“I don’t know why I was even surprised by this adoption thing,” Dennis bursts out then. “It actually makes perfect sense, you know, that my wife’s real mother is some unstable—”

“No one said anything about unstable,” I manage to cut in, my voice trembling now too. “And Abigail’s ‘real mother,’ Dennis, is the same person she’s always been.”

I hear the angry puff of air on the end of the line.

“What hotel are you in?”

I blink, thrown by the sudden change of direction.

“You heard me,” he says. “What’s the name of your hotel?”

I hesitate, then give it to him.

“I’m changing my flights,” he says. “I’m leaving for Doha and I’ll figure out Miami from there. None of you better move, you hear me? Nobody leaves until I get there.”

I open my mouth, trying to find the right words, but he’s already hung up. The tinny Christmas music plinks away in the background as the dial tone echoes. Slowly I take the phone from my ear and set it down on the bar. Mom stares at me.

“Gillian,” she says, “what was that?”

Chapter Twenty-One

Chapter Twenty-One

When I text Abigail that I’m in the bar, I don’t mention that Mom’s here with me. It’s a deliberate omission, but I still feel a little guilty when I see her come in and do a double-take.

“Oh…” She looks from me to Mom, then back to me, eyes narrowing.

“Sam’s in bed?” I say.

“Sleeping. We had…we had a long talk.” She swallows. “So…what did he say to you?”

I texted her about Dennis’s call but haven’t given her the details.

“Didn’t he call you?” I say.

Abigail flushes. “He left me some voicemails earlier, and…well, when I listened to them I figured he might need some time to cool off. I texted him, but…”

“Well, he’s pretty angry,” I say sharply. “As no doubt you’ve gathered. He basically accused me of kidnapping. He called Lorna a deadbeat alcoholic and said Sam shouldn’t be seeing her. He’s changing his flights to come to Miami, and wants you to stay put till he gets here. It sounds like he’ll finally be leaving soon.”

Abigail swallows.

“Okay,” she says. “Okay. I’m—I’m sorry you had to hear all that, Gillian.”

“Abigail…”

My sister’s shoulders tighten at Mom’s voice.

“What’s going on with you and Dennis?”

I think both Mom and I are a little shell-shocked after that call. Dennis has always been so calm, so elegantly in control. The man I just talked to sounded anything but.

Abigail doesn’t answer, just fixes her gaze on the bar, her jaw tight.