to Oregon? The old man gave me cab fare, but I didn’t think to ask him for a plane ticket.”

“There should be enough money in the joint account,” Evvie replied. “At least for a one-way ticket.”

“Good,” Claire said. “I wasn’t looking forward to begging from Clark.”

“What are we going to tell Clark, anyway?” Evvie asked.

“Nothing,” Claire said. “It’s none of his business. Will you have enough money for the rent if you buy me the ticket?”

“Sam always comes back from the Greenes with a check,” Evvie replied. “They worry that he doesn’t eat enough.”

“I like Sam,” Claire said. “I’m sorry about his mother.”

“I’m sorry, too,” Evvie said. “About that, and a whole lot more.”

“Don’t be sorry for me,” Claire said. “I did what I had to, and I don’t regret a thing.”