“Don’t,” Annie heard herself say. “Please don’t go. Not yet.” Even if she discounted the role Lucy had played, Annie knew that if she hadn’t found the skull, Jonas wouldn’t have had his life turned upside down. Again.

He shrugged. “I have to. I can’t live with my mother.”

The vehicles in front of his motored onto the ferry and turned off their engines; the captain hitched the safety strap, and the ferry glided away. Jonas stepped on the gas so he’d be first in line for the next trip.

Annie knew she had about one hundred and eighty seconds to get him to change his mind. She dashed back to her Jeep, jumped in, and pulled up behind him. She got out again and ran up to his car door. Luckily, his window was still down.

“Let’s talk,” she said. “Please? I’ll buy breakfast? Or an early lunch? At the diner?”

He seemed to think about that for five, ten, maybe twelve seconds. In her peripheral vision she saw that the ferry was close to reaching the Edgartown side.

“Jonas, please. I don’t want you to do anything you’ll regret.”

He did not respond.

“Please,” she repeated. “Lunch?”

Across the way the On Time was docking. It would only take a few seconds for it to unload, then load up again. Her time was running short. But maybe it would be enough for her to extend a drop of water to him.

“I don’t blame you for the video,” she said. “In fact, I don’t blame you for anything. You’ve been a victim most of your life, thanks in no small part to your grandparents. For what it’s worth, I admire not only how you’ve handled yourself, but also how you’ve seemed to thrive. Now that you’re here, now that you’ve been reunited with your mother, please don’t let old gossip push you away. And don’t let it mess up your relationship with Taylor. I know it must he hard, but she’s your mother, Jonas. And she loves you. She always has.” Annie’s voice fluttered, as if she’d been talking about Donna.

The On Time was reloaded and heading back to Chappy. Annie didn’t know if anything she’d said had gotten through to Jonas, any more than she had a clue as to why she was defending Taylor. She wondered how much of that had to do with Donna. After all, Donna and Taylor had both been mothers whose children were taken from them. As for Jonas, if Annie had learned anything over the years, it was that running away hurt other people. Not to mention that it often wrecked the life of the person who’d done the running. Or so she’d fantasized after Mark had run from her.