Justine
Justine didn’t call Patrick at the Motel 6 the next day, or the day after that. She hadn’t figured out what to say to him, and when he didn’t come to the house she convinced herself she was right to wait; he wasn’t ready to talk to her, either. Maybe, she hoped, she could avoid the whole thing until the day after Christmas, when they’d leave – though the greater part of her knew that was unlikely. This was Patrick, after all.
Maurie, Angela, and Melanie acted as though Patrick hadn’t shown up at all, though a couple of times Justine caught Melanie looking at her. When she did she looked away. She left the lake only once, to pick up her car from the repair shop, and she watched for Patrick’s truck all the way there and back. She didn’t see it. Yet his presence, seeming to lurk jus
