Claire at Sixteen (5 page)

“I liked you better when you were younger,” Sam said. “You were less persistent then. You just hovered around, seeing things but not speaking. I always found that admirable.”

“So you lied because you had to,” Claire said. “This Sebastian Prescott thing is big.”

“This Sebastian Prescott thing, as you put it, has nothing to do with you,” Sam said. “That much I can tell you.”

“If you can tell me that much, you can tell me more,” Claire said.

Sam put his coffee cup down. “It's none of your business,” he said. “And there are other people who could get hurt. Including Scotty, whose feelings you now seem so concerned about.”

Claire wished she could risk taking another bite of apple, but she was afraid the noise might be too jarring. “I am not a child, and I'm not a fool,” she said. “And I don't reveal secrets.”

“You're not going to reveal this one, because I'm not going to tell it,” Sam said. “I'll tell you what I can, but you have to swear you won't push it any further.”

“I swear,” Claire said.

“And it isn't going to satisfy you,” Sam said, “because I can't go into details. It isn't my story; it isn't my secret. Hell, it isn't even my family.”

“Tell me what you can,” Claire said. “Just so I'll stop worrying about Evvie.”

“It has to do with the summer I met Evvie,” Sam said. “And her relationship with Schyler. Something happened, nothing bad, but something that disturbed Evvie. I think that's why she chose me, because of that incident with Schyler.”

“But what does that have to do with his grandfather?” Claire asked.

“It doesn't,” Sam said. “Not specifically. I'll tell you the truth. It's a complicated situation, and I've never been sure I understood it completely. What I can tell you is that Scotty knows nothing about it. Nothing. And Evvie wants to keep it that way. Scotty's family life isn't ideal, either, you know, and Evvie doesn't want to jeopardize what he does have. So if you don't want to hurt him, or Evvie, keep your nose out of it.”

“I wish I understood better,” Claire said.

“I wish I could explain it better,” Sam said. “Families are messy business. Sometimes it's best just to bury the mess and go on from there.”

Claire nodded. “Thank you,” she said. “For telling me as much as you did. I promise I won't say anything to anyone about it.”

“I'll hold you to that,” Sam said. “I mean it, Claire. I really like you, and I'd like us to be friends, but I have to be able to trust you.”

“You can trust me,” she declared. “I promise.”

“Good,” he said. “Now I'm going to rouse Evvie before it's lunchtime, and I suggest you do the same with Thea.”

“All right,” Claire said, and took another bite of apple. She watched as Sam walked back to his bedroom. She knew even if he woke Evvie up immediately, they'd talk for a few minutes. Sam had to tell her that Claire had been snooping, and that should be good for some conversation.

Claire wished she had more time to figure out how much, if any, truth Sam had revealed. He'd brought up Schyler, and so had Evvie the night before, so there was a chance he figured in all of it. And she was willing to believe Scotty had no idea what was going on.

She had to admire the way Sam hadn't really told her anything. The best lies were like that, hazy, with possible nuggets of truth thrown in to confuse things even further. If Sam had told her a full-blown story of Sebastian Prescott and how he'd cheated Nicky out of … what? a family inheritance? a gold mine? the perfect recipe for chili? Claire would have known he was lying. This way, she could only assume he'd revealed partial truths along with the partial lies. Sam obviously had a lot of practice lying. Maybe it had something to do with Linda Steinmetz. If she ever had the time, she'd find out.

Meanwhile, she had to make her move before Thea woke up. Claire tiptoed to the telephone and dialed Clark's number. Clark answered it himself.

“I'm fine,” Claire told him. “We're having a wonderful time together.”

“Scotty mentioned what a nice dinner Evvie made,” Clark said. “I guess she inherited her culinary skills from Meg.”

“I guess so,” Claire said. If it was possible, Clark was even more tiresome in his adoration of Megs than Nicky was. “I don't suppose Scotty's awake.”

“He certainly is,” Clark said. “He's sitting right beside me. Do you want me to put him on?”

“Yes, please,” Claire said. She waited impatiently until Scotty got on the phone.

“Hi, Claire, what's up?” he said.

