Vanishing Acts

Now an adult, Delia treks through rural New Hampshire with her bloodhound, Greta, on the hunt for a missing four-year-old. After finding the girl, Delia reunites her with her mother. Delia’s thoughts briefly turn to her own mother, who died in a car accident when Delia was three. She is interrupted by a reporter, Fitzwilliam “Fitz” MacMurray, her best friend. Fitz reminds Delia that, though she may miss her mother, her father “was better than most parents put together” (10).

Delia returns home to find her four-year-old, Sophie, upset with her. While Delia was finding the missing girl, she missed Sophie’s parent-child tea at school. Delia attempts to soothe Sophie while stressing that Eric, Delia’s fiancé and Sophie’s father, is late. Eric, a recovering alcoholic, appears with a gift for Sophie, and Delia is relieved he does not smell or taste of alcohol.

Delia recalls growing up with Eric and Fitz. As children, they were inseparable. As they grew older, Delia and Eric’s friendship transitioned to a romantic relationship. Eric’s struggle with alcohol addiction was an open secret between the friends until Delia became pregnant. Eric’s journey to recovery has been fraught with setbacks, but at this point, he is holding down a job as an attorney and planning a wedding with Delia. Though Delia would prefer a courthouse wedding, Eric’s persuasion has pushed her into a more elaborate affair.

In preparation for the wedding, Delia goes through the old photo albums, lamenting that she cannot find any of her baby pictures. That night, she dreams of planting a lemon tree with Andrew, her father, but lemon trees will not grow in New Hampshire. She shares the dream with Fitz, who decides to do some research. Sometime later, the police knock on Delia’s door, searching for Andrew. Andrew has an open warrant for the kidnapping of Bethany Matthews. As the police take Andrew away, Delia asks who Bethany Matthews is, only to be told she was Bethany.

Eric attends a meeting for people recovering from alcohol addiction and reminisces. After graduating with a law degree, he turned down several high-powered positions to return to quiet Wexton, New Hampshire, and stay close to Delia. Eric blames his alcohol addiction on his inability to cope with being separated from Delia in college. However, he also claims it is in his blood as the child of a person with alcohol addiction.

Eric recalls that while growing up, he took great pains to keep Delia and Fitz from playing at his house. Eric’s mother’s alcohol addiction was an embarrassment that he wanted to keep secret. Eric came home from school to find his mother passed out in a pool of vomit. As he cleaned her up, Delia snuck in and offered to help. Eric feared his friends would abandon him if they learned about his mother. Instead, Delia promised to keep it a secret and stayed with him.

When they grew older, Eric began to view Delia romantically. Unfortunately, Fitz felt similarly. The relationship between the two friends became strained, ending romantic—but not platonic—attachments until Delia and Eric turned 15. The trio watched a meteor shower; Fitz fell asleep before it started, and Delia and Eric kissed for the first time. When they were 17, Eric was late to meet Fitz and Delia and caught the pair kissing. Not one of them has ever mentioned it. Roughly six years before the story’s beginning, Eric crashed his car into a tree while trying to open a bottle of vodka. He found himself waking up in random places after blacking out. One night, he wakes up to find Delia crying next to him. Delia tells him she is pregnant and wants to keep the baby but no longer wants Eric. To keep Delia, Eric finally decides to seek help for his alcohol addiction.

In the present, Delia bursts into Eric’s office crying that her father has been arrested and begging Eric to go to him. Eric visits Andrew in jail, desperately trying to wrap his brain around Andrew’s arrest. Eric tells Andrew that Delia is fine and that he will get the mistaken charges removed when Andrew replies that they are not a mistake. Eric realizes that Delia is the kidnapped girl. Andrew tells Eric that Delia is Andrew’s daughter, and he kidnapped her at age four. Eric leaves the jail stunned and angry.

Back at Delia and Andrew’s house, Eric tries to explain to Delia that she is Bethany Matthews. Fitz joins them and admits that he inadvertently alerted the police. They search for Delia’s name to find that Andrew took the names Andrew and Cordelia Hopkins from car crash victims. Overwhelmed, Delia leaves. Fitz sends Eric after her. Eric calms her down and tells her they must go to Arizona, Delia’s original home.

At the arraignment, Andrew agrees to waive extradition and go to Arizona. Eric overplays his hand and Andrew’s bail is set at $1 million, meaning Andrew will remain in prison until he transfers to Arizona. The prosecutor, another recovering alcoholic, expresses concern that Eric is overtaxing himself. Eric lies, claiming he has it under control.

Eric meets Andrew again, and they argue because Andrew wants to plead guilty. Later, he finds Delia struggling to accept her father’s incarceration. Eric shares Andrew’s wish to plead guilty, which Delia vehemently opposes. Eric decides to respect her wish and ignores Andrew’s request.

Andrew addresses his words to Delia. He is defensive about the conclusions he imagines she makes but claims it is a relief to get caught. He describes the misery of prison life and the memories of Delia that get him through. Andrew mentions Elise, Delia’s mother, and how they both have a talent for finding things. Andrew hints that Elise made poor choices to fill some void and was terrified that Delia would do the same. He introduced Delia to a search-and-rescue team and helped her choose that career path to mitigate this concern.

At the arraignment, Delia cannot look Andrew in the eye, which causes him to doubt his choices for the first time. Andrew regrets that he cannot call Delia and plans what he would say to her, specifically that he is fine, will explain, and is not sorry.

Fitz’s editor at the New Hampshire Gazette criticizes his coverage of the kidnapping case, claiming that he has not included enough of the family drama. She tells him to follow Andrew to Arizona and get an exclusive. Fitz remembers growing up with Delia. Though he dated her first, Fitz feels Delia never loved him as much as she loved Eric: “When you love someone, you want her to have everything she wants. In Delia’s case, that has always been Eric” (82). Fitz manages to remain friends with Delia and Eric despite his continuing love for Delia.

Fitz is shocked at the media presence outside Delia’s house. He sneaks in the back way, finding Sophie—home from school as the media has blocked the family from leaving—and Delia. Delia is distressed because her mother has not tried to contact her, and Delia’s attempt to find her mother’s number proves fruitless. Fitz calms Delia and explains that there are any number of reasons why her mother is not in contact and that her father, despite the charges, is still the same person he has always been.

Fitz bundles Delia and Sophie out of the house. They take Sophie to school and then go to the jail, only to find Andrew has been sent to Arizona already. Eric enters, furious, as no one informed him either. Eric leaves quickly, asking Fitz to take care of Delia for him.