Moonglass

dashboard, I could see his jaw clench, and it was enough for me to go on.
    “James called her a ‘cottage girl,’ Dad.” He was silent, and I almost hated him for it at that moment. “What does that mean ? Did she live here? In one of those cottages? Did you think I might want to know something like that?” My voice had gone shrill and high, and I felt tears welling up, hot and angry.
    He kept one hand on the wheel and brought the other up and rubbed his forehead. I saw him suck in a breath before he spoke. “Yeah,” he said. “She stayed here. In one of the cottages.”
    I stared straight ahead, watching the now blurred headlights dip up and down over the sand. When I spoke again, it came out icy.
    “Which one?”
    He slowed, almost to a stop on the sand in front of our place, and when the motion light of the beach cottage clicked on, his voice was weary. “That one.” He didn’t need to point.
    I lost it.
    “Jesus, Dad! Why would you not tell me something like that? You didn’t think I’d want to know that we’re living next to Mom’s old house? What else don’t I know about my own goddamn mother?” I yanked on the door handle and shoved my shoulder into it, but it didn’t budge. My hands fumbled around for the button, and when I couldn’t find it, I leveled my eyes straight at him, breathing hard. “Unlock it.”
    “Anna—”
    “Unlock it. I can’t talk to you right now. I can’t. Unless you want to explain what this is. Why we came here, why James knows more about my own family history than I do … why we don’t talk about her anymore. I don’t get it, Dad.”
    He was silent, and I stared through the blur of my tears and reflection at the now dark beach cottage that had been my mother’s.
    “That’s what I thought,” I said. “Let’s don’t talk about it, just like always.” My hand found the unlock button, and I burst out the door, just as he finally responded. It wasn’t until after I had slammed the door shut that I really heard what he’d said:
    “You stopped asking.”

CHAPTER 10
    It was a day for kites. The lifeguards watched over empty wind-whipped water from inside their towers as sand filled in the small valleys and smoothed itself over. I hoped none of them had been at the party the night before. I pulled my hood over my head and tied the strings so it would stay on, then headed up the beach to where I could see rocks strewn all over the sand in piles in front of the abandoned cottages. I hadn’t been up this way yet, but I wasn’t in the mood for sightseeing, so I kept my head down. The less I moved my neck around, the less the champagne ache wrapped itself around my head. It came in waves, alternating with nausea that made me squint behind my sunglasses. I walked the waterline like this, hands shoved into my pockets, not really paying attention to anything. I just wanted to be out of the house, where my dad and I moved around each other, silent and not knowing where to start.
    A few paces ahead a freshly uncovered rock pile spread out in front of a falling-down cottage. Grateful for a distraction, I picked my way over to it but then stepped on a pebble that jabbed painfully into the arch of my foot. My foot jerked up reflexively, and as it did, I saw my first piece of glass for the day. It was a thumbnail-size green shard, still wet from the receding tide. When I lifted it and held it up to the light, it showed a deeper almost turquoise green. I rubbed its smooth edges between my thumb and forefinger inside the warmth of my sleeve and turned my attention to the surrounding sand.
    “I didn’t think I’d have any competition out here on a day like this,” said an unfamiliar voice. I turned around. An older woman wearing only shorts and a Tshirt stood behind me, smiling. The wind whipped her waist-length brown hair around her, and she made no effort to control it.
    “Oh, um, are you looking for sea glass too?”
    “Yup.” She motioned to the rocks. “We haven’t had rock piles like this in quite a while. Yesterday’s waves uncovered them.” I nodded and pulled my green piece out of my pocket. “Yeah, I just found a pretty little green one.”
    “May I?” she asked. I handed it to her, and she held it up to the sun between rough fingers. “Yep, that’s a beauty.” I smiled, and she handed it back, then reached into her pocket. Her hand rummaged around, making sure she got all of what was in it. When she brought it out and uncurled her fingers,