“This fucking sucks, Jonesey. I won’t tell you what else I came for though. I’ll show you.”

He was speaking Swedish. She needed the subtitles.

He showed her his phone with a screenshot of a picture. The picture looked like it was from an old Kodak roll, with AUGUST 14, 2003, in the corner. It was of a wooden plaque bleached white with blue hand-painted letters. Joey read it.

“Okay. So?”

Leo said, “This was the plaque outside their place. They rented it every summer from this British lady who lived on top. Then they stole away there when they could. During the days, sometimes at night, if my mom was passed out, if your dad was out of town, if my dad was on one of his sailing trips.” Leo put sailing trips in air quotes.

“How do you know these things?”

He shrugged. “I had time, Jonesey. Eons of time to put it together. You haven’t had time.”

She read the plaque again. Her stomach turned.

“Oh my God.”

*  *  *

She staggered up. Leo stood too and took her hand.

Joey knew he took her hand because she saw it, but she didn’t feel it. Suddenly she threw her head to the side and vomited up her morning omelet. She felt Leo scrape back her hair.

“Lily’s Place,” Leo said. “They were having their affair at Lily’s Place.”

“Lily Pad,” whispered Joey, and pressed her face into her palms.

*  *  *

Now Joey was irate.

“Not only do they have an affair,” she ticked off, pacing the sea in front of Leo. “Not only did they freaking arrange all of it in advance. Premeditated. It was all so disgustingly premeditated. Not only did they trash their marriage vows. My poor dad. My poor, sweet dad who probably had some sort of Rand STD but didn’t think to get checked.”

Leo didn’t say, Hey, now. He just seemed relieved she wasn’t going off the deep end. Joey didn’t know what going off the deep end would look like. She wasn’t opposed to it.

“Maisy!” she said. “Sweet, innocent Maisy. She didn’t deserve this.”

Leo grimaced. “No, she didn’t.”

Joey stomped the sand. It felt good to stomp her bare feet. Stomp, stomp. Joey stopped. The anger went as fast as it came. A desolate sadness swooped in. Anger was far better. She stomped a few more furious stomps to summon it back.

“Not only all that. No. They conceived a child. They conceived Lily and passed her off as my father’s.”

“Scott is a better father than mine,” said Leo softly.

Joey didn’t know what to say. Rand was fine. She’d always thought Rand was fine. A bit aloof. Okay, a lot aloof. Obsessed with sailing and stock markets. Not super obsessed with his wife or son. But fine. Not, like, an abuser or something.