Then She Was Gone

Laurel calls Floyd, and they make dinner plans. As she’s getting ready for the date, she realizes she has not worried about looking pretty for a very long time. On their date, Floyd and Laurel start to get to know one another, and Floyd talks about his two daughters: Sara-Jade and Poppy. Sara-Jade, also called SJ, is the unusual child from Floyd’s first marriage, while Poppy is the brilliant little girl whose mother left, then vanished, when she was four years old. 

At home, Laurel does a Google search of Floyd’s name, and she finds that he authored several math books. She sees a few of his author photos from various stages of his life, and she notes that he hasn’t always looked as dapper and put-together as the man she shared dinner with. Laurel wants to go out with him again, and she is surprised to find herself thinking about something other than Ellie. Laurel usually visits her friends on Saturdays, but they are out of town, and time crawls as she waits for Floyd to call. She visits her mother at her care home to pass the time. Her mother, who had three strokes, and as a result, has a “limited vocabulary” (67), usually expresses her readiness to die on Laurel’s visits. This time, when Laurel tells her about going on a date with Floyd, her mother smiles and encourages Laurel to call him. Laurel compromises by sending a text, and she shares a sweet moment of laughter with her mother before Floyd calls her. 

On their second date, Laurel and Paul dine at an Eritrean restaurant, and they go to Floyd’s house after dinner. His house is just a few streets over from where she used to live, so the floor plan is virtually identical to the home she shared with Paul. Laurel meets Sara-Jade, and she notices her unique appearance—white blond hair and a thin, delicate build—and her quiet, withdrawn personality. Over a cup of tea, Floyd tells Laurel he googled her and knows about Ellie. He understands why she didn’t mention Ellie on their first date, and he feels bad for bringing it up now. Laurel considers how strong her feelings are for Floyd already and decides she’s ready to talk about Ellie. After they talk, they have sex, and as she falls asleep, Laurel feels a part of herself coming alive that she thought was gone forever. 

In the morning, Laurel meets Poppy and is struck by how much Poppy resembles Ellie. Laurel remembers seeing many girls she thought looked like Ellie in the years following her disappearance, so she tries not to make much of the seeming resemblance between Poppy and Ellie. Floyd homeschools Poppy, and Poppy’s maturity, self-assuredness, and formal clothing surprise Laurel. Even though her charm is impressive, Laurel can’t help but feel that Poppy and her relationship with Floyd are somewhat strange. Later, Laurel cleans Hanna’s flat, as she does every week, and notices a bouquet of flowers. She finds a note in the trash signed “T,” and wonders why Hanna won’t tell her about the man she’s seeing. 

Laurel regrets the way she treated Paul and neglected Jake and Hanna after Ellie’s disappearance. Now that her life is starting to have purpose again, she realizes the need to make amends and attempt to repair family relationships. She asks Paul and Hanna if they would be willing to get together as a family next week to celebrate her and Hanna’s birthdays, which fall on the same day, and they agree. Hanna denies having a boyfriend, and Laurel knows she is lying but doesn’t press her. Meanwhile, Laurel invites Floyd to her flat for dinner and finds herself struggling to think of what to cook; she hasn’t really cooked for others since Ellie disappeared. At the last minute before their date, she gets a text from Floyd saying that SJ can’t watch Poppy, so Laurel invites them both to come. Floyd suggests she put away any photos of Ellie, since Poppy loves to ask about other people’s photos, and he thinks its best Poppy doesn’t know about Ellie. 

When Floyd and Poppy arrive, Laurel again notices the overly formal clothing Poppy wears. Poppy asks questions about all the people in Laurel’s photos, and Laurel expects Floyd to curb Poppy’s personal questions, but he doesn’t. It’s clear that Poppy is an unusual child. Floyd lets her sip champagne, she has no interest in making friends her own age, and the entire evening revolves around her. Laurel again notices the striking resemblance between Poppy and Ellie, and she offers to take her shopping sometime. At the end of the night, Laurel feels like there’s something strange about Floyd and Poppy, but by the time she leaves work the next day, she’s forgotten her concerns and her fluttery feelings for Floyd are back. She invites him and Poppy to the birthday dinner with her family after spending the whole weekend together.