“Maggy?” Riley’s voice held a warning tone.
“I was just out on a boat with some kids,” Maggy said petulantly. “We weren’t doing anything. And then he came along and butted in.” She tossed her head in Nate’s direction, avoiding his direct gaze.
“What kids?” Riley asked. “You didn’t say anything about going out on a boat today. Did Mimi say that was okay?”
“Mimi wasn’t around. And you were asleep. I didn’t want to bother you,” Maggy said. “I’m fine. But I gotta pee now, if that’s okay with him.”
She stalked past the grown-ups and ran up the stairs, past her mother’s confused gaze.
Riley turned back to Nate, who seemed to have something else he wanted to say.
“Well, thanks, I guess, for giving her a ride home,” she said, her hand on the door.
“Don’t you want to know what she was up to?” he asked.
“She just said she went for a boat ride with some kids. Aside from being sunburnt, it doesn’t look like she came to any harm,” Riley said.
“So … it’s all right with you if she goes racing around out in the bay in a boat dangerously overloaded with a bunch of kids, being driven by that Billingsley kid, who has no business driving a go-cart, let alone a boat with a two-hundred-horsepower engine? And it’s okay that the boat didn’t have enough life jackets? And the Billingsley kid subsequently beached the boat on a sandbar—where your kid would still be sitting, with no food or drink—or meds—if it weren’t for me?”
Nate’s face was rigid with anger.
“Dear God,” Riley said, letting that sink in. She glanced up at the stairs. “Is she really all right?”
“She was pale and shaky when I got her on my boat, and she finally admitted she hadn’t eaten anything and left her insulin kit back at the marina. I gave her some water and a sandwich and an orange. When we got to the marina she did her insulin thing. So I guess she’s okay.”
Riley leaned against the doorjamb and let out a long sigh. “Thanks for bringing her home safely. I don’t know what she could have been thinking. Maggy knows how to take care of her diabetes. God knows I’ve talked until I’m blue in the face about the importance of monitoring her blood sugar and eating properly. It’s like she enjoys pushing the envelope, taking risks.”
“Maybe she needs to have a responsible parent monitor her behavior.”
Riley bristled. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means a twelve-year-old girl has no business running around this island without any adult supervision. Especially with that bunch of kids she was hanging out with. A boat is not a toy, but it is to that crowd. Shane Billingsley is trouble, Riley. If Maggy were my kid…”
“But she’s not your kid,” Riley said. “Maggy has plenty of adult supervision. Usually. Obviously, she snuck out of the house without my permission this morning. I’ll deal with that, and she’ll be punished. Look. I haven’t been sleeping well, since all this…”
“Whatever,” Nate said. “Sorry to have disturbed your sleep.”
He turned and stomped his way off the front porch, leaving Riley standing openmouthed in the doorway.
* * *
Maggy stayed in the shower for nearly an hour, until the hot water ran out. It was one of her favorite delaying tactics.
Riley sat patiently on one of the twin beds in the guest bedroom. They’d barely been in the house four days, and already it looked like Maggy’s room at home. Discarded clothes and shoes were strewn everywhere. Her suitcase was open on the floor, with most of its contents spilled around it. A damp, sandy bathing suit had been dropped on top of the mahogany dresser, along with Maggy’s cell phone.
Riley picked up the phone and regarded it thoughtfully. She was still thinking through her disciplinary strategy when Maggy finally emerged from the bathroom, wearing clean clothes, her wet hair wrapped in a towel.
“We have to talk,” Riley announced sternly. She patted the unmade bed. “Sit.”
Maggy sat on the edge of the bed, already sensing her mother’s dark mood. “I’m sorry, okay? I know it was dumb to leave my kit at the marina. And I promise not to do it again. Okay?”
“Not okay,” Riley said. “It’s not okay that you snuck out of this house this morning without letting anybody know where you were going. And it’s not okay for you to be out in a boat with somebody who isn’t old enough or sensible enough to legally operate a boat. And it’s especially not okay to pull a stunt like this when you know what I’m going through with your father’s death.”
“Like you’re the only one going through it,” Maggy shot back.
“I didn’t say that. I know you’re hurting, too. But you have to stop this risky behavior.” Riley felt her anger rising, along with the pitch in her voice. “Nate told me Shane was driving that boat like a crazy person. What if he hadn’t come along after Shane beached the boat on that sandbar? You could have been stranded out there for hours and hours with no food or water.…”
Riley was crying now, damn it. But her tears failed to faze her daughter.
“Geez, Mom. Get a grip!” Maggy shouted. “Nothing bad happened. Why do you have to make such a big deal of everything?”
Riley grasped Maggy’s shoulders and shook them. “You could have died. You know that, right? You could have died!”
“Ow!” the girl howled, twisting away from her mother’s reach. “Cut it out! That hurts.”
“I want it to hurt. I don’t know how else to get through to you. You can’t keep doing this stuff, Maggy. You just can’t!”
Maggy hurled herself off the bed and onto the floor. She scuttled across the rug until she was a few feet away, then glared up at her mother, wide-eyed.
“Okay. I get it. All right? Can we just drop it now? I said I’m sorry. I won’t do it again.”
Riley clutched the edge of the bed with both hands, trying to regain her composure. She was breathing hard, as though she’d just run a marathon.
“That’s right,” she said, when she could speak. “You won’t be doing that again. You’re on restriction until further notice. You don’t leave this house unless it’s with me or a family member. Or Parrish.”
“No! It’s Memorial Day. I’m playing in the tennis tournament with Bebo. And the cookout. Everybody will be there. You can’t lock me up on Memorial Day. It’s not fair.”
“You should have thought of that before you went sneaking off without my permission,” Riley said. “Also? I don’t give a damn about being fair.”
“Fine,” Maggy said. “Go ahead and ruin my life. I don’t care.”
“I’m trying to save your life,” Riley said softly.
“Whatever.” Maggy stood with hands clutched on both hips. “Can I please have some privacy now?” She held out her hand. “And my phone?”
“You can have your privacy,” Riley said. “But I’m keeping your phone until further notice.”
“Whattttt?” Maggy shrieked. “That’s my phone. It’s mine! Dad gave it to me.”