“Kate.” Blaire had knelt beside the chair, resting a hand on its arm. “Are you all right? Have you slept at all?”

Suddenly the chair had stopped, and Kate glared at her. “Leave me alone,” she shouted, jumping up from the rocker. “All of you. Leave me alone. Why are you bothering me?” She ran into the house in tears.

Blaire had been frozen for a moment, not understanding what had just happened, but as the days progressed, they all began to see it. Kate hadn’t been sleeping or eating; she was tense and on edge all of the time, having angry outbursts over nothing. She stayed in the house, refusing to step foot on the beach or go anywhere, especially if it involved getting in the car. Late one night, when Kate seemed a trifle calmer than she had in the last weeks, Blaire saw an opportunity to try and talk to her. They were on the porch again, where Kate was spending practically all her waking hours. “I know how sad you are, Kate, how hard this is. But I’m really worried about you. It feels like you’re sinking, like you’re coming apart before my eyes. I don’t know how to help you.”

Kate was silent.

“Kate,” she’d pressed. “Talk to me.”

Kate had turned her head slowly and looked at Blaire. “I can’t do this anymore. I can’t.” The rocker swung crazily as she jumped up from it and began to pace. “There’s this pressure around my lungs, and it’s going to suffocate me, like a bubbling in my chest that’s going to explode. I can’t think straight, I can’t sleep—if I try, the nightmares come. I can’t stop crying. I can’t keep doing this.”

“You need to talk to someone, Kate. Now.”

But Lily and Harrison were one step ahead of Blaire. Harrison had already made arrangements for Kate to meet with her old therapist. She’d told them that Kate was suffering from acute stress disorder. She adjusted Kate’s medicine and saw her three times a week the rest of that summer. When September came, and Kate returned to Yale, she was coping better, and was referred to a therapist in Connecticut who she saw as needed. And then she’d met Simon.

Blaire looked at Simon now. “Are you going to let Kate know I’m here, or shall I text her and tell her you’re trying to get rid of me?”

He gave her a sour look, turned away without a word, and climbed the stairs.

“I’ll be in the kitchen,” she called after him, shrugging off her coat as she walked away.