“I have nothing to do today, and I'm bored already,” she said. “Do you have any plans?”

“Nothing important,” he replied. “What about Thea?”

“I'm bored, she's boring,” Claire said. “Take your pick.”

She waited as Scotty's heart shifted gears. “I have an idea for something you might enjoy,” he said.

“Just the two of us?” Claire asked.

“That's right,” he said.

“Whatever it is, I love it,” Claire said. “Where should I meet you?”

“I'll pick you up,” Scotty said. “If that's convenient.”

“At the grocery store,” Claire said. “I'll tell them I'm going out for a walk.”

“Perfect,” Scotty said. “See you in an hour.”

“Right,” Claire said and hung up. Thea continued to sleep. Claire shook her head and smiled. Sam was a born liar and Scotty a born conspirator. The sun was just barely out, and already it was a day full of surprises.

C
HAPTER
F
OUR

Claire could remember the first thing anybody outside the family had ever said to her. She'd been with Megs and her sisters, and Sybil was in a baby carriage, so they all must have been quite young. Claire no longer remembered where they were, a store maybe, but a woman came up to them, and mentioned to Megs how pretty her girls were. Claire could picture Evvie and Thea, with their long blond hair, and their sweet childhood faces. They must have made a pretty sight. But then the lady bent down, stared straight at Claire and said, “But you, my dear, are a beauty.”

Claire suspected that she had realized she was beautiful before then. She could never remember a time when she didn't feel different from her sisters, from the rest of the world. But even if she'd waited until she was three before discovering she was beautiful, she hadn't wasted any time with doubts since then. She was beautiful the same way Nicky was charming, and she would use her beauty as Nicky used his charm, to get ahead, to get people to love her, to accomplish whatever it was she ultimately decided on. Claire knew she had options. Schoolwork came easily to her; if she wanted to use her brains, she could become an astronomer or a doctor or a writer. She was also shrewd, which she suspected was more useful than being smart. But her first and greatest gift was her beauty, and she was willing to coast on it until she knew what her final goal would be.

Claire knew she looked even better than usual that day, although she couldn't be sure whether it was because she was in the middle of a situation full of delightful possibilities, or because Scotty had so quickly developed an interest in her. Claire liked men, and she liked having them like her. But she also liked mischief. Both became her.

“I'm going out for a while,” she said to Evvie, who emerged from her bedroom in an ancient and oversized robe. Probably a hand-me-down from Sam.

“Where are you going?” Evvie asked with a yawn.

Claire doubted Evvie cared. “Just for a walk,” she replied.

“It looks awfully cold out there,” Evvie said. “You sure you wouldn't rather stay in?”

“If I do, Thea and I will fight,” Claire replied. “You really want that?”

“Not in the slightest,” Evvie said. “Where is Thea?”

“In the bathroom,” Claire said. “I thought I'd make a quick getaway.”

“It isn't right for Thea to chase you out like this,” Evvie said.

“It's fine,” Claire said. “It'll give the two of you a chance to visit. You can say nasty things about me. Thea always enjoys that.”

“So do I,” Evvie declared, but she grinned at Claire. “Scat,” she said. “You have any money?”

“Enough,” Claire said. “I might go to a museum if I get tired of the cold.”

“You'll be home for lunch?”

“I don't know,” Claire said. “Certainly for supper.”

Evvie nodded. “Enjoy yourself,” she said. “I was thinking we'd visit Aunt Grace tomorrow.”

“Isn't Sam leaving tomorrow?” Claire asked, putting on her coat.

“First thing in the morning,” Evvie said. “I figured I'd dread it less if I knew I'd be seeing Grace. That way I'd have something truly miserable to look forward to.”

Claire laughed. “Whatever works for you.”

“What works for me is two more hours' sleep,” Evvie said. “Oh, well. Maybe I'll kick Thea out, too, and convince Sam to take a nice long nap with me.”

“Good luck,” Claire said. She wrapped her scarf around her, tossed her hair back, and pictured how the cold New England air would put color in her cheeks. Her right glove had a hole in the thumb. Oh, well. Her thumb could stand a little color. “See you later.”

