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I had thought, since it was raining like a mother-bitch, that no one would come out for coffee. But I was wrong. Everyone came out for coffee. Some people came with their dogs, even. And then, they all stayed inside the shop to drink their drinks. And to make a
My heart pounded as I approached Gray’s bedroom that night. He’d gone out to the deck a few minutes earlier and I knew my mom was still inside getting ready. Now was the best shot I had for putting my dad’s plan into action. The door was open and my mom was at the vanity table, brushing out her hair, wearing her white cotton robe. I held my breath and knocked on the outer wall. She turned around.“Hi!”“Hey,” I said, stepping inside. “Can I talk to you for a sec?”Her eyebrows shot up in surprise. It was all I could do to keep from rolling my eyes. Like it was so out of the ordinary for me to come talk to her?“Sure.”I’d only been inside Gray’s room once since we’d been here, when he’d given us the grand tour on our first evening, showing us everything from the dusty attic to the garage where he kept an old BMW for use in “emergencies.” He’d even shown me where the keys were hidden—in a drawer nearby—which I thought was pretty cool of him. Especially considering the only “emergency” I could imagine was me having to make an early-morning escape from him and his hospital corners. The walls of his bedroom were a super light gray-blue and framed black-and-white shore scenes had been hung here and there to set the mood. The bed was huge—it had to be even bigger than a king—and took up half the room. I tried not to look at it as I approached my mother.“I was just wondering . . . could you drive me into the city next Saturday to meet A