Page 21 of The Banned Books Club
Ruth cleared her throat. She’d obviously been dying to broach the subject, or she wouldn’t have dropped Hart’s name into a conversation about the book they were reading. But it was easy to tell she was having second thoughts. “When I told her you were in town, she got a little upset. She’s been adamant since the beginning that her father is innocent.”
Gia got the distinct impression they’d become friends. Maybe evengoodfriends. She hadn’t anticipated that. Edith was five years younger than they were, and Ruth hadn’t mentioned her when they’d caught up now and then or used Zoom for their book group meetings.
But there’d been several long lapses in the Banned Books Club—some lasting years. Edith and Ruth lived in the same small town. And Gia had been gone a long time. She supposed she shouldn’t betooshocked that Ruth would suddenly find her loyalties split. “How would she know?” Gia asked.
Ruth signaled to the waitress that they were fine when she came by to ask if they’d like anything else. “She told me that if he was the pedophile you made him out to be, there would’ve been other girls claiming the same kind of inappropriate behavior—and there’s been no one.”
Did Ruth agree with Edith? And was Sammie of the same mind? When neither of them would meet her gaze, Gia began to realize a lot more had changed in her hometown than she’d thought. “I never called him a pedophile. He... What he did was inappropriate, but...” She let her words trail off. “Never mind. I don’t want to talk about it.”
Gia had never believed he’d been out victimizing girls. But that didn’t change what he’d done to her.Hehad been the adult—and her teacher. That’d given him more power in the relationship. It’d also screwed with her ability to trust. Although she often wondered if she’d done the right thing in coming forward, she knew in her heart that if shehadn’tspoken up, he probably would’ve continued to pursue a sexual relationship with her.
“I shouldn’t have brought it up,” Ruth said. “I just...feel bad for Edith. I mean, it split up her family, made it almost impossible for her father to earn a living—”
“I’m out of here.” Gia shot to her feet just as Sammie reached out to grab Ruth’s arm, presumably to get her to shut up.
“Can’t we talk about it?” Ruth asked plaintively. “My God, G, what happened to his family was terrible!”
“I’m glad you feel so sorry forthem,” she said and threw a couple of twenties on the table to cover her food and drink before walking out.
Gia had to get out of the house. She was feeling claustrophobic again, just like she always did when she visited Wakefield. And yet this time she couldn’t escape. Her mother’s cancer held her more securely than any prison. Today, she’d done the grocery shopping, played cards with her parents, picked up her mother’s medication and cooked supper before meeting Ruth and Sammie once her parents had gone to bed. She’d been feeling good about doing her part for her family.
But her night out certainly hadn’t provided the social relief she’d been looking for. Because the Harts hadn’t left town the way she had, and they knew so many people, even her closest friends were becoming more sympathetic to them. How was she going to get through the coming months? And would the rest of the people in the Banned Books Club react the same way?
Maybe it wasn’t wise to get the group going again. She’d been trying to hang on tosomepart of her past, hadn’t wanted to let Mr. Hart takeallher friends from her.
Turning her face up to the moon, she pretended she was on her own deck in Coeur d’Alene, staring up at the sky. Her stay in Wakefield wouldn’t last forever, she told herself.
But it would end with her mother’s death, which wasn’t what she wanted, either.
“There’s no way to win,” she muttered and was about to get up and go inside when her phone buzzed with a text from Margot.
Everything go okay today?
What did her sister think? That she could come back to town and the past would be erased? That her detractors would forget the animosity they felt toward her?
Did Margot even realize how difficult this was for her?
Perfect.
She preferred to lie rather than reveal her vulnerability.
I meant to come by today, but I’ve been swamped helping get the food and other stuff ready for Sheldon to go hunting.
No worries. I’ve got this.
That wasn’t remotely true, but Gia would be damned if she’d admit she didn’t, especially to Margot, who’d always made doing the right thing look easy. Although fulfilling her husband’s expectations took a lot of time and effort. Margot served him more like a slave than a partner.
You’re the strongest person I’ve ever known.
Gia blinked at her sister’s response. Read it twice. Was there a barb in there somewhere?
If so, she couldn’t find it. It felt...sincere. She had to chuckle at the irony. Part of the reason she didn’t like coming back to Wakefield was because it made her feel so fragile—as if the slightest thing would cause her to shatter. “Strong,” she muttered with a humorless chuckle.
That’s what I’ve always thought about you.
Thanks. I’ll be over tomorrow.
She remembered her sister alluding to the fact that it was her “turn” to take care of their parents and decided she’d fulfill that debt without leaning on Margot any more than she already had.