“Call if you get lost,” Evvie said.

Claire smiled. She never got lost. Thea wandered through life with no idea of where she was going, but Claire was always pointed in the right direction. Sybil used to be that way too, before the accident. Now all her powers were being used to learn to walk again, and to keep up with her schoolwork. Maybe she'd call from Oregon soon. Claire needed to hear how she was.

She walked to the grocery, and was pleased to find Scotty already there. He was waiting in a flashy new sports car, the sort that one day Claire would own. As soon as he saw her, he popped out, and opened the door for her.

“Nice car,” she said, getting in. “Yours?”

“Clark's,” Scotty replied. “I borrowed it for the morning.”

“I wouldn't have thought Clark was the sports car type,” Claire said. “He sent a different car to pick me up at the airport.”

“Clark's rich enough to afford two cars,” Scotty said. “No, he has three. There's a station wagon, too.”

Claire wondered if Clark would leave Megs's daughters any money in his will. Probably not. Old money never wandered from its family. Schyler and Scotty were much more likely to inherit. She smiled. That would explain why Schyler and Scotty spent so much time with Clark. To remind him of his available heirs.

“We used to have two cars,” Claire said, strapping herself in. “But lately, we're down to one.”

“I can't picture your family poor,” Scotty said. “I only spent that one weekend with you, but there was a graciousness about the way you lived. It's a crime that you shouldn't still have money.”

“We get by,” Claire said. Her hands were in her pockets, so she let herself wiggle her thumb through the hole in her glove. “We're not starving.”

“Of course not,” Scotty said. “I didn't mean to offend you. It's just, you should have money. All of you. It would make your lives so much easier.”

“What makes you think I want an easy life?” Claire asked.

“You don't want a hard one,” Scotty replied. “You're not exactly the scrubbing-the-floor-on-her-hands-and-knees type.”

“No,” Claire said. “I'm not.”

“Clark would love to give your family money,” Scotty declared. “He told me so yesterday. He says he'd pay all of Sybil's medical expenses if your father would let him.”

Claire shuddered at the thought of her family being even more indebted to Clark than it already was. “We don't need charity,” she said. “We don't even like charity.”

“That's what I figured,” Scotty said. “I just thought I'd mention it.”

“Thank you,” Claire said. “Clark's always making sweet meaningless offers like that. He once offered to pay for coming-out parties for all of us. He said he was sure Aunt Grace would be happy to have them at her house. Can you believe it?”

“Sure,” Scotty said. “Why not? I've been to a few coming-out parties, and they aren't so bad.”

“For all I know, they're wonderful,” Claire said. “But Evvie would rather stay in with Sam than come out with anybody else. And Thea, well, even if she believed in that sort of thing, she'd insist on Kip being her escort, and that would be a classic disaster.”

“What about you?” Scotty asked. “And Sybil?”

“There's no guarantee Sybil will be dancing in four years,” Claire said. “Besides, she'd rather have the money than a party.”

“And you?” Scotty asked. “You'd make a beautiful debutante.”

“It's not my style,” Claire replied. “If I'd grown up like that, then sure, I'd want a wonderful dress and I'd want to be deb of the year. I like being the best at whatever I do. But I didn't grow up like that, and I guess I'm more Sebastian than I am Winslow. I don't know if you can understand that.”

“What I understand is you're smart and you're beautiful,” Scotty said. “What I don't understand is why I never really noticed you before. Except as Thea's sister.”

“You were blinded with love,” Claire said. “And now the spell is wearing off.”

Scotty laughed. “You haven't asked me where I'm taking you,” he said. “Aren't you curious?”

“It didn't matter to me,” Claire replied. “But you're right. It should. Where are we going?”

“If it's all right with you, I thought we'd go to my house,” Scotty said. “It's empty, and it'll be cold, but we'll have a chance to be alone there.” He rested his hand briefly on Claire's thigh. “If that might interest you.”

“I'd like to see your house,” Claire said. She wasn't at all sure she'd like to see his bedroom, but there was no rush on that decision. “Where do you live? This isn't the way to Boston.”